Dressed all over

Sweet Dreams
Roz Preston /Ed Phillips
Mon 31 Oct 2022 15:18
Dressing all over is the term applied in boating circles to decorating with flags. It is common to dress overall during rallies and festivals and it looks great when all the boats are festooned in colourful flags.

Each flag has its own meaning or letter of the alphabet, so some genius long ago worked out a sequence in which the flags should be strung so that they are not giving out any message. However the genius on board Sweet Dreams has rearranged ours with a specific message. Not to be too controversial, Ed used the Irish form of our best known four letter expletive. The other word is Brexit. There will be a prize for the first trainspotter who approaches us to point out the error of our ways😂

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Another form of dressing up came into effect on Saturday night at the formal yacht club dinner, costing an eye watering 55euros per head. Mr Ed Phillips declined to attend in language that I will not repeat here. Sadly he discovered that he had left his dinner jacket behind. However, undeterred Mr Dick Phillips and I dressed all over in our glad rags as requested by the Club Nautico Real, for an evening of below average food and inadequate quantities of drink. Even the water was rationed! Just as well the company was good. Black humour soon kicked in. Our conclusion was that between them the posh yacht club and the World cruising club were unable to organise the proverbial piss-up in a brewery. The ARC + participants were unamused, and the complaints poured in. I’m not holding my breath for a refund. 🙄

We will be avoiding any further dressing for the 70’s disco. Personally I spent my 70’s avoiding discos, and I’m not about to start now.

Anyway it is challenges like these that are helping to build a strong community!

We are largely unimpressed by Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. It is a big sprawling city, spilling down the coast in an ugly series of shopping malls and industrial estates. The south of the island seems to be one enormous holiday complex. The old town of Triana has character and some beautiful old courtyard villas, but we are some way from there and it’s a bit hot for long walks. However yesterday I hired a car and we set off inland to discover some of the beautiful parts. We were not disappointed. The scenery is awe inspiring, with picturesque little villages tucked away amongst jsoaring mountains and sheer cliff faces. Photos don’t do it justice.

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Parts of it reminded me of Monument Valley.

Crew supper tonight. Hoping it will be better that Saturday’s event! Meanwhile all the talk is of provisioning and last minute problems. Our freezer is full of stuff from Free Spirit whose freezer has broken down. Fingers crossed ours won’t get the same idea.

Sweet Dreams out.


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