Shiver me timbers!

[Frame]

Cmdr. Maegil

Whatever you are on, i want it... aslong as it is not powderd trumble droppings

[Cmdr. Maegil]

oy, you sure have a lot of work with your gear!

There's a sailor's axiom about that: a cruiser is happy only when he buys a boat, and when he sells it!

Whatever you are on, i want it... as long as it is not powderd trumble droppings

Rum AKA 'the sailor's bane', or beer to get in better (barrel) shape. Take a glass, have a drink!

Meanhile yesterday I cut my foot. No, you bloodthirsty sadists, I didn't loped it off, it was 'just' a one centimeter deep gash... and no, I wasn't (sooooo) drunk. Returning to the boat at night, I was coming into the dark, disassembled cabin. To avoid stepping into a 'dark hole' and ending in the bilge with a broken leg, I have to walk over the beams. I overstepped and cut my foot on the engine head's thermostat electric contact.
OK, I should't leave that kind of thing lying on the passagaway (or allow the mess to resemble a warzone), so it was my fault. Duh!

[Cmdr. Maegil]

Delivering a boat from Spain to Brazil, I've stopped in Dakar (Senegal) for a simple repair, intending to leave last weekend. Due to lack of parts (this is Africa), I had to delay here... Only there was a storm last Sunday night and a large pirogue's anchor (grapple? fishing hook? whatever, that manifestly insufficient thing artesanal users all over the world use out of tradition or simple lack of common sense) dragged and it came on top of me. Since the engine was out, I couldn't simply slip the mooring and leave, else I'd end up on the beach, so I had to endure a night-long beating. The hull is all scratched but fortunately it didn't dent or crack.

This is how the boat looked in the morning:

Starbord


Bowsprit plate fairlead


The culprit


No point on calling the insurance company (3rd party only) and no artesanal fisherman has ever paid compensation for damage to a sailboat...
...I have this nagging feeling I'm not going to get paid...

[Smivs]

What can I say?

[DaddyHoggy]

Oh dear.

Glad you're OK though Maegil!

[Killer Wolf]

hoy a molotov in the it, that'll teach them.

[Selezen]

Bowsprit plate fairlead

WTF?

[Cmdr. Maegil]

Bowsprit plate fairlead

WTF?

The bowsprit is a horizontal(ish) mast extending from the bow, where the staysails are attached. In this case, there's no mast and very little extension, but the genoa isn't fixed to a chainplate. As for a fairlead, that's the slot through which the anchoring gear passes - if it were completely encircled, it'd be a hawsehole.

[Selezen]

I thought the hawsehole was a hole in the actual deck, whereas the fairlead is a separate ring attached to a mounting point on the deck.

Nope. It's no good. I've gone crosseyed. You got me on genoa. I thought that was a country in Terry Pratchett novels.

[Svengali]

...I have this nagging feeling I'm not going to get paid...

Look who's back .-)
How did the story end?

[Cmdr. Maegil]

It didn't. I'm still stuck here for reasons out of my control, the least of which is that the Tabaski (a religious holiday) is approaching... I expect to leave next week, though.












Hmmm... dejà vu...

[Cmdr. Maegil]

Today I went to the sailing club's barmaid family's Tabaski... The photos are in someone else's camera, so I'll only be able to post them Wednesday.

I arrived at about 10:00 and was introduced to the entire family, from the matriarch (great-grandma, 98 years old) to the teenagers (smaller kids were later shown to me by doting parents, but weren't included in the introductions). In all, there were about thirty persons, all of them living in the same three-story building. After the obligatory questions (where are you from, aren't you afraid of the sea, how come you're not married, etc.) and dodging two marriageable-aged girls advances (backed by their insistent mothers... 'twas hard, I tell you, hard), I was led to the rooftop, to the men's side of the party.

Of the family's eight goats, we slew and butchered five... no finesse there, it was a simple machete and knife affair with some pleasant banter (though it was mostly incomprehensible, as it was in Wolof unless directly addressing me, in which case we spoke French). While we worked , the pre-teen girls would bring us drinks - as you'd expect on a Muslim country's religious feast, there wasn't a beer to be seen so we had green tea and home made orange, guava and ginger juices.

Most goat parts went down to the women's section for them to roast for themselves and for cold storage, and salad trays were coming up. Other pieces went straight to the BBQ grill to roast while we were still butchering, and at about noon the feast begun under a magnificent tropical sun, with goat innards, heads and hoofs lying about... by then the offal smell had seriously started attracting flies but nobody seemed to notice (and I wasn't about to comment on).

After being (nearly forcibly) stuffed full of the chewy meat, I had a hard time keeping awake, and the party broke up with people joining their spouses and closest relations (as all were relatives); everybody changed into their "Sunday best" and some of the women married into the family whose parent's households were nearby went to pay their respects... Meanwhile I had to ward off some more relentless courting (even some grappling), and to hold just about every baby in the house.

While chatting (taking refuge) with the guys I asked if their robes weren't too hot; for my trouble I was gifted a white robe, a bordeaux-coloured cap and the accompanying pointy slippers. Even without any gold brocade, the robes apparently made me yet more irresistible, as the girls even brought their neighbour friends to see me (yet more courting and eye-batting, with some pecking between them)... Finally, I made my farewells, left my regards to the sleeping matriarch and took a taxi back to the club - but not without raising a lot of eyebrows, conspicuous as I was in the robes.

In all, there wasn't any cultural shock since I already knew what to expect, so I had a great time... I also managed to leave unmarried, which wasn't a small feat!

[Micha]

Hmm, you're certainly painting a different kind of picture there, mate! I'm semi-day-dreaming of eventually buying a boat and offing back to Australia on it.. the SMBO's not too keen on the idea so it's not exactly progressing quickly, but hey, a guy's gotta have a dream! And a Cobby-3 is still a long way off

Hope it all sorts out for you!

[DaddyHoggy]

What a fantastic tale Maegil! Bravo!

[Svengali]

Yes, a great story. Thanks for sharing .-)