Parking Anxiety

Well its a lovely morning, we have 13 miles to run to Ponce and I’m fussing about how to secure in the marina: it appears to have posts offshore with the stern going to the quay. Without  a crew not so easy I dont’ think. I believe I need to gat a line around the windward post on the way in so i will have a very long line doubled from the bow and hope i may be able to capture the post on the way in, if not and there is not much wind it may not matter, but it may. I think i will initially anchor and have a look, i dont want to scratch another boat. (Or Yemaya come to that but she’s quite cool about these sort of things).

Yesterday was ok, the sea was up a little from previously but not a lot, there was quite a current going North through the Mona passage which slowed us but we made steady progress, overnight I closed the shore hoping for a land breeze and the wind did  back about 25 degrees for a time which helped but then went back to the East where it still is. I managed to mistime my alarm at one point and ended up a little closer to a reef than necessarily what one might think of as optimum.

On this tack I wont make it quite to Ponce, but  am hoping the wind will veer with the day and we may just squeeze in without more tacks, not that it matters much, the autopilot autotacks and in this wind, if I don’t stuff it up, I can get most of the sheet in without winching.

I had a wash and a shave  this morning and am looking forward to a shower.  I already feel a different chap.

I tried to see if I could get to the fridge machine in the cockpit locker without removing:spinnaker, bicycle, dinghies  etc but it wasnt possible. I hope that a fuse has gone but I don’t recall him fitting one although that would seem strange as he never asked me what the breaker rating was, equally he may have thought if it was fine fir the last one it should be ok for the new one. One good thing is that the freezer must be well insulated because although i have turned the fridge right down, the freezer is still colder..

My starboard flip flop failed yesterday, which might have been a disaster but Sue had given me a new, slightly too small, pair for my birthday which are now doing sterling service. Its surprising, no really, how much more confidence I have in the, than bare feet, the feet are much slippier and I also stub my toe or stand on something hard and sharp too often so tend to lack confidence. I guess I should keep an emergency pair as a matter of course!

The batteries are now almost dead, when charging them with the engine the alternator thinks that they are full after about 10 minutes now.

I had hoped to pick up a radio station by now but nothing yet appearing, my aerial is in the cabin deckhead so nit too high but, still, I suspect it should have found something by now.

Well, hoping for a smooth arrival and clearing in, fingers crossed.

Slainte

Jock and Yemaya.