Week 2 Life sur le hard
 
First things first. I know you toe fiends have tuned in for a toe update. The Captain has been diligently taking his antibiotics for a week and today we went back to the hospital. We arrived to be told that the doctor was performing an operation and to come back later. Later arrived so we went back, there were swarms of people everywhere but our little interpreter from last week escorted us to the doctors room. The Captain’s name was on the digital display above the room door, (all very hi-tech) crowds of people were huddled around the door waiting for it to open. We sat and waited for all of about 10 minutes, during which time the locals who seem to be pretty mesmerised by outsiders stared at us and I mean stared, there is no malice in their staring just curiosity really, but it does take some getting used to. Our interpreter called us into the room. The toe in question was plonked in front of the doctor who inspected it from a safe distance. His diagnosis was that it’s doing o.k the Captain is to finish the course of antibiotics, if in 2 weeks it’s dropped off he’s to go back (only joshing). Everything is hunkey toe-dory in pinky-land. Now for the rest of our news. ‘Week 2 sur le hard’ has been fine that’s not to say we couldn’t do with being a be tad closer to the shower block but hey the trek keeps us fit! We’ve now fully mastered the ‘bucket de pee pee’ and can go up and down the ‘ladder of vertical death’ like Olympic athletes (with dodgy knees). One thing I didn’t rant about I mean mention last week was that Stella’s spot in the boat yard is right under some spotlights that come on at dusk and stay on all night! Now I know your thinking a bit of ambient lighting adds well, it adds a bit of ambience. All well and good until you go to bed then you feel like your under an interrogation spotlight in the fore peak (we sleep in the pointy bit). But to alleviate that little problem I’ve decided to varnish that cabin so we now have to sleep in the saloon (sleep who needs it) where the ambient lighting is less shall we say ambient! The Captain has been hard at it this week and has now decided that grinding the keel is the worse job in the world! He took on the keel and won (eventually). We got talking to our neighbour ‘Herman the German’ (I don’t think he’s actually called Herman but he is German. He recommended some anticorrosive paint that he uses on his huge steel boat (it’s parked behind Stella in the yard). So off I trot to get it, whilst I’m at the hardware store I spot something called epoxy blah blah and decided to get that instead. The epoxy blah blah needed to be applied with a trowel, so we called upon Captain Ian (Moli) for a bit of trowel advice and between the two Captains Stella’s keel is now epoxied up. As you can see from the pics (what do you mean you haven’t looked, oh no you don’t, you finish reading this first then you can have a peek) Captain Ian has been doing more that offering up trowel advice. He is a dab hand with the ‘Go faster stripes’ and is replacing Stella’s for us. At the moment she’s a bit go faster on the starboard (right) side. But will hopefully get evened out in a couple of weeks (either that or she’ll be going round in circles). Ian and Mandy (Queen of the banana muffin) have had to return to Blighty as Ian has a back problem they are due back on the 23rd April, we were due to go back in the water on the 24th. ‘Team Moli’ if your reading this there is a slight reprieve we don’t go back in till the 25th a whole 24 hours later! Plenty of time to get Stella striped up (isn’t it?). One pot meals have been thrown out the hatch (well why use one pot when you can use them all). Phooey to climbing up and down the ‘ladder of vertical death’ with a buckets of washing up water. We were left a veggie mountain by ‘Team Moli’ which I then decided to use up in one fell swoop, in for a penny in for a pound (of potatoes that is and carrots, onions, cauliflower and peas, should I go on?). I thought life on the hard would be a nightly feast of pizza, chips and other fast food delights. Not so much as a kebab has passed our lips. Need to remedy that in week 3 I feel. Let’s think is there anything else. Oh yes the Captain’s only gone and taken off Stella’s prop, She’s getting an upgrade to 3 blades (honestly he spoils that girl). We had to send of the old one as a guide for the new one. Hope both or at least one of them is back for the 25th! The weather here has been a bit on and torrential rain off (wipe that smile off your face, hasn’t it been snowing where you are?). Today is sunny and it’s supposed to last the whole week. So we should get lots done. Sanding the hull tomorrow, I had a go yesterday spent 2 hours and did a patch the size of a door mat and a small one at that (I tell I’m just not built for it) I did find it quite therapeutic though, all well and good if there was 3 months to do it in. Well time to love you and leave you, there’s work to be done me hearties. Love & buckets de pee pee King of the grinders & the mini sander XX
Monday, 7 April 2008