La Gomera - 31 October
Dearloves
Tue 1 Nov 2005 09:16
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We are still in San Sebastian, La Gomera.
Alice has done some optimist sailing with the local sailing school:
 Optimist Support Boat
The rest of us went to the market and bought some
fantastic fruit. The mangoes and oranges are the best ever - so
sweet!
 Pip - you can't eat all that at
once
The children were given some fish by one of the
fishermen, which were very tasty.
 Fish Preparation on the
jetty
Their fishing in the marina has not been so
successful, but we are quite glad, as we don't fancy eating the fish from the
marina!
 We have been working on the boat - here is Charlie
servicing a winch:
 Other recent works are:
Fitting of new masthead light (Charlie had to be
winched up to the top of the mast) to put a three coloured light on (red on
port, green on starboard and white behind) instead of just a white
one. It will be safer to have this lit at night, meaning that from a
distance our direction of travel can be seen. Our bow light is often
hidden behind waves.
Replacement of all the pipework in the water maker
(these kept bursting dramatically, covering anyone and anything in the vicinity
with water). Changing of filter on water maker.
Servicing of cam cleats.
Polishing of hull and cabin top (including T
cutting where needed).
Cleaning and polishing of stainless
steel.
Fitting of lea cloths (to stop us falling out of
the bunks when the boat is at an angle or rolling, which is likely on the
crossing).
Repair of gelcoat on stern (from where a sudden
mistral blew us into a dock).
Repair of hatch cover above saloon (children
damage).
So it hasn't all been fun and
games! However, here is a picture of the children dressed up
for Halloween - the marina had several dinghies full of children doing "trick or
treat". The other boats were very game and we heard screams and laughter
from various parts of the marina throughout the evening. For broomsticks
Alice and Pip had the deck brush and a fishing net (A was a "child catcher"
witch) and Alice's wig came from a wonderful shop called the Oriental Bazar (one
of our favourites in San Sebastian).
 The plan is to leave here tomorrow morning, heading
for Santa Cruz de la Tenerife, which we are told is lovely. We will spend
a few days there before heading back to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria for the
final 2 weeks of preparation before the ARC starts.
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