Back on board
JJMoon Diary
Barry and Margaret Wilmshurst
Sun 5 Nov 2006 12:00
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I came back to the boat on 26
October and after all my efforts of the last 3 months needed a few days to
relax. Barry had been on board already for 10 days, some of this time
with our engineer friend Bill installing the Hydrovane self-steering gear and
doing other useful jobs.
My French neighbour Michele
had recently visited Barcelona and was very enthusiastic about the town.
Her advice was to take a tourist bus which shows you the sights and allows you
to alight to visit different places in your own time. So on the Saturday after my arrival Barry
and I took the train into Barcelona and found the bus, It was excellent
advice and we got tickets and boarded. We had just found seats on the open
upper deck when Barry felt for his wallet only to find it gone. There was
little point leaving the bus as we were now out of the main part of town so with
heavy hearts and worried minds we continued the tour and tried to enjoy as much
as we could without thinking too much of the consequences of the loss. We
alighted where we had started, took the next train back to the boat and phoned
up to cancel the cards. Relief. The cards were cancelled and
no-one had tried to use them. But what a way to start a 3 year world
trip!
On the other hand I
have a new pride and joy and that is my Brompton folding bike. It is of
course for both of us but since I am the one who does most of the shopping and
as I am also the enthusiast I refer to it as my bike. It has "changed the
colour of the world" for me. No longer do I feel oppressed at the
thought of shopping. It also opens up new roads and just for the pleasure
I have taken little excursions. I feel like a schoolgirl
again! I have to thank Barry's son Glyn and his wife Katy for their
perseverence in finding a shop where I could buy one after my efforts in London
had failed to locate a shop which actually had any of these highly sort after
bikes in stock.
Well we needed to get
going, cut the ties, so, on Wednesday 1 November 2006 we set sail for Santa
Eulalia on Ibiza. It was a so-so trip. In many ways neither of us
was really enthusiastic and we were both very tired at the end.
We came into Santa Eulalia, berthed and that evening revisited an excellent
restaurant, La Naranjo, we had been introduced to in 2003. It was still as
good. We began to perk up.
The weather has been
miserable with fairly strong winds and grey ominous skies. Not the
sort of conditions conducive to living on a sailing boat. We have
turned our boat heater on now two evenings running and have been
pleased with the effect.
Yesterday, Saturday, we had
planned to leave but I begged to stay another day. As it turned out
we had another nasty occurrence as the marina's mooring line snapped and
our new self-steering gear nudged the concrete quay. Luckily we were
both on board and could immediately prevent more damage. With the help of
the marina staff we re-berthed on another line and then checked
the Hydrovane. It appears that 2 pins have been bent but we hope
that is the only damage. Today Barry has managed to get both of them
out with considerable difficulty and is comfortable that there is no lasting
damage. We haven't even used the gear yet!
Today, Sunday, we decided
to leave and went to the office to pay only to find it is closed on
Sundays! Well I'm not too miserable to stay yet another day and now we
have decided to do one big hop to Gibraltar and the weather is becoming more
pleasant. We are taking the opportunity to update our website and
start our diary. |