Friday 25th June (Lini's Journal)

Brindabella's Web Diary
Simon Williams
Sat 26 Jun 2010 18:39
We woke to bright sunshine; what a shame we didn’t have this
weather yesterday. I was keen to go hiking along the cliff tops today
but Si definitely wasn’t and anyway the weather slowly deteriorated to
the rain and mist of yesterday. Si pottered with boat jobs and Lini
decided to play with her toys. Out came the paint set, instruction
book and several pads of paper: Today’s lessons – Wet on wet washes,
Wet on dry washes and Building layers of washes. My book did say that
wet on wet washes were difficult to control and it wasn’t wrong. My
first attempt at the suggested night scene of farm land ended up as an
abstract rainbow with white moon; my other six paintings were
marginally better and at least there was an improvement with each. The
important thing was I had a simply wonderful time while dreaming that
one day I might be able to transfer the stunning scenes I see onto
paper.
Apart from washing the bathroom curtains I had done nothing useful
today. Guilt got the better of me and as it was now a nasty wintry
sort of day I cooked wintry sort of comfort food. Apart from bread and
cheese it is now three weeks since I last provisioned and we are
running a little low on choice: I wondered how to serve cabbage again
today! The cupboards are still heaving with non-perishables which I
have labelled subconsciously as emergency supplies in case we are
stuck out at sea longer than predicted or there is nowhere to
provision. Neither has happened so far in ten months away. I also now
have the little problem of the fat content of some items. To avoid
carrying everything all the way back to England from whence it came,
I’m now making an effort to use some and out came a can of chicken in
white sauce which I rinsed off for me and made a pie for Si. While I
was rubbing fat into flour I made extra for apple crumble and a mini
quiche to use one of the many onions left and one of those ends of a
cheese that lurks in the corner of the fridge for weeks on end. Thank
heavens it was no-cholesterol fat! Even no-cholesterol is high fat
unfortunately so it was fat free custard and apple for the stones and
I. We put the bimini up to alas, not shelter us from blazing sunshine
but pouring rain and we ate looking out into depressing weather. It
made me appreciate all the more those wonderfully hot Caribbean days
not so long ago. Oh! -Today’s cabbage was lightly steamed with
carrots!
I was tired this evening and undecided whether I would stay awake
for tonight’s big picture in the saloon. Avatar was playing and we had
front row seats! Outside things were grim, the visibility was zilch
and the wind had changed direction. Considering all the boats are
similar in the anchorage it was a little surprising that we all began
swinging at different angles and it turned into an eventful evening.
Noticing a mast just off our stern as I glanced up from our movie I
zipped up to check all was well. I wasn’t sure if our anchor was
dragging but we were getting very close to the Austrian boat behind.
Every few minutes I left fantasy land to check our position,
frequently asking Si for his opinion. I was decidedly twitchy when our
dinghy was only a metre or two away from them. Just as night descended
with heavy rain Si decided to re-anchor and I quickly threw on my
rarely used Musto Ocean Jacket forgetting that I can’t hear a thing
with the hood up. We circled the anchorage looking for a better space,
several times finding spots that are marked on some charts (not ours)
as ‘Dragging Areas’. Si was not a happy bunny and talked of taking off
for Horta straight away. I was now soaked to the skin and freezing
with rain running down my neck and off my jacket down naked legs. I
was desperately tired and the thought of going into a night watch
system made my heart sink. I willed the anchor to bite into the sea
bed. The swell was now horrendous and the bow was a trampoline: Items
not stowed crashed about below. I was more than a little relieved when
the anchor chain in my hand stopped vibrating and we went below for
the remainder of our film in short sections between anchor checks. In
case we dragged in the night and Si decided to leave for Horta, I
cleared the galley and did a spot of stowing. It was now after
midnight, I was very tired and I thought Si would want to do anchor
watches through the night. Luckliy he was happy to sleep by the anchor
alarm in the saloon and sent me off to bed. Thank goodness it was a
calm night!