Departure preparations

After watching the weather we thought we would be ready for a Friday departure (okay I know the superstitions, Monday is supposed to be a bad day to start a voyage in Portugal, believe what you want!). We shopped until we dropped for final groceries that we won't see outside the UK and final boat bits.

We had  two trolly loads of groceries. Just as we loaded the 2nd trolly load into the cockpit we had a lovely unexpected visit from John & Beryl.We are a lot tidier now, Beryl! As you can see it all fitted neatly in the starboard locker. Note the strange red Marmite jar lids, not to be confused with Bovril.

One of the last jobs before departure was to fit the steering lines and the rudder to our brand new Hydrovane . An easy task so we thought. To our concern the course adjustment mechanism appeared to be seized. Thinking it was just a bit of dirt or salt, liberal washing with hot water seemed the answer. This made things worse!

An investigation via the web produced a 'fix'. This required taking the unit apart -  over the back of the boat! Drifting out the bushes and enlarging with sandpaper.

All now seems well. We just hope this doesn't happen again when we eventually reach warmer climes.

So departure was postponed until Monday, when better winds were forecast.

Sunday was spent on changing the engine oil and final stowing of gear. We were all set to depart Monday morning.

On checking the weather again, we only had a 1 day window before the weather turns foul again. The decision was; a week in Poole, a week in Cherbourg or stay put!

 

Here we are, dressed overall for the Jubilee, staying put!