coffee Stop

Truantofsark
Mon 3 Jan 2011 12:45
38:22.20N 9:37.78W

We had a good trip down the Portuguese coast, we passed the half way mark
and celebrated with a beer and roast lamb with roast potatoes. We called in
to Cascais (nr Lisbon) first thing this morning for fuel. We were there for
1 3/4 hours and managed to check the engine over and even get up the mast to
make some repairs. Fill with fuel and upset a Dutchman who wanted to get on
the fuel dock. Tom and Julius were sent ashore to scavenge for supplies,
more of that later. Julius in his keenness to get ashore jumped on the
pontoon with some force and is now limping around the boat, apart from that
Truant and crew all doing fine we have 741 miles to run to Gran Canaria. We
are expecting winds against us but if we can move along quickly we should be
ahead of the worst. current speed 8.4 Knots

Bom dia from the officer's Mess...

As yesterday was a Sunday and Tom had gone a full 4 days without a roast we
made a stirling effort to resolve this worrisome situation... The night
watch was the usual, they are a nuisance and do interrupt our slumber,
however you will be relieved to know we are finding ways around this toil..
We arrived, if briefly, in Lisbon and certain members of the crew became so
overexcited, they quite literally threw themselves at dry land. Limping off
in search of 'provisions'. A quick coffee and several Irish pubs later they
did come back.

A new phenomena occurred only a few minutes ago, a winch handle was used for
the very first time, needless to say it lead to a state of confusion amongst
the crew. Julius took some time to discover the use for this unnatural tool
and is still somewhat dazed and confused from his encounter with it. We will
endeavour to make sure this does not happen again. Signal was problematic
despite our best efforts- we did send an Iphone up the mast! No doubt we'll
get it back down when we arrive.

Oh and we may not have helped with diplomatic relations between the UK and
Portugal. Pointing at croissants and asking loudly for supermarkets went
down like a hog roast at a Barmitzvah... They should be more grateful as if
every tourist had a similar pound per minute ratio spend as if we did they
would not be in the financial equivalent of a Bangkok hooker after the Navy
left town.

All the sails are up and we are feverishly working out tonight's menu, pasta
or rice, big decisions to make...