Safe for sea
A year afloat: to the Caribbean and back
Sam and Alex Fortescue
Fri 12 Nov 2010 09:51
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Well, readers, the party mentioned in the previous
post was well worth staying up for, although we were still tucked up by 11pm.
The scale of this event is astonishing and there are probably thousands of
people here all doing the crossing on more than 250 boats. We've gone from
feeling a bit special to thoroughly ordinary in the space of 24 hours. No doubt
good for the soul.
There's lots of really excellent news to report.
First, and critically, I've managed to resuscitate the watermaker without the
need for a cripplingly expensive new motor. It took lots of WD40 and some elbow
grease, but the machine works and produced good water from the liquid sloshing
around here in the marina. Relief is palpable here and at Mission Control in
Dorset.
There's a really frantic social programme here,
which involves parties or dinks every evening and seminars and day trips during
the day. There's also a great heap of admin work that needs to be done at some
point as well. But the second bit of good news is that we've successfully
checked, and we've been inspected for ocean-readiness.
This safety check had been reported to be an hour
long trawl through every bit of equipment on board, including destruction
testing of stoves to make sure they don't come loose in a knock-down. However,
we had a swift check with one of the organisers who signed us off with no
reservations - vindicating the many hours of work and planning that have gone
into readying Summer Song. So, for better or for worse, we're ready to go to
sea. Of course, being a 'test' Alex was beside herself with anxiety for 24 hours
beforehand, complete with sleeping badly and last minute revision. Equally,
being a test, Alex passed with flying colours.
We know that other boats have had a tougher time,
and we're so delighted that we're taking the day off to go surfing nearby. The
waves are quite big, but apparently we're not going in beyond our chests. I've
said I want my money back if I don't catch my first tube, but obviously the guy
hears this all the time, so there was only thin laughter from
him...
Las Palmas looks seriously industrial from the
sea
 Nets for fruit for the crossing
 Summer Song dressed overall in harbour
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