Return to Chipiona
9 Feb 2006
We
arrived back on Roam after flying from Stansted to Jerez de la Frontera,
about 35kms away. We arrived after the last bus had gone so had to hire a
car, which we kept for 3 days. Roam looked fine and happy after her 2 month
break as well as incredibly clean on deck. It felt very good to be back.
We had a great time over Christmas and New Year meeting up with friends and family in England. We put on loads of weight due to excess consumption of good ol' English bitter, which goes perfectly with English winters in pubs. We spent a lot of the time sourcing parts and equipment for our return to Roam. Fortunately a neighbour in Southampton had an open wireless internet connection that we were able to access from the laptop computer perched on a stool on a table in our bedroom. This made our research and communications much easier than they would otherwise have been. We also spent time browsing charity shops for second-hand books to take back with us that we will be able to swap with other cruisers. In all, we collected 150kg of 'stuff' that had to be shipped back in boxes via friends with access to discounted Fedex services (thanks John and Jeff).
On the Friday, we took the opportunity to use the car to
explore further south along the
coast.
We checked out the harbours at Sancti Petri (v quiet and picturesque but the
entrance looked very tricky over rocks and shoals), Barbate (huge harbour,
big swell outside, even in 'calm' conditions) and Tarifa - well known wind
capital of Europe. From Tarifa I got my first glimpse of the continent of
Africa - the huge Atlas mountains along the northern coast of Morocco. Along
the way we stopped off at Cape Trafalgar, a little late for the Trafalgar
celebrations of last year. The weather here has been fabulous - so
warm
that we could have lunch on the beach. I took a couple of pictures, not
realising that we had intruded on the set of 'Little Britain' (see 'Andy' in
the background by his camper-van!!)
On Monday, 'Roam' was hauled out of the water so we could
take a look at the under-side of the hull. After the thin layer of weed was
spayed off, the copper anti-fouling terry painstakingly applied last year
was declared a
success.
It all looked good as new. The propeller, shaft, rope cutter and rudder all
looked in good condition too. We cleared out the barnacles that had
accumulated in the scupper drains, serviced the sea-cocks and re-painted the
boot top. after one night ashore, we were put back in the water.
Seville again!
We were invited back up to Seville to stay with Brian and
Deborah on Chinook
on their Westwind 35. Brian and Deborah left Canada in 2001, cruised to the
Caribbean and crossed the Atlantic in late 2004 to see Europe. We met them
when they stopped at Chipiona marina last November on their way up to
Seville Club Nautico where they were wintered aboard. We caught the
bus on Friday afternoon for the 2½ hour journey. The
bus seemed to stop at every village on the way including picking up a loud
squawking gaggle of school girls. When we got to Seville we found Deborah on
crutches, she had badly hurt her knee when exercising. Terry and Deborah
could now swap their knee operation stories! Oh joy. It also meant that Deborah had
great difficulty getting around and was largely confined to Chinook
and the Club Nautico. Getting
on
and off a boat is not easy at the best of times, but Deborah had worked out
a way without having to use her bad knee. After a heavy Friday night and a
slow Saturday morning, Terry and I rode our bikes into the city centre where
we reacquainted ourselves with the beauty of the city. The orange trees are
now heavy with ripe oranges. As marmalade makers will know,
the Seville orange is very bitter and not at all nice to eat raw, despite
there being hundreds for the taking on the trees in the streets. Saturday
night we again shared a late night with our hosts, enjoying their great
company and experiences. On Sunday we went to the local flea market- Brian
enjoys rummaging among the stuff and generally finds a useful bargain, but
nothing this week.
Afterwards, we went into the Cathedral and up the Giralda
(free entry on Sunday afternoons). On Sunday evening we stayed up late again
yakking and laughing (and even singing!). We got the bus back to Chipiona on
Monday evening, which took even longer coming back than going. Roam
seemed very quiet when we got back after a lively and entertaining weekend
on Chinook.
Back at the marina, we tried to get back down to work on Roam. Our boxes of 'stuff' arrived and had to be unpacked and stowed or fitted. The weather has turned distinctly iffy, so with our 3 month contract up, we paid for another 10 days. One difficult job was fitting the GPS repeater. there were 2 redundant dials in the cockpit from a system that had been removed. We could not remove the dials before as they would have left big holes in the coach roof. The big challenge was how to replace 2 round holes with one piece of equipment needing one square hole. Having removed the old bits, we were at the point of no return. One hole we could amend with the new repeater, but that still left a second hole, about 5cm in diameter. We taped up the holes to prevent rain and wind getting inside and decided to sleep on it. Next morning Terry jumped (sic) out of bed and immediately picked up the new little cockpit speaker we had bought to be able to hear the VHF outside. Miraculously it is the same diameter as the hole and fits neatly into the space. We also fitted new cabin lights (that stay on when switched on), a wooden strut between the twin backstays and moved the stern light and Navtex aerial on to it, away from the stern rail. We also fit the 'Hatch Latch' - a present from our UK friends which enables us to lock the washboards from inside. We also have to fit the LED mast light from our US colleagues and some mast steps. As I write this though, the wind and rain are swirling around us - not the weather for outside boat jobs.
Batteries and Engines
Just as our thoughts turned to leaving, we were dealt a new blow. We thought that we should start the engine and let it run for a while. Unfortunately, it didn't start. We had managed to fry the cranking battery (lack of maintenance. ouch) and had to find a replacement. After lots of 'spanglish', hand gestures and pointing, we found a marine mechanic with perfect english that sold just the thing we wanted! One minor success was followed by new problems.... A strange noise.
On our way back down the river from Seville in November we had heard this strange whining noise from the propeller area. At first I thought I confess, that the propeller had dropped off, it was such a weird sound and started so suddenly. It happened just as we were going through a narrow channel over the sand bar at the river mouth with a ship bearing down on us from astern and a fishing boat closing from ahead and no wind. This would not have been a good time to lose steerage! But a check on the GPS confirmed that we were still moving in the right direction. Anyway, the weird noise continued into the marina. Back in the UK, a suggested cause was that the rope cutter had worked its way loose and was spinning - hence the sound. When we were lifted out, we had to motor to and from the lifting dock, there was no whining. While we were out we meticulously checked the rope cutter, propeller and prop shaft. They all looked rock solid. Good in one way - but it did not help us identify the source of the noise. Back in the water with new battery, the whining was back with a vengeance, in both forward and reverse gears, louder than ever. But not in neutral. It had to be something to do with the prop, shaft or gearbox. We got the local mechanic to come and listen. He wasn't sure what the cause might be and wanted a second opinion, but this is Mardi Gras week in Andalucian Spain- Carnival time. No-one would be available to come and see our engine until Tuesday at the earliest. Sunday is drinking day with Monday as a local holiday for recovery!
March 17th - Still here and Engine-less
Today Ivor, our 25 year old Thornycroft T90
was officially retired from service.
The local engineers were at a loss to
diagnose the strange sound (along with everyone else who cared to come along
and listen!) They suggested we replace the cutless bearing, which would
mean, at a minimum, lifting Roam out of the water again removing the
propeller to get at the rubber seal around the prop shaft where it enters
the hull forming a tight seal. We may even have to remove the gearbox. This
was not guaranteed to fix the problem. With heavy hearts, we decided that it
would be foolish to spend significant amounts of good money on an aged
system that may give up at any time.
So a new engine it is. The local engineers
have a good reputation and have spent a lot of time talking to us about
options and procedures, so we have confidence in them to do a good job. It's
just
the time that it will take that is so difficult to bear. we've spent so
long here in Chipiona and it seems crazy to have to spend another 5-6 weeks
here when we should be out there enjoying the sailing (yes, i know we have
sails, but we aren't clever enough to sail everywhere and when there is no
wind...???). Volvo still won't be specific about a delivery date, and the
engineers are threatening to cancel unless we get something specific. We
have other options of other engines up our sleeve if really necessary.
17t March. So the engine was removed today after we
spent the last 2 days undoing,
unscrewing and uncoupling. Today, Ivor was
hoisted out of Roam to leave a dirty, oily, gaping hole where once he had
thumped away for hours and hours on end. We now have to clean the bay, then
remove the fuel tank and clean it (if possible), then let the engineers get
on with their stuff.
During the refit, we have had to find a new home. We are not allowed to stay on Roam while she is out of the water in the yard (I don't know how we would manage that anyway, with the whole boat upside-down and a mess). Luckily, we have been able to find a berth on 'Brumby' at 53 foot ferro-cement ketch. Dave, her owner, is on his way to Australia, but due to health problems late last year, he has had to stop longer in Chipiona than he originally wanted to (that sounds familiar!), and is currently splitting his time between doctors' surgeries and hospitals in the UK and Spain. This is a huge benefit for us and we are very grateful to Dave and Brumby for this generous gesture.
22 March...We have now ordered a Vetus engine (a marinised Mitsubishi) as Volvo can't find an engine in the whole of Europe that could be delivered before the end of April. The Vetus should be here on Monday (27 March), which should mean we can be back in the water, bedding-in done, sea-trials completed by 20ish of April, giving us 3+ weeks to meet the FA Cup crew in Majorca.
April 3rd
Yes, still in Chipiona. But we had a busy week last week
and took ourselves off to Gibraltar for a few days, staying again with
Deborah and Brian on Chinook before they head off to Smir in Morocco. Gib is
a strange place; it's VERY touristy, but shabby. We went up 'the Rock' on a
beautiful day that afforded views across to the snowy peaks of the Atlas
mountains in N.Africa as well as the snow-capped Sierra Nevadas in Southern
Spain. Of course we met with the famous Barbary Apes too.
As we had hired a car, we took the chance to go with Brian and Deborah up into the mountains to the 'Pueblos Blancos' and stop at Ronda, a town perched astride a vertiginous gorge. Apparently prisoners were once thrown alive into the gorge. It is a pretty place, but every attraction had a price tag on the door which spoiled the effect for me. The day was also notable for an Elvis impersonator strolling the park, who seemed to get a thrill from knowing that he was being watched while he appeared to be gyrating privately to the Elvis tunes coming from his ghetto blaster!!
Having over-stayed somewhat in Gib (4 days instead of 2), we drove back to Chipiona via the Safeways supermarket in Gib, stocking up with lemon squash, baked beans and HP Sauce. On Sunday we went to the Bullfight at the Torreos in the next town, Sanlucar de Barrameda. I had thought that I did not really want to go, but on reflection decided it was better to know what I was talking about if I were to raise objections. Ritual and protocol surround the proceedings. A band has part of the stand and plays accompanying Pase Dobles throughout- adding to the atmosphere and tension.
It starts with a procession of all the personnel involved, from the team of lavishly dressed matadors to the donkeys at the back (they drag the dead bull from the arena) all accompanied by the band.
Then
the action begins, a bull rushes out into the ring. There are several
apprentice matadors or banderilleros waving pink and gold capes to attract
the bull and make him charge. At this point, the bull is full of energy and
it is easy to appreciated his strength and power as he charges around the
arena. Once he has tired a little, on come the mounted picadores. The horses
are blind-folded and wrapped in padded armour. the idea here is that the
bull charges the horse, and the rider then plants the point of a long
jousting spear into the bulls neck, further weakening him. This is actually
a horrible sight. the bull charges the horse with all his might, often
getting his horns underneath the padding. The horses must be frightened to
death by this invisible onslaught. the picture is made more grisly in the
knowledge that the horses have had their vocal chords cut so they don't
squeal in pain and fright.
The next stage of weakening the bull is the planting of the banderillas
(barbed darts on coloured shafts) into the bulls neck. This is another
matador skill - the bull is made to charge the matador who lifts the
banderillas above his head on tip toes, waits for the bull to come close,
neatly sidesteps the charging mass an swivels to plant the banderillas in
his already bloody neck. The next section of the joust is the lone fight
between a single matador and the bull. the ring is cleared and the matador
sweeps in with his red cape. It's now just the 2 of them. The matador seems
to take control of the tiring bull by holding out his cape and making him
charge on command, the crowd seemed to be most appreciative when the matador
was able to make the bull charge 5 or 6 times in quick succession very close
to him without forcing the matador to move his feet. then amazingly, the
matador was able to turn his back and walk away from the bull to milk the
applause from the crowd without the bull moving a muscle. It seems that the
idea is to tire the bull as much as possible. a bull is built for strength
and not stamina, by this time he has been made to run around the ring, been
wound up by blokes in fancy leotards and colourful bits of cloth and been
stabbed a few times in his neck which is now pouring with blood (we read
that the bulls may also be drugged), so no wonder he is on his last legs.
Once the bull is barely standing, the matador moves in for
the kill. The bull is now so weak that his head and shoulders droop to the
floor, exposing his most vulnerable spot at the base of his skull. The
matador has to stand face to face with the bull, ensure the bulls head stays
down (if he has much life left, he wants to raise his head and horns), so
the matador can lean over and sink his sword deep into his neck. If he gets
is 'right' the bull is killed instantly and this is considered a great
achievement. unfortunately, in one of the bouts, this stage took an awfully
long time and it was very distressing to see the bull not
put
out of his misery sooner. Once the bull has keeled over, the applause begins
for the matador (depending on the performance), the bulls ear is cut off and
presented to the matador who, if feeling generous makes a gift of it to
someone in the crowd. this is supposed to be a huge honour.....Away from the
matador, a pair of mules is herded in, the dead bull is hitched up to them
and the solid mass is dragged out of the ring.
And then it begins again. 6 bouts in all. there was an element of tedium and repetitiveness about it, but it was also so gruesome that it is difficult to marry all the emotions.
April 27th Re-launch Day
It
is totally inconceivable that we are still in Chipiona waiting for the
engine installation to be completed. But today, finally, a breakthrough as
we have reached a stage that means we can be put back in the water. The
engine is at last bolted on to the beds (more later) and all holes are blocked up so
we are water-tight. Ideally the engineers would have preferred to wait till
tomorrow, but the travel-lift is fully booked and Saturday and Monday are
holidays. even me pleading with the lift-driver makes no difference. the one
snag is that the
engine is not fully connected, so we have to be towed to the berth where the
engineers can finish off the connections and electrics over the next 2 days.
The re-launch is successful and Chiqui manages to start the engine and it
looks ok, but for one thing....the exhaust water is not pumping. if there's
no water, the engine will over-heat and we will be back to square one.
Engine Beds....
The engine has to be mounted on the boat securely and at the exact correct angle (to within 0.1mm) so that the gear box on the back of the engine is in line with the propeller shaft. this is quite a specialist job and Moreta are using a contractor, Ramon, whom they have been using for the last 20 years to measure, make, weld and fit the new beds for Dennis to sit on. The beds are 2 raised platforms parallel to each other that the engine feet can be screwed into. The first day he is supposed to come and measure up is the Thursday 1 week before Easter, but he doesn't make it. everyone is surprised, he is normally so reliable. He doesn't show the next day either and finally turns up on Monday to measure up.
He returns 2 days later to begin what is meant to be a couple of days work. On the following Monday, Ramon asks for the existing beds to be cut down by 4cms. What has he been doing all this time? So next day another chap spends all day doubled up in the engine bay using a jigsaw to cut down the glass fibre and wood. the next day, a glass fibre contractor has to cover the exposed area with new glass fibre and we have to paint it all again. The following day we see Ramon packing up late and ask if he is finished now. He dismisses us and drives away. Terry went over to Moreta's office to find that Ramon has quit the job 2 weeks after starting a job that was only supposed to take 2 days and it still isn't finished! It turns out that Ramon's brother died earlier this year and he has not been coping very well and he has had some kind of emotional breakdown. We are of course sorry to hear this but what do we do now? Moreta has to find a new welder at the busiest time of the year.
The following morning and things are looking up. A new welder is found, he goes over to Roam, checks out the job and it's all thumbs up. We go off, doing our normal daily stuff. Just as we are going off to the shops, we notice the same welder going off to another boat. We asked him what happened to his job on Roam? in Spanish he mutters something and walks away. Again Terry goes of to Moreta's office - the new guy has been told by his boss he cannot do work for Moreta until their own commitments are completed. Back to square one. Moreta now has to find a 3rd welder at a time when everyone's diaries are chock-a-block. It looks as though we could be waiting another 2 weeks. The last 2 days have been a complete emotional roller-coaster. the low of Ramon walking off, the high of finding someone else so quickly only to be cut down again in 2 hours and now the prospect of not getting anyone else for some time has truly depressed us to new depths. We have to keep reminding ourselves that things could be a lot worse - no one is ill or incapacitated and these are problems we just have to deal with.
On Monday, Moreta have pulled a proverbial rabbit out of the hat and have found a new welder who will start tomorrow - which he does and finishes on Wednesday afternoon. 2 days work, as predicted...only it's taken 3 weeks.
Friday 28th April
Our first wedding Anniversary. Not quite how we imagined spending it - cleaning a filthy boat covered in dirt, grime, oil and dust; inside and out from everyone tramping over Roam in big greasy boots, but oh well, at least we are afloat and the sun is shining. Lets hope all goes well from now on so that we can get away and try and meet the gang in Majorca in less than 2 weeks time. The engineers still have a lot of 'finishing-off' jobs to do, like the instrument panel, fuel gauge and modifications to the alternator which could have been done weeks ago. When we remind them that we would like to leave as soon as possible - ie on Monday or Tuesday, they seem surprised. Even over at the office no-one had thought to start preparing the bill or the warranty paperwork. The boss, assures us he will have it all finished tomorrow.
Saturday 29th April
Robert, the engineer reluctantly (its a holiday weekend and he does not want to work) comes to do final alignments of the engine, but reports there is a problem with the alternator. It seems they have blown the first one up. We are assured they will get another one today. At 5pm the boss Antonio arrives with it, but it is a completely different size and Terry has to hack a bit off the brand new engine to make space for it. Eventually it is fitted and charging the engine. We arrange to that the Antonio will open the office tomorrow so we can finish the paperwork.
Sunday 30 April
We complete the paperwork and take 'Roam' out for her inaugural 2006 trip to test the engine. We take a couple of Irish chaps with us for independent views, one of whom knows engines very well. He notes a few things and takes a look and declares it's mostly OK. We have an alarm buzzer on all the time, but no lights or other pressure/temperature problems apparent. There is also a slight knocking.
We have been finishing off
cleaning Roam so that we
can move back on
board from 'Brumby' the large ketch we have been staying on
(thanks again, Dave. hope you are feeling better soon). Our parting gift was
to witness a Spanish yacht make a hash of her departure and collide with
Brumby, leaving a severely bent pulpit rail. Fortunately, Terry was on board
and although he didn't see anything, he heard the crunch and dashed on deck.
The skipper and crew were circling and as we were unsure what their
intentions were so we took a photo of them - that did it, the skipper went
crazy! they tied up and met us in the office but the with their attitude and
anger anyone would have thought it was our fault! we eventually got their
details for Dave to pursue a claim should he wish to, but it was a most
unpleasant experience. it makes you wonder what would have happened if we
had not been there.
Monday 1 May
Antonio has agreed to come back today to re-check the
alternator, even
though it's a holiday. We also take him out for a test run
so he can hear the noise for himself. He thinks it is just 'bedding-in'
noises as the prop finds its own groove. He completes and signs the warranty
paperwork and takes us for a drink and some tapas at the local bar..then
admits it's the first time he has been on a sailing boat at sea! Later, we
share a couple of beers with some friends in the marina to say thanks for
listening to all our woes and boring them rigid for the past 3 months!
Tuesday 2 May
Final preparations before we leave. Shopping, check the weather, check the engine, fill with fuel, complete the stowage and off we went. It was great to leave. BUT...
Logbook 2: to Gibraltar via Portugal
