It is now just two days to go before the start of the first leg of the Rally. Everyone is itching and in some cases twitching to get going. There is no chance of getting marina fever in Marina Bay which is just one giant construction site at the moment. Quite impossible to keep the boat clean with all the airborne dirt and dust and the water is full of debris.

There has been a near constant round of receptions and parties since the rally fortnight commenced. Receptions at the Governors Official Residence and meeting Lord & Lady Fullerton. Last night it was the turn of the Minister for Tourism, who laid on a really nice drinks reception in a stunning setting. The building being the former residence of the commander of the British forces. All looking a bit sad and neglected now.

The preparation work on Zipadedoda is endless. It is a bit like painting the Forth Rail bridge!! We have fitted extra diesel tanks as we need to extend our motoring range from 600nm up to 800nm.

After much deliberation we decided it was time for Zipadedoda to go green.

So she now sports a wind generator. In theory, this will charge the batteries at up to 30 Amps in a 25 knot breeze. So far the performance appears to be very much less than that. Although in all fairness, the batteries are well charged at the moment. Time will tell!

We are now also the proud owners of a couple of demountable solar panels. These will each produce around 4 amps, when the sun is out. BRING ON THE SUN!!!!!!!

The reason for this continued depletion of our retirement fund is solely down to the fridge & freezer. These two items of kit are VERY power hungry. This position will get even worse once we get into warm water, as the heat exchanger plates are attached to the hull, underwater. So as the water temperature rises, the compressors will have to work even harder. Jennie has done a super job of provisioning the boat for our next leg (and probably around the world 25 times), and the freezer is now rather like one of those suite cases you have to sit on to get closed!! One thing is for sure. We will not starve, even if I don’t catch any fish!!!

There are all sorts of maintenance issues to deal with. For example the generator raw water impeller had disintegrated. Probable due to the fact that we spent so much time at anchor in Alvor, where the water is heavy with sand particles. So that meant having to back flush the heat exchanger on the genie, and then cleaning out the resultant 35 gallons of water from the bilges. Such deep joy……………..

The other consequence of fitting diesel tanks to the decks was that the ropes, guys and pulleys I use for the poling out system for the Genoa, no longer works, as the tanks foul the lines. So I am about to trot of to the chandlers to spend more of my retirement fund on blocks and shackles. On that note, time to go………………….