The anti hangover stuff helps a lot but doesn’t stop me from waking up at 5 am. I lie there, knowing I could be productive on the internet (looking for a flight for one thing), but have just enough of a hangover to make the idea seem unappealing. I try to go back to sleep but it just doesn’t happen, and once Mike is up making tea, I attempt to catch up with the blog instead.
Today is boat re-fuelling and cleaning day. The fuel is scheduled to arrive around 9 am so we are up and ready by then. The truck doesn’t arrive so while wait we put the baton back in the sail cover which means I can now move freely around on the starboard side of the boat, open and close cupboards and doors and get to the food stores. The hours tick by and eventually I give up waiting and borrowing Basia’s jet wash, I start to clean the cockpit. It takes forever but eventually it comes up sparkling. Obviously it would have been better to wait until after the re-fuelling but the fuel might never arrive (which could be interesting). Of course, the cockpit floor is still drying when Paul announces over the radio that the truck has arrived and anyone needing jerry cans filling should take them over to the dock. This means that Mike tramps all through the cockpit making dirty footprints which I have to clean up again.
The marina staff arrive with the diesel in 200 litre drums. They pump one in and although the second one should have gone in, just at the end, a couple of litres spurt out of the tank and all over the cockpit – all over my previously spotlessly clean cockpit. They find this amusing – I don’t. Cursing loudly as they drive off, I squirt washing up liquid over the diesel and add boiling water, scrub it again, then rinse it off with the jet wash. If you don’t do it straight away it turns the floor surface yellow.
Mike picks up the laundry then cleans out the two escape hatches, making them completely watertight again. During rough passages, a tiny amount of sea water forces its way through the seals and splashes up. I re-oil the teak table in the cockpit. Through all this, we drip with sweat and at 4.30 pm I realise that I have been on my feet all day. Mike closes up the boat, turns on the generator and the air conditioning whirls into action. After a shower, lying down in the cool is absolute bliss.
Paul and Suzanna organise a WARC barbecue for the evening and grabbing a couple of steaks that have been marinating all day in garlic and chilli we make our way over to the yacht club. WARC provide all the salad, rice, bread and beans. It’s a good spread and the steaks are delicious.
Photo: Maggie, Annie, Rosemary, me, Bev and Jutta
Bev provides a bottle of rum to add to the lovely local pineapple juice provided, leaving it standing behind a wooden post so that we can help ourselves like naughty school girls.
Annie organises a girl’s day out tomorrow for shopping then lunch. Should be good.
Photo: Annie and Jim
There are still about half the crews left when Mike and I leave. Some stalwarts are talking about a party on Crazy Horse but after two evenings of drinking I’ve had enough and anyway, the air conditioning beckons!
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