When we arrived at Tazacorte and moored next door but one to our 'neighbors preferes' Pilhaouer, we noticed that they had some nice planks of wood attached to their stanchions and extra fuel cans attached to the wood. Copy time - we thinks! the planks are of triple use :-
1. For a passerelle (gang plank)
2. To put outside of your fenders when mooring next to piles etc
3. To lash fuel cans to
Philippe & Imelda had hired a car and took us to the wood shop where we bought 2 planks of Iroko ( after a measure up of course). Here they cut and trimmed them to size. Back at the boat I drilled some holes and chamfered the edges. They are attached to the stanchions with super strong French tie wraps which need a hand ratcheting devise to tighten, courtesy of our neighbor. Apparently the wood needs no varnish etc...we'll see!
Philippe has two crates to support his fuel cans, also tie wrapped and has put a band of webbing over the top to secure. We had to think of a different solution. Tried webbing with plastic click on fastenings but found them not to be strong enough (good yank broke them loose). I had downloaded a useful knot application on my tablet and after perusing the lashings section was able to secure the cans allowing zero movement. This took a lot of rope, luckily we already had some which came with Artemis. There was also space for the life raft which we previously stored on the cabin top (reduced visibility from the cockpit). For this installation we used 2 very strong webbing straps with locking mechanisms which we borrowed from spare safety harnesses.
Whilst at Tazacorte we only saw one other British yacht 'Flycatcher', aboard was a nice young couple we had a drink and chat with. Most of the boats here are German, French and Dutch.
We had planned to leave to La Gomera with our French neighbors and had paid up at the marina the night before so we could have an early start the following morning. That afternoon I (Miles) slipped on the cockpit sole and almost dived headfirst into the saloon. Stopping myself, I crashed down onto the companionway injuring my rib cage. That was me out of action! I have damaged ribs before and recovery is usually about 2 weeks. Michael, the German man next door heard about my accident. He called to see us as he is a doctor and gave me a full examination. Good news, possible fracture but not a complete break. He recommended rest and ibuprofen. Thank you Michael & Stephanie! It took a bit longer to recover. Four weeks later we sailed to La Gomera.
We left Tazacorte early in the morning whilst it was still dark and motored out of the marina. Did I say dark? Read pitch black! No moon, no stars nothing. We had put on the running lights and the tricolor so that small fishing vessels with no lights could definitely see Artemis. After dawn we had a pleasant sail, or should I say motor, as the wind was either too light or too strong and in the wrong direction. The acceleration zone doing its thing.
No rain forecast. What's that then?
Somebody got wet hee hee!
Getting nearer, La Gomera looked like that creepy island out of the King Kong movie (The one with Jack Black in it)
