Boat jobs continue despite a temperature of 35’c but comments from England tell us it is sweltering there too. In respites between the Meltemi wind we managed to get the cockpit tent rigged and secured, this gives us more shade and easier access to the cockpit, up to now we have rigged a tarpaulin over the boom but it was very difficult to get into and out of the cockpit with this. Now the tarpaulin is over the tent to protect it from the sun while we are ashore. We have also got a boom tent and a Bimini but we will leave these to experiment with when we are on the water and the wind is light.

I have no idea why, but Chris thought he could get away without trimming his beard for 3 months. He wants me to cut his hair but for  some reason he thought he could get away with a long beard. He was wrong! So at great expense he brought a new beard trimmer and was duly despatched to the foredeck for a trim.

The fuel tanks needed inspection because the fuel has been sitting stagnant for a long time now. Unfortunately to inspect these the saloon table has to be removed as one of the inspection hatches is under the table, the other one is under the battery box and we didn’t want to remove that. So the table was removed and the hatch opened. The fuel looked clean and clear much to our relief, there was a bit of dirt on the bottom of the tank but Chris had got some fuel treatment solution to help with any contamination, we hope. We decanted about 30L of the old fuel into jerry cans so that we can gradually add this back into the tank when we have a full tank of new fuel. The boat is lying slightly bows up in the boatyard so it was difficult to estimate how much fuel we had in the tank but we definitely need to take on fuel before we launch. This was duly ordered from the local petrol station who will come along with a tanker. The bank balance will take a bit of hit for this delivery. In order to have easier access to the fuel tanks in future, Chris managed to change the floor boards around and cut one to make it into an inspection hatch so that we don’t have to remove the table every time. I must admit to a bit of trepidation when Chris said he was going to saw up the boat, but all went well and you would never know the difference.

As Chris was working in the engine compartment, we started to smell an electrical burning smell - not something you want to smell on a boat. It turned out to be the fluorescent lights in the compartment completely burnt out and short circuiting. These were removed and will be replaced with new LED lights plus a complete rewiring of that side of the compartment. Having removed these lights we discovered that the some other electrical problems we had be having were suddenly resolved. The solar controller started working properly, the USB socket stopped cutting out and the radio has stopped making odd noises. It almost hard to hope that this was the source of all these problems.

In the mean time, diesel and engine aside, I have been trying to make Muskie as environmentally friendly as possible. We have only got blocks of soap for washing, dish washing, and shampoo and conditioner, Loofah sponges to use in the galley and for cleaning, environmentally friendly cleaning products like vinegar and soda crystals and only reusable plastic as far as possible. I am also tying to cook as if we are away from any shops like making our own yoghurt using only a flask and UHT milk, it worked!

Our new Parasailor that we ordered a long time ago should have been delivered last Thursday but we are still waiting, next delivery date we have is tomorrow - very excited.

A+C