Update news from Las Palmas
Salsa af Stavsnas
Ellinor Ristoff Staffan Ehde
Sun 25 Nov 2012 08:36
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First of all we have to thank Lars and Kajsa
for visiting us and bring things we ordered in Sweden. Lars found us on internet
and has been a "fan" following us since we left Sweden. When he and Kajsa
decided to go on vacation to Las Palmas they offered to bring things with
them.
As an extra bonus they also brought Lingon
berries!!!!! So now the kids love their poridge again.
Today we are suddenly relaxed and on the pontoon
all the frentic action stopped after the skippers briefing yesterday.
It was a dramatic meeting. More than 4-500 people
attending and the ARC leader Andrew Bishop declaring the rules for the start and
the finishing line. Then Chris came up and started to give a weather forecast.
Most of us knew it looked bad but he started to show maps and explaining the
complexity of the weather system above us. And as usual the Britts can do this
with some kind of wonderful understatement (rather uncomfortable=6 meter
waves).
The room was silent and you could tell that all the
brains where spinning about on how to do this. I had a plan on crossing the
start line and then go back and anchor. No way I was going to sail with my
family in 6 meters significant waveheight (wich means 8 meter is most possible )
and have 30 knots on the nose.
Then Bishop went up and declared that for the
second time in the history of ARC they had taken the very hard descition to
postpone the start for those that wished to do so. The applause and cheers would
never end. Bishop had to tell us to be quite again so he could continue the
information.
So we heard that 8 boats will leave today and they
will expect a very hard start and then 2 days of no wind, have fun!
The racing division will have to start today
anyway.
What happened before all this? How can things
become hysterical?
Well it all starts with lectures where you learn
about all the problems you can encounter sailing downwind for three
weeks.
The rig and the sails will actually wear as if you
had them at home and used them for three years.But all in one direction, because
you are likely to sail the same way all the time.
This means that the wear and tear is so hard that
even metal on metal can fatigue in three weeks time.
Why? Well we will have 2-3 meter waves 24 hours per
day, the wind will push the sails at a speed of 20 knots or more AND we are
heavy now. All tanks filled up food etc.
So with all this information a different set up is
required, we had to tape our spreaders, arrange blocks etc and check all the
shackels and tie them down one by one with stainless steel wire.
As the riggers asked in his lecture: - Do you know
what shackels do?
Everybody sitting there thinking, of course I do,
they hold things together.
Then he stated:- They come undone, and they do this
in the dark when you have a 25 knots wind.Believe me.
So you could say, they scare you so you change
things around.
To be honest, If we had not taken the ARC we would
probably have made quite a few mistakes out there (wich we still will
do)
The other thing with the ARC is SUPPORT, this means
that Raymarine, Hallberg Rassy, Fisher panda and other big manufacurers send
down technicians to support you before start.
Bertil from Hallberg Rassy for instance, an
extremely nice fellow, came to us on stated time and went through the rudder
system, the engine room and the rig. Only a thing like that takes half a day. At
the same time he gives us the opportunity to ask questions.
Bertil not only helped us with that, he even came
back to check if our generator problem was solved and as it was not, then he
offered to help us fix it. But as we where in a shop to buy screws etc, Ellinor
called and said that Fisher Panda was on board now. Fisher Panda is for those
who do not know a brand of diesel generators. We have one on board and it is
meant to give us power when we need it. As I wrote earlier it has come loose on
its shock absorbers.
Another great support is Jason from Raymarine that
has spent well over 16 hours to solve our pproblems. We had our new equipment
installed in Falmouth and have had quite a few problems since then. Jason was
not impressed and he took care of the problems, I had to do the wiring and he
connected.
Then we had a rig inspection and we did one
ourselves.
Ellinor has been planning the food and just to buy
supplies has taken her 2-3 days of work. Then comes the delivery and you have to
repack everything, Im sure that has taken 30 hours of labor. Some
boats have got cockroaches already here in Las Palmas. I don't know if I wrote
it before but Ellinor found one behind a label on a detergent
bottle!
What do we do with everything coming on board?
Everything is soaked in salt water for about three minutes and the rinsed with
fresh water, dried and stored on board.
By the way, we have learned tha onion can last
forever if you keep it outdoors in a net sack. Onion destroys on the other hand
other fruits and vegetables in the same room because it produces a gas that
ripes them.
Tha fun part of that is that we have 10 Kg of onion
hanging in the back of the boat now, looks funny. Now the other boat owners
started to ask why we have so much onion and I had no answer, so I told them
that in Sweden we eat them raw like apples....
Well I asked Ellinor why, and she replied,
beacuse we obviously dont know the weight of onions...'
We ordered it from a list where you put down how
much and what you need without seeing it.
Well if that was not enought Ellinor found a
carpenter when she was looking for wood and his price on making a bookshelf and
some other details was to good to be passed. The only problem has been that he
shows up two day after the appointment and the bokshelf has wrong color and
size. No big deal, he comes back again and now the color is right, no big deal
he comes back and so on....
Now it is there and it looks good, for the same
price he said from the beginning and we wonder how he makes his
money.
So how bad could it be?
Let me give you a scene.
As usual nobody shows up on time so Ellinor and I
decide to take down tha mainsail to secure the shackels etc. The mainsal is BIG
and we drop it on deck and of course then the whole deck is a mess with
sail.
Whe the sail is down the technician fron
Fisher Panda showes up and he wants to start working. He opens up the cockpit
and pulls out the interior in the storage room with all the stuff thats in
there, that goes on deck as well.
At the same time Erika falls between the boat and
the pontoon in the water, no big deal, but we have a child with wet salt water
clothes on.
At the same time two guys show up and want to
check the bimini they are making for us. But now we have a problem, because the
Fisher Panda guy is using the boom to haul up the engine, so the bimini cannot
be setup.
Our sail is still in a mess on deck and we cannot
hoist it because the boom is busy.
The technicians boss comes by and he complains in
French on how busy they are (wich I have no doubts about)
And THEN in the middle of everything the delivery
of fruits and vegetables arrives!
So now we have a dirty generator hanging in the
boom in the cockpit, mainsail on deck fruits and veggies on the pontoon, a kid
with wet clotes and one climbing the rig and two guy that are upset because they
cannot test the bimini (well they are only one day late).
And then the kids start to complain that we cannot
participate in the evenings event in the ARC (always party for those who
can).
Now you might think that's the scene?
No , now you take a pontoon with about 40 yachts
from Germany, Holland, England, USA, New Zeeland that all have kids (yes we are
on family pontoon) and take our situation times 40!
There is a Danish guy welding on one boat, one
sailmaker has repaired the spinnacker in a wrong way for our neightbour so they
have to undo the whole thing on their deck!
On the pontton there are deliveries, dinghys,
engines, even a toilet that has been taken out.
There are kids fishing, parents yelling, a father
in a mast giving orders from up above, bubbles from a diver under a boat
changing anodes.
Then you take that pontoon times 7?
It is like a mid evil city.
i'It is going to be so nice to get out on the
sea!
But as I wrote in the beginning,now it is all
quite, for the first time I have see someone read a book someone playing ukulele
and so on.
But on Monday it is probably coming all loose
again.
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