Our first Christmas afloat
Caramor - sailing around the world
Franco Ferrero / Kath Mcnulty
Thu 25 Dec 2014 22:05
Exactly five years ago we drove down to Falmouth and Franco collected the keys to Caramor. We spent that Christmas working on her, getting her ready for her sail back to Wales at Easter. The following four Christmases have generally involved some level of work on the boat.
Today we did nothing that involved boat maintenance, we simply enjoyed listening to her ropes creak as she bounces in the small amount of swell that enters the marina at Las Galletas.
Kath, Franco and Caramor
We returned to Tenerife a day early, the wind was due to go easterly and light which would have meant a headwind. Instead we were close-hauled (roughly 45 degrees to the wind, the closest to the wind we can sail) and as usual there was either no wind or much more wind than forecast. We remain impressed how it can go from 0 to 18 knots within seconds. We left Tazacorte at midnight with bellies full of Breton pancakes, enjoyed a pleasant sail and some motoring and arrived in Las Galletas around 5pm.
Caramor, although big to us is rather petite in the scheme of things, she was without doubt the slimmest boat on the pontoon in La Palma, but when the marinero guided us over to the tiddly boats pontoon I was surprised, when he showed us where he wanted us to park my heart sank; next to Scuba Sue, a fat old fishing boat, now used as a dive boat, she was taking up all the room between the pontoon fingers, where was Caramor expected to go?
Franco kept his calm and brought her in perfectly, and she fitted ... just. All the more impressive when I recall the first time Franco and I went to the cinema together. I met him outside his house, his car was parked in the street. As the passenger door was up against a wall he offered to move his car out so that I could get in. I watched aghast as he first bumped into the car in front, then the car behind and finally the car in front again. At last he was clear and off we went.
Caramor next to fat Scuba Sue
Happy Christmas to you all!
Kath & Franco