14th May

Osprey
John Bowering
Fri 15 May 2009 01:04
Well, Super Charged Teddy says "Osprey is ready to go!" He arrived at this
conclusion after a thorough inspection of the yacht and a somewhat long, hot
and frustrating visit to the Port Authority, Customs & Immigration in
Nelson's Dockyard/
Another dawn saw Osprey's Crew as the first at work within the Catamaran
Club Marina for the 4th day in a row. First order of the day was the
inspection, and servicing of the grab bag by Charles while John went through
his various lists of what to do. The grab bag is in case the crew has to
enter the life raft for any reason, and carries all the essential survival
gear. The pre-departure checklist was also consulted, and nearly 2/3rds has
been ticked off.
Next John & Charles fought with the gas bottles for the stove, these had to
be removed so that they could be filled. A very fiddly job, with lots of
annoying positions required in order to get them out of the locker. It took
some time until the Skipper could remember the exact sequence, but
eventually the Old Timer got his brain working - it was still before 8am -
and they came out. Then we just had to wait for Maude to collect the last
bag of laundry before we headed out.
First stop Jane's Yacht Services to drop off the gas bottle, and then onto
Nelson's Harbour. Port Authority was dealt with in a very efficient
manner, not very caribbean-esque at all but then came Customs, except no
customs officer. So we waited, and it got hotter, so we waited some more
and it got even hotter. A cup of coffee latter, and it was decided to head
to the slipway chandlery to get a few final bits - unfortunately no toilet
lubricant, not sure what exactly this is for but John is adamant we, or
perhaps he, needs it! A quick stop for the vital task of buying some flip
flops for Anita, John & Charles could not understand all the fuss - must be
a shopping thing. Then back to Customs, and thankfully success.
A final flit around Bailey's supermarket - we really don't need anymore
sardines, biscuits or toilet roll. Although SC Ted is using the toilet roll
for his abstract art installation called "Swaddled Osprey".
Once back on board John completed some paperwork, Charles got to lubricate
the rubbers on the scuttles and closed these in the for'd cabin & salon.
Crazy Kuki did some more preparation for easy sandwich making during the
voyage. Then we picked up the gas bottle, and could have a nice cup of Tea.
Then we called it a day, and headed to the bar.
The amusing incidents today involved Charles - firstly somehow, even after
applying factor 50 sunscreen he still managed to miss the lower 1.5 inches
of his back, and it is now angry red and according to Kuki resembles a
sunset - go figure that. The second incident involved the discovery of
Anita's moth eaten straw sombrero - which Charles used to amusing affect
whilst using pipe lagging as a guitar and thus resembled a mariachi player.