07. January 2013 · 2 comments · Categories: Posts

January 7th is one of my human’s birthdays.

Balloons and banners that have travelled all the way from England in the back of a cupboard.

 

And what does a man want when he turns 47 years old?

 

I’m not scared, I’m prepared!

 

He wants to be imbarrised by a load of balloons.

He wants to have his age plastered on a banner so everyone can see.

And he wants a GUN!

 

A spear gun that is.

 

Careful ‘Spirit of Argo’ is armed!  All fish be warned.

The spoilt child has another toy to play with.

Obviously not a lot of work got done today.

 

But I do have another mural for you.  I call this one Community of Fishermen.

Fisherment wading out on the beach to a boat

 

Closer up

I think they are coming out to help unload fish from the boat.

What do you think?

 

 

 

06. January 2013 · Comments Off on The Canary Islands:Fuerteventura-Gran Tarajal (Mural 16 – Iced Octopus) · Categories: Posts

Well my human’s are not the only boat hard at work in preparations to leave.

You may remember Limbo, a boat we have run into since Porto Santo in the Madierian Islands.  They have started to stock up on food for the crossing.

Tim unloading boxes of food.

 

It is great that the local supermarket delivers, but you still have to find space for it all!

Natalie down below trying to find a spot for everything.

 

They are planning to stop at the Cape Verdes too on the crossing.

Another boat getting ready to leave is ‘Escape Velociti’.  Unfortunately they do not have a blog.  I am sure theirs would be more informative then ours, as this is their second time round.  The boat owners, Mary and Ian, have had two children, Laylu and Morgan, in the intern.  They are celebrating birthdays at the same time as packing.

Laylu’s 9th birthday party.
The crowd playing pass the parcel

Don’t worry if you do not have friends to envite.  Just start a party and all the local children will be happy to join in!

 

The human’s have been hard at work, as usual.

They fitted tubing in a variety of places on the boat to cut down on chafe on the ropes.  They fitted a ‘Don Street’ style preventor under the boom to the mast.  They have started to fit an extra cleat for the preventor.  They fixed a leak that formed in the main water manafold, fitted fans in the galley (kitchen) and main cabin and purchased a selection of chain in a variety of lengths for locking things down and for wrapping around trees and rocks for mooring.  They fitted strong points to the boat to secure the kedge rope bucket to the stern and purchased some more petral cans for the generator.  Today they started to design the ‘all over’ boat canopy to give more shade.  Busy bees.  Tomorrow will be a down day, as one of the human’s is celebrating a birthday!

 

But enough of that, I have your mural for the day.  I call this guy the Iced Octopus.

And now for something completely different

This is one scary octopus

With scary tenticles

The ice cream is just ‘all wrong’.

 

 

06. January 2013 · Comments Off on The Canary Islands:Fuerteventura-Gran Tarajal-Trying to sort out twin headsails (Mural 15-Swordfish) · Categories: Posts

It has been a really boring day for me.

Let me out!

 

The human’s have spent the entire day trying to figure out how to set out a twin head sail rig.  They are going to try to sail down wind with two head sails instead of using the main sail.  The ‘poor man’s’ set up is to use the boom as a second pole.

 

Pole out the starboard (right) side and the boom out the port (left) side.

 

Setting up the pole was a simple affair for them as they do it all the time for the one foresail they usually sail with. Using the boom as a pole was a bit more complicated and required a few more warps (lines) and blocks (attachments).

Forward preventor, main sheet acts as a sterm preventor.
Two blocks for the main sheet, one block for the fore sail sheet and one last block for the stay sail sheet.

 

Do not try this at home!

I call this abuse!

 

The human’s do not have a trisail (storm main sail) so they are going to try and use the stay sail as both a stabilizer and a storm foresail if the dual headsail orientation becomes over powered by a squall.

Hopefully the small stay sail will ease some of the roll you get when down wind sailing.

But enough about boring sail plans….I have your next mural.  I call this one Swordfish.

Swordfish

It is always hard to get a good shot from the street level

Someone really loves fish

 

 

02. January 2013 · 1 comment · Categories: Posts

Life is a beach

 

Well hello gang.

 

The weather here is starting to get a bit cooler and everyone is getting ready to head south to warmer climates.

The first to leave, of the old Madeira crowd, is Selkie.  I will not have the kids to walk me on the beach any more.

Company on my walks

Last hugs from Cian and Ellen

Last goodbyes as they depart

 

More are planning to leave over the next few days.  My human’s have not finished with the preparations for the Cape Verdes and Atlantic crossing, and are still waiting for some parts to arrive.

They did finally get the bilge pump fixed and fitted, the freezer lid in and all the food back from the fish mongers.  It all did have a slight fishy smell, but was still frozen solid.  They got the whisker pole, that holds out the fore sail, lengthened, the kedge (stern) anchor warp mounted on the back deck and the first of the ventilation fans screwed into place in the galley (kitchen).

I spent the day sleeping off my flea treatment.  It always drugs me out!

 

But I am wide awake now with your next mural.  I call this one Fishing Boat on the Beach.

Fishing Boat on Beach

Take note of the name of the fishing boat

Guess what we found in our little harbour?

Here is the fisherman end of the Port

Look familiar?

 

01. January 2013 · Comments Off on The Canary Islands:Fuerteventura-Gran Tarajal-Happy New Year (Mural 13-The Stand Off) · Categories: Posts

First I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year.

I would like to say it was a quiet New Years, it certainly started out that way, but the Spanish do nothing half way.  The Canarian’s seem to take New Years celebrations even more serious then Christmas.  During the day all the shops were closed, including most of the cafes.  Gran Tarajal was like a ghost town.  That all changed about 11pm when a pop concert started.  Yes STARTED.  This concert, included a range of bands, and went on until 5:30am.  It was so loud we could hear it clearly from the boat.

Of course there were fireworks at midnight.  I hate fireworks since the French let them off just outside our boat in Audierne.  I hide down below in my bed under the saloon table now when ever I hear them.

Of course the human’s have been hard at work preparing for the Cape Verdes and the Atlantic crosssing.  They finally got the lead added to the portable generator and tested it all works.  They Sikoflexed (marine calking) their brains out sealing the head (bathroom) walls, the galley (kitchen) counter and making a new seal for the freezer lid.  They fitted the new hand held VHF radio and charger.  They have marked up the kedge anchor rope with depth markers and they reorganised the rope locker in the cockpit.

A friend they made told them “Cruising is really just fixing your boat in exotic locations”.

Enough about the humans and their BORING repair work.  I have another mural for you.  I call this one The Stand Off.

 

This one was on top of a building and it was hard to get a clear shot from the street.

You can now clearly see where I got the name ‘The Stand Off’ from

Who do you think will get the little fish first? The big guy on the left?

Or the guy on the right?

Maybe the little guy gets away?