Alongside Salvador
Weather: Sunny and warm
It has been a long day, This morning I got up early to take advantage of the
morning calm to hoist the mainsail and ensure that it was ready for sea.
This did not take long, I fitted the reef lines and checked the battens, all
looked well so I lowered and re-stowed it. As I was stretching it along the
boom preparatory to putting the sail cover on I tore it along the leech
again in a different spot from the repairs, this should of course not be
possible with a sail in good condition. I have to say I was not at all
surprised and rather then go through the trouble of unbending the sail
again, which takes a couple of hours with a full-battened main, and
harassing the sail maker I decided to repair it myself, not to mention the
likely delays and additional costs involved. This took up a good part of the
morning but all was fixed by 9.30 a.m. and I am pretty happy with the
repair. I wonder how much further this old sail is going to take me, I
suspect not too far at all. Fortunately I have plenty of sail fabric on
board, salvaged from the remnants of a jib that we shredded in a strong wind
up Labrador way a couple of years back
Then I walked to the supermarket, about thirty minutes away and had a big
shop to re-victual the boat in preparation for the next leg of our voyage.
Caught a taxi back, paid my marina bill and then stowed all the goods. Once
that was completed I filled the water tanks which takes a while, the water
from the dock is not considered potable so I filter it and then sterilize it
in containers, 10 litres at a time before pouring it into the tanks. So far
I have experienced no tummy troubles, touch wood.
The dinghy is back on deck, yet to be lashed, but it was getting dark and I
was getting tired. Only a few more things to do to get ready for sea, will
complete those in the morning and then clear out. So expect to be underway
sometime in the afternoon.
This evening I treated myself to a meal out and a few beers, very enjoyable.
Strolling back in the balmy night air, I came across four people sleeping
soundly under a tree on cardboard mattresses, each using some part of the
other's anatomy for a pillow. It rained heavily on Sunday night and when I
went ashore on Monday morning to get some cash from the nearby auto-tellers
which have their own small air conditioned hutches, all were occupied. I
decided not to disturb the resident's rest and moved on up the street to the
banks. As I walked I encountered children sleeping on the hard cobblestones
of the footpath under a building's awnings. What would a modern day Dickens
do with this? I wonder if Brazil has one.
All is well.
Bob Cat:
Skipper Bob can be a bit of a sad old soul, I try to take care of him
(orders from Mary).
I have always thought leading by example a very sound philosophy - life is
good, several nice comfy places to sleep, often difficult to make up my mind
which one, though the skipper often does it for me, for instance when he
half destroys the cabin filling water tanks or working on the engine. I get
a regular pat and brush. Food could stand improvement, but there is plenty
of it and I am led to understand the stuff he feeds me is good for me (no
wonder it tastes so bad). And I have to grizzle a bit, good feline therapy,
makes the skipper think what a grumpy, selfish old sod I am, and thereby
makes him think better of himself - you see? The fact that I actually am a
grumpy, selfish old sod is beside the point. I do what I do best. It's a
tough job with few rewards but - the reward of virtue is virtue. Oh what a
heavenly cat I am - but you wouldn't know it looking at me. It seems I am
working overtime myself . enough .. back to the important things ...
Zzzzzzz.
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