Thursday 20th May 2015
Today has been a tidying up, sorting and chucking out day. On Tuesday afternoon Chris made contact with Michael Harvey who owns a boat in Povoa de Varzim which is currently on the hard and who has some items which he wanted to sell. One of which was a passerelle (or folding gangplank). Having met up with him we agreed to purchase a 3 way folding passerelle including a carrying bag and also a spare chart covering the Gibraltar Straits. Having now got the passerelle onboard, we then have to find a place to stow it resulting in today’s activities, it now has a ‘not in use’ location in the bilge under the port stern cabin. The next task will be to find someone to manufacture a bracket out of stainless steel that can be bolted to the stern of the boat so the passerelle can be slotted in when in use.
A major bone of contention has been resolved, Chris’s weight obsession (not his - the weight of the boat – heavier boats sail slower!) has led him to challenge the right of the pressure cooker to live on board! Carolyn was determined to prove him wrong and the item has been heavily used during the time our guests spend with us, not just as a pressure cooker but simply a big pan. Chris has had to back down and assign it a permanent role and space on the boat. Mind you he is mumbling into his coffee about there being enough room on Splice for a guitar.............watch this space.
Thursday morning the wind was quite calm and we saw the departure of two boats heading south for the Douro marina, as that’s only about 12 miles it’s a safe morning run before the wind came back up. We are looking to do an 80 mile passage so need a longer weather window. We also now have two new Dutch boats which have just come in from Viana de Castello to the north. Thursday pm the wind was back up over 25 knots and doing its standard afternoon whistle through the assembled rigging. In the evening we were invited aboard Martin and Jean’s boat ‘Freedom too...’ (they have quickly pointed out they did not chose that name!), an Austrian/Swiss couple, Mega and Gabby were also there. Drinks accompanied by chesses, ham, sundried tomatoes, mussels, apricots and cherries went on until around 9.00pm as boat issues, harbours and families were discussed and shared.
The picture is a shot of the galley on Splice so you can see how we cook and cater on board. To the right, the oven and grill with four burners on the top hob. Most mono-hulls have an oven on ‘gimbals’ (ie one that swings with the motion of the boat) but this is not necessary on a cat that sails much flatter. The left-hand stainless steel door is the main food fridge and there is another top opening fridge in the work-surface to the left of the sink – this is the beer fridge (well, wine is allowed in there too... as well as spare milk, juice etc. We do have a medium sized freezer under one of the bunks but have not found we need it as we are able to get fresh produce regularly. We have to be careful with the fridges as they take a lot of power from the batteries, they are often switched off when sailing and have to be opened as little as possible. The twin sinks with central drainage area face the forward windows. The microwave, kettle and toaster are on the left but of course can only be used when in port and on ‘shore-power’ (ie plugged into the marina electricity) or when we run the generator (this is mostly how the batteries get charged, though the main engines charge them as well when we are motoring). We have a second kettle, the black one, for use on the gas hob when sailing/at anchor. Fruit and bread live on the shelf top left next to the toaster. Plates, mugs, glasses and bowls are stored in the recess in front of the sinks and ‘in use’ food supplies in the cupboard to the left of the fridge. The rest of our stores live under the saloon seating and have to be accessed by lifting the seats. Pots, pans etc are in a big draw under the oven and knives etc in the drawers between the oven and sink. We keep fresh veg and other fruit in the cupboard below on the port side where it is cool and dark where they last well. It is quite easy to cook a meal for four on board and we are able to eat very well, even when on passage.