27 June - 8 July

Plenty has happened, but not everything was worth writing about. Work stuff. How I fixed this and that. Totally uninteresting. Two events worth updating are 4th of July Launch and Lunch at Nito's mother-in-law's dining room.

North Star is in the water. We are awaiting arrival of the new mounting bracket for the life raft, as I broke down and bought a 6-man life raft. Everyone knows that a 4-man life raft won't fit four men, hopefully the 6-man will! The sails are rigged, in process of convincing the engine alternator that it should work, outboard motor has a gummed up carburetor, and wind vane steering system is in process of going together. We should be underway this week for a tour around Ría de Arousa.

Fourth of July came too quickly this year. It also coincided with launching North Star. I had managed to get a set of international signal flags from our friend, Philippe in France. He had washed them and in the process had disconnected them. Dressing ship is normally done on Navy ships for special events and international signal flags are flown from stem to masthead to stern -- but the flags must go together in a proper order. There we were the night before launch with a myriad of things to get done so North Star did not sink when lowered into the water. One of the staff from the boatyard, Carlos, came over to check to make sure we would dress ship for the launch and 4th of July. We found ourselves at 11PM putting the flags together, in order, with no idea how we were going to raise them since the halyards had been removed last summer. And by the way, Carlos said, we hear there will be a party on the pontoon after the launch! I guess I had mentioned to the boatyard owner, Nito, that we would open a bottle of Prosecco in celebration. Of course this was interpreted to mean there would be a party on the pontoon for everyone in the yard since they had never had an American boat in the yard on the 4th of July. And did I mention this to Shan, our detailed planner, oops! I guess I forgot and somehow worked past an awkward moment.

So the Fourth came whether we were ready or not. Somehow the dress ship flags were raised and Shan managed to get off to the local super mercado for celebratory Prosecco and cake, still not knowing exactly what was planned. North Star was moved to the launch point, then picked up by this huge 160 ton travelift to be lowered into the water. We still did not have a clue as to this mysterious party. Launch went without a hitch, although right in the middle we had to make room at the pontoon by moving three other boats. So finally, Carlos agreed we would party at 6PM and brought a Stars and Stripes Banner that he had made specially for the Fourth and for us. Meanwhile, Shan kept asking for details which she finally decided to make the details for herself. She sent me out to tell everyone about the party and that it would be a few minutes before yard closing time so all the workers could attend. Everyone did come, so many came that the pontoon started to sink at one end, and a great time was had by all. Bob and Maureen, Irish friends on Modus Vivendi, rafted outboard of North Star had us over later for a wonderful dinner, after which we collapsed.

The problem with our big celebration was that Nito, the yard owner, could not attend due to a schedule conflict. He is the one to whom Shan and I had promised the Prosecco. We still had the bottle in the fridge. So Nito invited Bob and Maureen, Shan and me, and our Irish Storyteller friend, Gerry Burke to lunch at his mother-in-law's dining room. We brought the bottle of Prosecco. Nito, his wife, Mariquina, mother-in-law Josephine, and close family friend, Manuel, were there to welcome us. As I understand it, Mariquina and her mom had owned a restaurant, a Michelin Star, several years ago, so they brought all the commercial kitchen equipment to Josephine's house and built a kitchen and dining room separate from her house. The food was wonderful and the wine constantly flowing. I had gorged my myself on courses one and two, when Manuel happened to say there is much more to come...and it did. After the meal the singing and storytelling went on for a couple of hours, during which Josephine, in her early eighties, showed us all how well she could sing and kept right up with Manuel, Gerry, Bob and Shan who was playing spoons. Needless to say we had a wonderful time and learned much about superb Spanish cooking.