Sailing
Dandelion
Rick, Helen, Sue, John
Fri 23 Sep 2016 17:59
>> We have spent the last few days doing jobs, and errands and recovering from Caroline’s departure, and moving the boat out of the marina into the adjacent anchorage. Our jaundiced neighbours had exited a day previously, and then showed up with another yacht which they then anchored in such a way that as it swung in the wind, our anchor chain passed beneath it which did not please John. International diplomacy resulted in a puff of odorous pipe smoke, a Gallic shrug, and “Pas de Probleme”, not a suitable response for the skipper. Sue was sent off in the dinghy, and further entreaties elicited the response “Pas de motor”, and a retreat below. Therefore, the dinghy was used to shove the French boat out of the way, while we upped anchor, dropped back about 50m and re-anchored. The character of the French in question and the parentage of that particular Frenchman were subject to the usual debate. A thousand years of enmity is hard to erase!
>> The marina is the meeting point for the ARC, which is a group outing of cruising yachts either across the Atlantic, or around the world, and by group, I mean about 250! Lesser mortals on their own adventures are evicted in advance of the onslaught, (we knew in advance that this was the case) and we have been watching boats arrive, and enjoying seeing them dressed overall, with flags fluttering in the breeze, against blue sky and white clouds. Another group of yachts has also turned up, going to Barbados for the 50th anniversary of the Island’s independence.
>> Off to Tenerife tomorrow, early as it is about 10 hours, and so showers, emails, glass of wine out, etc, even thought is not far. It will be quite interesting to revisit the island; we had our honeymoon there, it was the warmest cheapest place I could find in 1979, and just as well since it was -10C in London the day we got married!!
>> More to follow.
>> Helen