Comment of the week from Pam. “Imagine if you didn’t have a boat with heating in it!”. Global Cooling OK! The wind is howling, the rain is horizontal – again – and we are trying to dry out all the wet Oilys and other garments. This would be considered poor for a winter’s day. No midges hatched out today – it was too cold. We’ve met loads of boats stranded here, there, and everywhere with the bad weather. Most of the UK boats heading west have given up and are going back to the UK well ahead of schedule.
The tap in the galley sink has packed in – ie failed to do its duty by not turning off. Now this is a serious problem. Pam’s been nagging me for weeks that it drips when in the “hot” setting. What’s the problem then turning it to “cold” I say. Only when that doesn’t work (thoughts of foot, oneself and shooting spring to mind). Tomorrow’s job is to find a new tap……duh – which way to B&Q!!!? We should have longer to sort the tap as the weather on Sky news in the bar tonight was predicting at least 3 hurricanes in the next four days so we could be here for a while (I was on my fourth pint of Guinness). Did I mention that the Guinness is very nice in Ireland if a little (read very) expensive? Anyway going back to the tap - we really haven’t had many problems with the boat. All the leaks are fixed. Nothing has broken (apart from the tap and a nagging anti-inflationary tendency in the dingy – I would have said leak but I have just said all the leaks are fixed). Did you hear the one about the tap dancer who gave up because he kept falling off?
Rob and Tom should turn up on Monday late so the plan is to either be here or to go round to Kinsale by then. Kinsale is meant to be the gourmet capital of Ireland with lots of good seafood restaurants so there is an incentive – for Pam!!! Before then though we need to get the laundry back, go to the farmers market Saturday morning in Crosshaven, upload this rubbish in the club house, go find a tap, do an engine service, fill up with diesel and check I have sorted the dingy. Cork week starts in a weeks time so if we are still here we will enter the white sails class!!!!!
We’ve asked Rob to bring a few bits over. The most mundane is 2 rolls of Duct tape. Duct tape!!! (or is it duck tape?). We’ve been to at least half a dozen places (including 2 chandlers) and the response has been “yes sir……….oh it looks like we are out of it”. Is this a global shortage or just a local Irish problem. It seems as scarce as rocking horse droppings. By the way has anyone worked out the book I have been reading as mentioned in one of the posts above? It’s nothing to do with that last comment – which you all know has a Mike Harding copywrite. Here’s a clue, it’s got bar in the title. No midges and no duct tape – is this linked?
Mundane as the duct tape was, more important is the whiskey. It costs an arm and a leg here and there are no decent single malts in the shops. The 12 year old Jameison is very nice though but at 38 Euro a bottle it is a bit steep. Still, not a lot of other options. It’s almost as expensive as Norway for booze.
Providing no other boats break their moorings in the night and sink us in the process, I’ll be back with more news later in the weekend. (Heard the marina staff talking in the bar saying that boats dragging moorings in easterly gales coinciding with high spring tides is not unusual – eek!!!)
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