Part X. Wassail or Sail?


Puerto Rico, Gran Canaria

West facing view of Puerto Rico's harbour
The weather here in Europe's most southerly place is beautiful. Mid-December and it was 25C with light breezes moving a few fluffy white clouds across a cerulean sky (I've always wanted to use that word). The hotels and apartments are smeared across the surrounding volcanic cliffs and hills to make an impressive backdrop. But there's little else for me to like here. It's full of elderly Scandinavians, hundreds of shops rammed with absolute tat and restaurants that don't cook food they just serve re-heated frozen crap. It feels like a legacy of the 1970s, when package holidays were popular. Not my kind of place at all...

A little peace and quiet away from the chaos on H.Breed...
Last Friday 6th November I decided to check-in to an apartment overlooking the marina right on the sea front. I was pining for a few days R &R in the relative comfort and space not afforded on a hectic 37' boat. The two new Norwegian arrivals and their gear plus the skipper's tools and cables covering the cabin floor, make life aboard a little more challenging. I struggle with too much mess and chaos. Fixing the water maker involves making some major plumbing alterations, so having cleaned up my working space I went ashore. I needed to enjoy this lovely apartment for a few days, chilling and thinking by the pool. Okay, okay, I did go out for a few beers with the boys in the evenings but with great reluctance lol.
It's also given me some time to reflect on some health issues that have cropped up for me over the past week. I spoke to Grunde the next day and we decided that I should not sail with them until I get sorted. It would not fair on them and foolish of me to continue on the Atlantic crossing without getting to the bottom of this issue, so I flew back home on Monday 9th December to get checked out properly. Turned out that the excessive Jagermeisters were probably the cause of these issues, I never drink spirits and boy oh boy could those Norgs put them away. But you live and learn, all part of life's embellished,  crocheted wall covering...

 So it looks as though I'll be a-Wassailing this Christmas not sailing, drinking to the fruit trees (my GWR Ale Trail friend Ian from the west country will know this custom), not in Tobago but in Milton Keynes... ðŸ˜¢ðŸ˜¥ðŸ˜­
My final night with the guys in Puerto Rico - in the biggest and liveliest bar in the town
Time to reflect

 I have deliberately left my fishing tackle and some other stuff on H.Breed because I have every intention to return in 2020, to sail with my Norwegian friends again, maybe in the Pacific. They plan to go through the Panama Canal at the end of January and then down the coastlines of Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and maybe Chile before heading west across the bigger blue pond. 

 Sailing across the Atlantic was always my goal but sailing across the Pacific would top that by some considerable margin... ðŸ¤”

 So a special thanks to Gunnar and skipper Grunde for your warm and generous hospitality and for allowing me to enjoy some of the best times of my life - it was truly a blast guys! We had adventure, fun and achievement together on the great ship H.Breed! 

 I will be keeping in regular contact with them via their sat. phone and wish them a safe and fun packed adventure!

I hope my blog postings have helped those non-sailors amongst my followers to understand my passion for sailing, combined with my other big love - cooking. So thanks to you all for reading about my adventures on the high seas and your amusing comments, but as they say...
to be continued in 2020...?
Best wishes to you all, enjoy the festive period and stay safe... God bless x

Comments

  1. Aeron Tall Ships13 December 2019 at 15:26

    Take care matey xx ☠️

    ReplyDelete
  2. raji kannan18 March 2020 at 23:52

    We enjoyed by reading your post and this is such an useful ideas to the beginners.thanks for sharing.
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    ReplyDelete
  3. Porky & Beluga cook at sea24 November 2020 at 03:45

    Thanks Raji wherever you are, pleased you found my blog interesting. I've got around 2,000 followers now, goodness knows how, but I guess that the power of social media... I will be putting another posting later today so I hope you enjoy this one too. Best wishes to you x

    ReplyDelete

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