26122011 New Arrivals

09:30 and Thomas is the first to arrive, making enough noise to stir the dead which he duly does. Its Christmas again as he shows off the goodies he’s brought with him.  

                        Spare parts etc.                                                                     Expedition flag

There’s the vital, in the form of Macerator for the Toilet holding tank and a new Deck-wash Pump with its fittings.

Then the more decorative in the form of a new expedition flag with the ship’s logo and all of our national flags underneath.

Though as Thomas is multi-pass ported and for the sake of design balance he has added  both his Brasilian and Swiss flags!

Though he could well have included his German and Canadian but that would have been a flag to far.

The “Bistro” banner has also returned and both were hauled up to add to our already impressive array of national flags which by now are suffering

the ravages of the perpetual high winds. The Welsh dragon has already lost most of his hind legs and the damage is advancing to more critical parts of his anatomy.

                   New banners                                               Yo-yo practice

Its not all one way traffic as I give Thomas his present from Shan, another Yo-Yo which is well received but he evidently need to practice.

Around 4pm the Swedish contingent of (Another) Thomas and Urban arrive bearing even more “gifts”. One, in a holdall weighing a ton contains two new halyards, 

and from other bags an assortment of engine filters and spares as well as a present from Caroline for Lars.

                            More goodies                                                                   Nice hat

Cabins are reassigned, Thomas and Thomas in the double, Urban sharing with Lars, Peter back on his couch and I’m hanging on to my single next to the engine room.

We’ve booked a table at a “Parrilla”, with the choice of a menu or all you can eat for 95Pesos about £13. There is a massive charcoal grill with beef chicken

and large chorizo sausages and next to it an open fire with four split lamb carcasses grilling.

                     Armed and dangerous                                                              Christmas stuffing  

You just point at your choice and the “chef” wielding an enormous knife hacked off a great chunk of meat onto your plate.

Then you collected your vegetable or salads etc from a multi choice buffet. This for as many time as you we’re capable of eating it.

Duly stuffed, we introduced the new boys to the Irish Pub for a little fortification on our way home.

As we walked back there was no sign of the yachts Christmas lights. As surmised, Thomas who had left earlier had inadvertently doused them when plugging in his I-Pad.

A quick phone call rectified the situation as our display sprang back into life, looking very impressive.

27122011 Shopping

Lars and Thomas are assigned engineering duties and set to install the new pumps etc., while the rest of us head for the big supermarket just out of town.

Grabbing a trolley each we set about our task. I’m restocking the wine cellar while the others groceries.

I manage to capture a friendly staff member who, have just filled the shelves, is now sticking the boxes back together so I can undo his work and refill them.

Peter has a translation problem and ends up with 400 eggs which is fortunately corrected but generally the operation goes smoothly.

                             Milk                                                                            Oops to many eggs

                          Wide selection

Arriving at the till with our over burden trollies is when the fun starts. Firstly the tills have difficulty accepting sales of over 1000 pesos, then they won’t accept any of Thomas’s credit cards.

I haven’t taken my passport for security verification though I somehow manage to remember its number or something near.

                           Meat                                                                             How many eggs?

The good news they will accept cash on delivery for Thomas’s portion, also they deliver and provide a free taxi back to town.

So while Thomas goes looking for a “Hole in the wall” before making his way back we head to the “Office” for lunch.

On our return, Peter and Urban armed with the WD40 examine the bikes while I try hosing down the deck.

This is not very successful as a weak water supply and a succession of “Woollies” blowing 40 knots conspire to defeat my efforts and re-deposit any dust and sand I try to wash off.

Peter wants to fill the water tanks and removes the cap into which I poke the hose.  Twenty minutes later and Lars asks why the holding tank

which should be empty is overflowing on the deck. It’s then we discover that Peter probably needs glasses as he had opened the wrong filler,

the “Waste” instead of the “Water” near; just as well it wasn’t the Diesel. I absolve myself of all blame as I was not wearing mine at the time.

                Oh Dear!

I’m just about to start a late happy hour when our purchases arrive, two trolley loads. We’ve just decanted them to the yacht when in the middle

of the chaos, with boxes of wine and groceries filling the cockpit and covering much of the deck, our beer delivery arrives to add to it.

                           Delivery                                                                            Beagles best

Most of it is finds suitable stowage, the wine ends up in the bath and having decided to leave the bikes ashore until our return, the deck locker now swallows the remainder.

We’re all to worn out after the day’s efforts a call for takeaway pizzas to be delivered and dine aboard. This was also an opportunity to sample our new wine selection.

                     Pizzas

Bob the Blog