Monday 9 August 2010

August 7 – 39th wedding anniversary






Anders escaping from our 39th anniversary, Spanish style sailing boats and our anchorage at Porto Cristo

Could the fact that Anders spent the morning at the top of the mast mean he is trying to tell me something.? Yes, it's our 39th wedding anniversary and yes I have my hand on the main halyard that could let him down with a bump at any time!



In reality there is no conflict just another annoying repair job!


The roller furling for the genoa has been stiff for some time and this was caused by the halyard wrapping itself around the forestay at the top. After another turbulent night at anchor outside the harbour of Porto Cristo we decided to take a town quay mooring to sort out the problem.


With the help of a friendly Frenchman on the next boat Anders was duly winched up to the top of the mast to remedy the problem by fitting a shackle around the halyard to deflect it towards the mast. We will see how successful he has been when we set sail tomorrow.


We are constantly on a wifi mission to check the weather and skype the girls. Internet connections are extremely variable with a local bar or hotel being the best options. In vain we have tried to dingle our unlocked dongle bought in the UK. No luck with a British '3' sim card. You spend your allowance, which has to be done on line, just trying to top it up! So we bought a Yuigo Spanish sim card thinking it would be a cheaper option and that doesn't work either! Apparently, you need to buy a local dongle as well as they are configured differently to ours! This recommendation didn't work either. Will we ever solve the saga?


We had a lovely anniversary dinner in Sirocco restaurant overlooking Porto Cristo harbour which is packed with traditional Spanish boats. Next day after stocking up with really cheap, quality fruit and vegetables in the local market, we set sail for Cala Ratjarda. It was a congested harbour with the south easterly not suitable for anchoring, so we rounded Punta Agulla and settled in a bay of azure blue water called Cala Molta. Lovely, just a few boats including two Swedes who we had an evening drink with on board their yacht. They had bought a house in Italy and were sailing their boat from Umeå in the far north of Sweden to their new home.


Dramatic rocks and steep tree clad hillsides make this bay a peaceful leaving point to for Menorca which we can just make out in the far distance as the sun goes down.




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