..back in Lanzarote!

It is exciting to be finally getting prepared.
But there is now a list of jobs to be done. 

We were also flying to England on the 21^st October for 9 days. 

This trip back to England we had arranged to see “Discovery Yachts” to talk about the little problems we were having and pick up replacement parts for the boat.

We now also had a Diesel leak and a main sail to sort! Ugh!

The local boatyard had worked on a Halberg Rassy few months previously on the same vertical baton issues we were having so they also had a good idea how to sort it.  John talked to Discovery and arranged for us to bring more batons back to Lanzarote on our return flight. 

Wet and windy weather greeted us in England nothing changes there!

Wet and windy England!
We had a great stay despite this and a great time with Mum.

BioFuel can seriously harm your rubber!

Our ‘Discovery Yachts chat’ was very useful.
It turns out that the Diesel rubber flanges that were perishing because of the biofuel additive that oil companies in Europe now have to add to their diesel by regulation. These flanges are now being replaced with cork.  This was particularly frustrating because when our starboard tank flange went a few months ago we were just sent a single new cork gasket but no mention of bio diesel by the tank manufacturer and that the other two tanks would have the same problem over then following months!
We assumed the gasket had been put on wrong.  If they had just told us about the bio diesel then we would have ordered two more gaskets to replace our port tanks at that time saving everyone hassle!  Now we were in a position of one tank leaking and the other about to go - sometime.

We got two more gaskets. 

There were several other small parts we needed and Discovery Yachts offered to send one of their engineers to help once we got back to Lanzarote which we of course were very thankful for.

Ummm… unfortunately while you were away a boat knocked your boat.

Unfortunately while we were away we received an email from the marina telling us that another boat had gone into the back of our boat while maneuvering to moor up.  

He had insurance.

The result was our punctured dinghy with the aluminum hull of the dinghy getting bent.
Another job we could do without.
We are pretty certain they also badly scratched the hull too – but they wouldn’t admit to that.

Jobs, jobs and more jobs!!!

We had arrived back to Lanzarote on Nov 1^st, giving ourselves three weeks to prepare for this trip. Now we really had to get to it.

Our first priority was the dinghy as the boat that knocked us was leaving the next day.  To his credit he had found a repair man and arranged for him to take the dinghy away after being given an estimate with his promise to us that if it cost more that the estimate he would reimburse us.
Nicholas ‘the RIB repair man’ arrived and assured us he could mend the dingy and took it away.

Next, replace the flanges on the two port tanks.
The aft port tank was easily replaced although the flange had mostly rotted away. However the forward port had a problem. On undoing the screws John noticed the pins for the inspection hatch were not straight up. They were angled outwards? Why?
John decided to leave this problem the ‘Discovery Engineers’ who would be arriving in just a few days.  

John’s next big job was to replace the water UV filter that had broken on our way from Gibraltar to Madeira.  Armed with all the parts John wiggled his way down into the small area under the salon table.  80% of his body was now hanging under the floor and his arms fully stretched. Muttering about who designed this must have played for the NBA! At this point I am on hand to pull him back out!
It went well and despite the difficulty of getting to this area this job was finished. I did have to pull John out. I didn’t negotiate when ‘those jobs that I needed doing would be done’ - but we did have a good laugh about it.

Now down to the serious job. Survival at sea!
We already had quite serious emergency equipment but we felt we wanted to enhance them even more.
John made procedure notes for our crew to read before we leave dock.  
Determined phone numbers of all the emergency people that might ever be needed.  
Planned information for all our relatives to coordinate with each other.
Grab bags have been emptied checked and repacked.  
Food rations of Canadian high energy bars are being brought over by Cathy and Bob.
Hand Watermaker added
Extra rations of water each.  
VHF radio.
Satellite phone all charged ready to go.
EPRIB checked.
Rota of who grabs what list.

..phew!  All needed but hopefully never to be used!

Two days later Clive, a rigger and who also runs the local boatyard came to look at the main sail with the sail maker, John. Part of the broken batten was still in the top of the sail.  There were some more split battens.  The best they could do was pull ALL the battens out, take the main sail away,  repair and re-stitch where necessary. Then pop it all back again. We needed the spares brought back from England.

‘Andy’, from Discovery Yachts had also arrived.
He checked over the sailmaker’s plan and then set off to complete the remaining jobs.
Andy and Mike (a young apprentice from Discovery) worked all day on various parts of the boat. Resealing the mast area, replacing the door roller and putting in extra ventilation for the air conditioning system.
Then came the flange change on the forward port fuel tank. Andy seeing the problem rang ‘Discovery’ and after several minutes of discussion they all determined to take the cap off, replace the flange and see if the cap back on. We watched with all our fingers and toes crossed.
YES! It worked!
Andy also agreed with Clive that our back stay was a little loose and needed a tighten once we got the main sail back on.

The Atlantic Odyssey begins to Assemble

The marina now is full of excitement as the Atlantic Odyssey flotilla of boats that are leaving on the 17^th Nov for Martinique are now arriving. The famous Jimmy Cornell is running this and arrived to coordinate the boats on November 9^th. There are lots of families and a wide variety of boats 30ft and up.

There are also another 15 independent boats like us getting prepared.
Some are singlehanded and one boat is a 39 year old 26ft Catamaran also our neighbours on the pontoon. Mike the skipper, is a very experienced sailor and has actually made several journeys across the ‘pond’.  He will be leaving around the same time as us.

While John has been working on the boat jobs, I have been working on the provisioning.
Although our intention is to be in the Caribbean before 21 days, I have to work on it taking that long. So, that’s 5 people, 21 days, three meals a day plus snacks and drinks. 
This is fun! For Example.
We need 40 apples, 20 liters of fruit juice, 20 kilos of meat ..you get the picture!

All the fresh produce must be washed prepared and stored.  Luckily we have a freezer.
John & I have had a lot of fun making up some delicious dinners and desserts, trying samples and then putting what is left after John has finished in the freezer. I intend to have 7 complete meals ready to go ‘from the freezer to the dinner plate’ by the time we leave.  
If we encounter bad weather these will be perfect.
We have also have a surprise on our sideboard.  

I have been promised at least one ‘BIG FISH’!
I’ve recipes waiting for it.

We will not starve!

There are well stocked supermarkets here and a small market which all makes this task easier for me.