That meant Saturday was spent fixing a leak in the starboard hot water tank. This was a brand new tank, delivered to Australia, and a small hole had developed; how is this even possible in an aluminium tank! Anyway, once the hole was sealed, the tank was re-installed yesterday morning and then heated. Voila, no leak and there was hot water again on that side. We figured Justine and Paul wouldn’t appreciate cold showers when they join us in Gran Canaria for the ARC 2023 rally.
Then, while Roy wondered off to purchase a Spanish propane tank, Elaine cleaned and polished the stove top, with strict instructions not to progress her next task, washing the starboard topside from the dinghy, until he was back onboard. Clearly his imagination was running away with him and he definitely didn’t want Elaine attempting to get in the dinghy without him present. Probably sensible though! So, once Roy had returned with our new propane tank, Elaine washed the starboard topside, from the dinghy, without incident, and gave the dinghy a good wash while she was at it.
Afterwards it was a joint effort to connect yet another propane tank; of course, requiring different connectors / fittings to our onboard configuration. Oh surprise, surprise!
With numerous spares onboard, do you think we could find a single connector / fitting that would work! Nope, until we eventually found the original connector, previously removed to accommodate the Malaysian version of a propane tank. Needless to say, we were absolutely delighted at solving what was becoming a major issue and an issue that has repeated itself time and time again, starting in New Zealand, then Australia, then Malaysia and Thailand, all requiring different connectors / fittings. Arriving in Türkiye, although expensive, we could, at least, get our original tanks filled and, thankfully, these have lasted until now because Greece, Italy and Spain presented the same issue. This was never a problem we expected to have after transited through the Caribbean, Panama and the South Pacific without encountering a single problem. You’d think something as basic as this would have a standard, but it obviously falls into the same category as electric plugs and light switches, which differ all over the world!
Given that it was a very windy day, however, it was the perfect day to be fiddling around with propane fittings.
Other menial activities included reading through the ARC 2023 Handbook, making notes and communicating what actions were required by Justine and Paul before their arrival, as well as what actions are required after their arrival, the latter primarily relating to safety. Stencilling “Paw Paw” to some of the safety equipment onboard was also completed.
Although it was supposed to be a day of rest, being a Sunday, yesterday was no exception, completing the oil checks on both engines and saildrives, replacing the water filters on the watermaker, ensuring our high volume portable bilge pump was still operating as expected and we reassembled our drogue, given that we had taken the line out to Med moor in Türkiye and Greece, something we ended up not doing; neither of us had the stomach for getting up close and personal with rocks, choosing to anchor off instead.
To take a break from it all, Roy took a walk in the opposite direction to where we’ve walked thus far and found another beach area with cafés and restaurants; something Elaine is yet to see.
Today, the To Do List activities started with the inspection and lubrication of the steering system. It’s fair to say, we were extremely surprised to find one of the nuts had completely cracked through from metal fatigue. Of course, once again, with all our spares onboard, do you think we could find a replacement; nope! That meant another trip to the local chandlery to purchase one, but, we had to buy four in a pack at €2 per nut. Ridiculous! Once that was all back together, he calibrated the autopilot.
Then, since the galley cupboards were all out to get to the steering cable, Roy replaced some of the panel bulbs that had blown on the engine instrument panel cluster and, once that was all put back together again, he lubricated all the winches and hot-knifed a few ropes that were fraying. One thing you come to realise when living on a yacht, is that, any “instrument”, be it a galley utensil or Elaine’s handheld mirror and tweezers, these all become a tool; the latter used today to replace the bulbs.
Besides being gofer to Roy, Elaine finished up a few administrative tasks of completing the Customs and Immigration documentation required for entry into Gibraltar, compiling and sending a Skipper’s Letter to Justine and Paul, which they will require to clear Immigration when arriving in Gran Canaria, since they’ll be on a one-way ticket. In essence, the letter confirms that they’ll be departing the country via yacht.
Her final administration task for the day was reviewing her latest blood test results and forwarding those to the specialist in Türkiye, who previously agreed to continue to consult for Elaine via video conferencing.
Our day ended with a cold beverage enjoyed at the West Restaurant, close to the marina, after the dense fog that has been around for days lifted slightly, and a lovely long chat to Keenan, who was on a stopover in Charlotte. It was nice to have the time to catch up after months of being on the move.
Having such an extensive To Do List, though, making us a tad busier than planned, has been very frustrating and definitely unexpected, given the amount of work that was done on Paw Paw over the winter in Türkiye, never mind the associated cost of completing all that work. We can’t help but wonder if the extreme temperatures we’ve found ourselves in this summer, after a freezing cold winter, hasn’t contributed to the various issues we’re experiencing. We’ll never know, but it would be an explanation at least. Regardless, onwards we go!
