12th November

12 00 N
61 46 W

Weather; overcast and showery, wind variable direction increasing in late afternoon, waves n/a

Just a short blog today as it has been raining on and off all day so we didn't get anything of great note done. We started the day with me giving Gerry a haircut as he was beginning to look a bit unkempt, like most grotty yachties. Gerry took a ride into the Yard to see Dale and wish him a safe trip back to the States and whilst he was there he just had to visit Budget Marine to purchase a couple of water maker filters and some chaff guard to put on our bridle. Whilst he was away I did a small load of laundry by hand and pegged it out along the safety rails to dry. Gerry returned and the first I knew about him being back was a bang on the deck which I went out to investigate and found him untying the awnings from their rolled up position on the boom to put them in place and give us some shade. I went out to assist as it's an easier job when you don't have to try and control the flapping around of the untied bits whilst you are trying to tie down the end you are holding on to. With one side done it was on to the other side and then the job was done - we just have to wait and see if the awnings help with keeping the boat cool. So other than that bit of excitement we did the usual jobs of running the water maker to replenish our water tank and made ice cubes continuously to try and keep our insulated bag as cool as possible. The rain continued to bug us all day, it would rain just enough for us to close the hatches up and then would stop - it was a never ending round of hatch opening and closing until late afternoon when the wind changed direction taking the rain away but causing the swell to increase and make us roll around. By the time the sun (yes it finally appeared in time to set!) was on its way down we were more than ready for a sundowner cocktail out in the cockpit - the first one in a while. The sunset wasn't particularly spectacular but the cocktail was!
It was a toss-up whether to put the photo of Gerry with cocktail in hand or one of the new dinghy on this page the dinghy won out, who needs to see a shirtless, balding old man enjoying a rum thingy!