Goodbye Elsie and Propane gas
Moorglade's Voyage
Ted Wilson
Wed 19 Jan 2011 04:53
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The boat seems very empty without Elsie. Yes I know
she is only small but she does seem to take up quite a lot of space on a small
yacht. Well it is not so much the space she actually occupies but the spaces she
must not be allowed to get into and for a baby that is not supposed to be able
to walk yet, she seems to be able to get everywhere. It is pretty quiet too.
Elsie is not a noisy baby , she only really makes a racket when hungry, bored,
or excessively tired, and actually Kelly and Guy ensured that these conditions
rarely occurred, but she kind of added to the background noise of the
boat, and now we are back with the wind, waves, wind generator, battery charger
cooling fan, heads pump, halyards tapping etc. The other change I have
noted is that people walking by are not talking to us as a matter of course.
Everybody used to talk to Elsie, mainly because she waved and smiled at them
all. (I'm contemplating giving it a go and I can hold a conversation which is
more than Elsie can). I remember taking Jack shopping at Tescos in Taunton and
many of the young attractive Mums stopped to talk to me. I think in the
normal way of things if I started chatting up all the young Mums I would be
chucked out if the supermarket.
It has been good fun having Guy, Kelly and Elsie on
board and we are sorry they have to go.(we are going to have to take photos of
the scenery now) At present they are in the air on their flight back
to Gatwick. We hope it goes well and Elsie sleeps at least some of the
time.
The other task for today has been to replace the
propane cylinder we bought in Barbados. Gas is a bit of a problem. Butane, the
popular camping gas in Europe is not readily available here. We bought a white
Texaco Propane cylinder in Barbados but is has now run out, probably
because the rubber seal between cylinder and valve is perished. The laundry at
the marina can refill it but cannot help with the seal issue. Most of the day
has been spent trying to get a replacement cylinder. Eventually, late this
afternoon after a dinghy ride over to the Rodney Bay shopping Mal and pushing
the cylinder in a borrowed shopping trolley down the main road to the Texaco
petrol station I was told they were out of gas. However after a bit of
persuasion they did swap me an empty cylinder for the empty cylinder of my
choice which I can get the laundry man to refill tomorrow. Things just are not
that simple out here.
Applying factor 50 was not Elsies favourit
activity
Elsie did Photo shoots in designer dresses
   Eating however always found favour
  Elsie woke early and after breakfast played in the
focsle with Granny and Grandpa. Guy and Kelly somtimes had a peaceful breakfast
in the cockpit
  Elsie went for
walks...... And
watched Pepper Pig. Grandpa somtimes did boat jobs!
Elsie liked playing in her bowl in the
cockpit Guy
and Kelly returning from Jambe de Bois restaurant (Evenings out were a
rare treat)
  Elsie slept at
sea................
and so did Mummy
  Elsie waves goodbye from the taxi to Hewanorra
Airport
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