I don't 'Do' Christmas

'I don't 'Do' Christmas'.  That is what I said to the Hobbits some day's before Christmas.  However, I forgot to factor in that most everybody else round here does! So it has been a slack few days.  A big concern over the sate of my vessel is the engine cooling system.  The return of the fresh water cooling has been terminated and the calorifier has been taken out of circuit.  What could this indicate?  Significant Googling suggests an overheating problem.  Still more Googling indicates Reverse flushing and treating with vinegar might be a useful starting point.  So I am happy to have that plan to go forward with.

Other engine issues are the need for a replacement diesel filter and sea water strainer, neither seem too difficult to achieve.

I have been working through the syllabus of the RYA day skipper course as well as considering soft furnishing, LED lighting, VHF Radios and varnish among other things....

Anyway, a picture of us 'Doing' Christmas day

    

Hogfather's Helpers

You can never quite be sure, but there's that feeling in the air when the Fairy Folk are abroad.  Whether they  come from Narnia, Middle Earth, Disc World or beyond is for them not us to know.  They're happy and funny and stick to their task all bathed in a warm orange glow...

Then Jenny sorted out my camera settings....  So back to knot class and the RYA day Skipper books!

They brought food and drink charmed from the Spanish Boarder Guards!!

Well, they are coming round on Xmas Day to cook and meet George whom they refer to as my 'imaginary friend' as they have not met him yet, perhaps they will not be able to see him as he is a conventional human? We'll find out later!

Brassed Off

The boatyard have awarded themselves a half day today for some reason.....  So as the bulk of the out of water work is complete and I did not fancy  getting all messy again I took the two brass things off the bulkhead and took them home to clean.  A half way comparison shot (clean one on the right);

The reason the dials/faces are not in the shot is that I cleaned all the numerals off trying to get a mark of that is still there accentuating the blank face!

So that is an opportunity to practice my artwork, which I did not want....

War Paint On

Quiet down at the boatyard today, just me, brush in hand applying the antifouling.  For the hull two coats of Trilux 33 in Navy.

And for the Propeller two coats of Micron Extratuf with Biolux Technology:

After that I think the lady is looking good!

Tomorrow is half day at the boatyard so not much time to do anything :(

It's no Sacrifice

Today was a day to obtain sacrificial anodes.  This entailed a trip to a Chandlers, a whole new world of shiny things!
And these are mine:

Then Eric accompanied by Celina delivered the paint and offered a few words of encouragement:
Eric, 'And you can get that green crap scrubbed of there mun it looks shit!'  I have been trying to, just not that hard obviously.....

And after doing that I said, it's just a case of painting the bottom, how hard can that be?   Celina chipped in on that one...  'Bloody hard mate, oiy ***kin' hate that job!!' (Australians you never know what they really think..)

Knot a Complete Surprise

Today was not going to have any significant nautical connection.  That was until my door bell rang and I had a surprise visit from I.N.A and Squidgy. Really good to see them and with their newly acquired interest in all things nautical (still hoping to hitch a ride south on a boat) the evening quickly turned into knot class!  7 of the basic Yacht knots studiously practiced as they updated me on their 'plans'.  They have secured tenure of a palace or to be more precise a squat of their very own. It has a roof and everything!  But it did not sound like a material thing like a 'secure' residence is going to keep them here much longer.

I.N.A carefully drew all the knots into her journal and Squidgy introduced us to the Truckers Hitch by Ylvis (a big Youtube hit in Norway, look it up 7 million+ hits).  Then they left because it was bin time, I declined the invitation to join them....  Great people :)

She has a Vajazzel!

Now I know why I don't 'work' for a living, plus I have a new regard for barnacles! They can reappear by magic and they can leave bits of themselves behind, two irritating traits from what I assume is a bi-valve mollusc (yes I know they're crustaceans I did say 'I assume' it's just a case of assuming wrong).  Today went well all in all, and this bit is shiny:

Marine bronze.... so pretty :) (if she were a real lady would this be a vajazzle?) And aided by the fact that you can buy sulfuric acid in supermarkets in Spain!

Can't add any more insights or humors happenings I just scrapped and scrapped and ended up with this:

So, she is clean and now needs her 'war' paint.  This will have to wait a few days,'cos that paid work thing needs to be attended to :( I have the Paint etc courtesy of Eric who drives me to his lock up to obtain the afore mentioned (and finds beer there too!), then takes me back to his ship for wine and nibbles with his lovely partner.

 

Date With a Dirty Lady

The day dawned bright and sunny but quite cold, so one had to wrap up.  Then by dinner time you're over dressed! Anyway, I sat for some time on the boat patio reading nautical tomes until the great man arrived.  The surface of the water had a mirror finish, the sun hung around in the sky without a cloud to talk to and a cormorant ate the marina fishes.

At the appointed time the engine starts, ropes are untied and as Eric predicted the propeller was about as effective as swinging three bags of mussels around your head in the hope of effecting a vertical lift off.  So we slowly wallowed to the 'lift out' to find out just what is stuck to her bottom....

I think this answers the question...

 Which, dear reader, is my task for tomorrow......... deep deep joy.

Here are some other pictures:

Oh yes!  She is dirty!

Readers from Northern climes please note although 'tis December the blue background is sky and the dark patches on the ground are shadows :)

Hurry up and wait

Well, today should have seen me finishing off the bottom of the boat and getting it back in the water.  So I hope the weather holds for tomorrow at 10:00.I ran the engine for half an hour an nothing untoward occurred so fingers crossed we make the voyage across the marina tomorrow.

Had a chat to an Australian girl in the cafe this morning she is planning to sail her ship back to Oz through the Suez Canal, just to keep to warm water, makes sense to me.

So other than muchos cerveza at the language exchange last night, dancing with young ladies at the Las Sevianas class tonight and reading about engines and winches on my boats patio in the sun today, its been a quiet day.

A Dirty Job and Visitors

Today was a Sunny Day (Rosie and Jim, classic)

So with bottom cleaning postponed I set about pretending to be doing something useful on the Yacht.  It was going well until Eric spots me polishing my rowlocks...  'Androo what the bloody hell yoo doin mun?' (he's South African) 'errr.... polishing my rowlocks??',  'What!!!?? you got a diesel tank that needs draining and all the sludge cleaning for gods sake mun!' mmm think I, but that's a dirty smelly job in the bowels of my ship... 'Oh yes but I don't have the.....' ' Androo get in my bloody car we can pick up what you need from my lock up!'  ...bugger....
So once suitably kitted out I was dispatched to the bowels of the vessel for two hours of stiff nuts, rust and WD40.... with Eric tapping his cane on the pontoon and growling 'So yoo wanna be a yachty? Well this is where you start paying! With spanner rash and smelly oil!'.

However, once opened the tank revealed itself to be full (boy do I need a fuel gauge!).  That of course is a double bonus. 1. I would need the Torre Canyon to drain it and  2.  That is a rather expensive amount of diesel :)

So I put the thing back together and cleared up the mess.

Then as I was sitting on the back of my yacht in the sun, talking on the phone to my daughter who was walking home on a cold dark Yorkshire winter evening (he, he, he) my two recently befriended 'hobbits' arrive. Their names are I.N.A and Squidgy (perhaps not what their parents called them, although Squidgy seems to think he just appeared one day in a puff of smoke...).  They are 'Freegans' eating what society throws away and  sleeping where they can.  They are really nice free spirits and excellent company.  It seems we are now life long friends as they just hopped on my yacht sat down and began chatting.  They are hoping to get a boat to the Caneries, they are too late for that really, but if anyone can 'charm' their way to a passage they can!..  They lived in a cave when they where in Granada and where disappointed not to find one in Gibraltar.  On the plus side they have invited themselves to spend Christmas with me and laughed like mischievous pixies when I protested that I don't do Christmas!! So although I hope they get boat south, if they don't Christmas could be very different especially as they will be providing the food!

Note
Eric does not talk like that and does not  have a cane, it is just for comedy purposes but the hobbits are real.

Bottom Postponed

The weather put a hold on bottom cleaning today.  That pleasure is rearranged for Friday, too much wind.  So just an afternoon visit to wonder if I should be doing something.  A this neck of the woods being what it is a pair of hitchhikers were hanging around the marina seeking passage to the Canaries.  They incorrectly identified me as a wise old salt from which sage advice could be gleened...So had quite a long chat with a very nice girl from Germany (no really) and a nice chap from Sweden.  They were pennyless vagrants living on fresh air and optimism.  Any road after a long chat with me they where just pennyless vagrants, so that's my good deed for the day (well it's not my only good deed but the other is a whole other story...).

So am now at loose end (see that, I bet that's a nautical expression) and will be left to polish my fenders and read scary stories of how much yachting costs.

An appointment to lift out

Today's yacht news...

My vessel 'Just A Tonic' needs her bottom cleaned.  So not a simple operation.  However, Eric comes to my aid.  I booked a lift out of the water for tomorrow afternoon.  Eric will drive the ship across the marina and to the required spot.  But in the boating world we need to check the weather because it can't be done if it's too choppy they say.  Being the resourceful chap he is Eric located an establishment selling beer as soon as the arrangements were made for the lift.  Sitting having said beer when I get a phone call reminding me that I have a dance class to attend (thank you Sweetheart). Who would have thought I would forget such a thing because I'm sitting in the Mediterranean sun drinking beer...!!

Anyway here she is....

So, after a visit from Eric I have  rough plan:

Get the Yacht out of the sea  and the bottom cleaned (boat bottom not mine).
Then I (?) paint the bottom with stuff provided by Eric.
Then some rigging is replaced (surely by Eric)
Meanwhile, I learn all about the diesel engine and sort that out.
Install a weather station system, hoping that is an Eric job.

The arrangements for getting out of the water may have to be done in Spanish.  So no chance of a misunderstanding there.......

 Oh, and there was mention of draining a diesel tank and a new filter system for it...

And there is probably more but at some point i can move on to soft furnishings and stuff I'm more comfortable with...

It seems to be quite a big bite

Well, buying a Yacht seems rather romantic to many people including me.  But the first day I 'owned' one I was quite stunned such a complex thing!

A whole sanitation system, an engine with the added complication of sea water, sea water all round!! multiple electrical systems; shore power, engine battery, lighting and gizmo power...

Gizmo's inc; radar, depth finder, radio, gps.... Outboard motors, navigation light, fenders, knots, winches, anchors.  Nothing romantic about learning what all this stuff needs from me!

 So in summery:  I have moved my life 1500 miles south, learned another language(ish), can do an impression of Las Sevillanas (a dance) and now am a Yachty.  Hmm, embrace life and live it? I suspect as the story unfolds there will be much prosaic stuff to report regarding my yacht.