Preparations…..

July 2nd to 4th

 

These few days were spent firstly catching up on sleep and rest and then getting Windekind, and ourselves ready to go to sea. We had Windekind lifted out on Tuesday, just for an hour, so that BT could renew the stern gland packing....it was no mean feat as the weather was really hot and BT was working in a VERY small space...as you can see, just legs sticking out from the engine compartment and BT struggling to reach over the top.

[caption id="attachment_1092" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Windekind being held out of the water ….[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1093" align="aligncenter" width="480"] George went to lunch whilst BT worked in Windekind[/caption]



[caption id="attachment_1095" align="aligncenter" width="480"] The view from above...[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1096" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Working hard….[/caption]

On Tuesday evening we returned to Roderigo’s house to collect Bluebelle and bring her back to the port, this meant that we were able to go to a much larger supermarket and properly stock up...as you can see......

[caption id="attachment_1097" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Not purely a liquid diet…spot the healthy fruit!![/caption]

I have to reassure you all dear friends that we are not intending to live on a purely liquid diet...we did, as you can see, buy healthy fruit too.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were all spent tinkering away on Windekind...cleaning, tidying, re-lacing the sail to the gaff using proper old hemp cord that was retrieved from BT’s Grandfathers house... we were so delighted to use it in such an appropriate way....another trait of our ‘simple’ life, using old traditional methods and equipment.



[caption id="attachment_1099" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Sail mending![/caption]

All the while, we were keeping an eye on the weather...not in an old traditional way I hasten to add...to try to make plans to leave the port and head off to follow the wind. Ideally we want to sail off towards Mallorca and Ibiza, although we have discussed the option of either going up or down the coast from the port...neither of which really appeals to us, so we will have to make our escape when we can. Saturday is looking favourable at the moment, but the wind has been ferocious at times and from all directions, so the sea is all muddled up and bouncing about all over the place!...not something Billy is very happy about as it usually means she spends a lot of time hanging with her head overboard, getting up close and personal with the ocean...if you know what I mean?!!

A quick check of the weather on Friday indicated that Saturday might be a good day to set sail across the sea towards Mallorca....we have been commenting on how windy this year seems to have been. During our travels in Bluebelle, there was hardly a day went by when we didn’t have wind and since arriving back in Spain, it’s been the same story. BT regularly consults passage weather....an online site that boaty people use to check the wind and waves...it’s been incredible to see that the wind gushing out over the Gulf of Leon just doesn't seem to have abated much in the last few weeks...this, of course, has had implications for all of us at sea...not only has it left the sea all bumphly but also the wind is just all over the place.

Now that we knew that Saturday was a possibility to leave the port we spent the day on Friday stowing everything away, filing up with water, doing some washing, cleaning Windekind and packing Bluebelle up with the bikes and any other bits and pieces we didn’t need on board. So it was with great anticipation, and an alarm set for early morning, that we eventually went to bed....everything ready to go!

[caption id="attachment_1100" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Nighttime and our new solar powered fairy lights come into their own...[/caption]