Ready to go

Ocean Science's blog
Glenn Cooper
Tue 13 Jan 2015 16:22
9am on Tuesday and getting ready to go.  Except that this postmodern limo has been  parked in the refuelling dock since last night.  We have politely asked the boat to move off, and when it does so we will snick over there and top up with diesel - we take 1700 litres which is good for just over 1000 miles. 
 
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We had hoped to be off yesterday but the rigging inspection and repairs did not finish until the afternoon, so we sloped off for a Chinese meal instead of burbling out into the Atlantic
 
Here is the rigger, Daniel, scampering up the mast like a squirrel.
 
 
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We also had to clean the deck.  In Lanzarote there is a nasty miasma called the Kalima which appears now and then, often with some rain. .  It is a misty wind carrying very fine Saharan sand.  If you hose down the deck it move a little, then stays put.  The particles must be close to the atomic weight of uranium.
 
Here are some pix of the cockpit when cleaned with water and with Make-Teak-Smile goo; and the proud operatives. The other Ben also helpred but was in the bow doing serious stuff with halyards.   (It rained again in the night and dumped a further coat of heavy-metal sand, but that’s life on board, chums) 
 
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