Stuck in the Povoa Time Warp
Niord's Big Adventure
Tony Gratton
Sun 23 Jul 2023 19:34
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Saturday 22/07/2023 Povoa
We're up early to empty out the aft cabin again,
followed by a brisk walk to the facilities. We are both muzzy from last night.
Karen stays to do the washing while Tony heads back to meet the engineer. It's a
miracle! He turns up on time! He sets to disconnecting the prop shaft with a
dirty great pry bar. He's a professional so he doesn't give a jot about my
gearbox! He's muttering in Portuguese, and at one point physically climbs into
the engine bay a la Rory. Then he decides that's a bad idea, so he undoes one of
the engine mounts, and get's me to start the engine. Tony thinks it's a
ploy to get him out of the way so he can't see what he's up to! "New bolts"
he shouts in English after the engine is stopped. Everything gets put back
together with the new high tensile bolts. The alignment is good (hope it's still
good after his tinkering with that engine mount!), the engine mounts are good.
There may be a slight problem with the shaft, but he's seen worse on other boats
with no problem. He leaves. Tony goes over everything he's done to make sure
that nothing is loose. He then runs the engine in gear. All seems
good.
The second consignment of hen's teeth is stuck for the
weekend in customs. They only work on weekdays, so nothing will move before
Monday earliest.
Things are not so good with Karen. She's worse today
than yesterday, and has to go to bed. There's no way we can leave with her like
this. Tony does a turn at dinner, for a change. The predicted high wind howls
outside. We have an early night, as we both need it. There's a festival on in
town with music. It goes on until the small hours, but we're too tired to
care.
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