Preparing to leave
VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Tue 14 Aug 2012 21:23
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We're just about to leave Bora Bora after three
months in French Polynesia. We've checked out with the Gendarmerie (most of them
are 'real' French, on 3 month secondments from metropolitan France) and got our
tanks filled with duty-free fuel. I really can't understand why travellers are
entitled to duty free fuel; it seems financially stupid - we'd pay any price
they asked, and it's all imported on the same boat, so I can't see why allowing
foreigners to have fuel at a lower price than the locals makes any economic
sense).
We also had to fill up our cooking gas. This is
sometimes a real trial - there is a bewildering number of different fittings
around the world, and two types of gas (butane & propane) in bottles that
are not entirely compatible with each other. In Bora Bora it is impossible to
get our bottles with US-type gas valves filled, nor our European camping
gas types. All you can get is a huge cylinder with a 'European' fitting. But
luckily I had invested in a set of international connectors in the UK before we
left (£130). We used them here for the first time, not without some trepidation,
following instructions in a sailing book.
Here is our set-up in operation:
 The large cylinder weighs about 30kg, 13kg of which
is gas. It's strung upside-down on a convenient strong point on a friend's boat
and a hose with an adaptor at either end connects the two cylinders. The large
one is full of liquid butane ('cos this is France). The smaller one is an
American propane cylinder (it's OK to put butane in a propane cylinder as the
gas pressure is lower). Liquid gas flows slowly down the tube by gravity,
over time filling the smaller cylinder. Unfortunately without a pressure gauge
it is impossible to tell when the cylinder is full, and it's important not to
overfill as this can cause the cylinder to burst - a good thing to avoid. So we
rigged up a balance to compare the weight of a full cylinder (which we luckily
had) with the one to be filled. Worked like a dream, and we filled our
cylinders, those belonging to our friends on 'Twice Eleven' (from Winnie the
Pooh, 'Now we are six') and those of some Norwegian friends, at a very good
price.
Before crossing an ocean it's a really good idea to
check the rigging - the whole thing is held up by a few split pins which can
wear or rust, and then down comes the mast. So hre is Ali in the bosun's chair
checking the top of the mast. It's only 23m above sea level, but feels more when
I'm grinding away by hand to winch her up (we don't use the electric winch for
this any more after hearing of a couple of horrific incidents with lost arms or
hands).
  You can see our French courtesy flag in the first
picture, flying from the starboard spreader where it has been for the last three
months. But only for a few hours longer!.
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