Last check or last repairs as the toilets are out of commission in the front and the leak is still an unsolved mystery and we do not have a salt water pump for the kitchen. First things first, let’s give Happy Days a thorough clean. Just 5 days has made it look as filthy as never.
What will happen after 20 days of crossing ?
Looking at our timings and the weather forecast, we might only stay a few days so there will be no real sightseeing for me. The rest of the crew after strong afternoon clean and the next days repairs are enjoying the town and the island for a day or two. This included a tour up in the island by bus, hitchhike and walking making just in time for the last bus to come back.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of work to get ready but we still went out every night celebrating our 5 days crossing riding the border of the storm. As we found and fixed the leak, replace the tap in the kitchen, added a new salt water pump, empty the bildge from all remaining water, the toilet remains the only one expecting a local repair man. “Manana” as they say… the proverbial “Manana” will never happen as we are leaving on the same Saturday after only 4 days in port.
Last task is to try to obtain the IVA (Tax) reimbursed on all my recent purchases. So here I am 1 day before crossing battling with Paperwork.“The rules changed last year, they should have known” is the answer I get on most of my bills. So I now have to call each provider to have them fill in a tax declaration online of my invoices. Thanks to Xavier from Dessal and Manuel from Accastillage diffusion, I managed to get the major ones. And after to the department tax manager and the manager of the department tax manager, I also get stamped (Wouhou) all my other european expenses. Hanse, Navionics, Predictwind … just to make it another problem to solve as I will need to reach each one for a Tax return.
Weather looks soft with 15 knots and a calm sea, perfect to start a crossing nicely. Only difference compare to my previous ones, we will need to go south to reach the trade winds. 2400 nm straight will be more like 2750 but who’s counting.
That’s it, today is the day, long shopping for 20 days crossing, 10 days just in case and pasta and rice for more. 2 hours shopping in separated carts, 600 Euros later and 2 to 3 hours to fit everything in Happy Days and we are ready to go. The words floating around the boat are : “We have way too much food” but it does not seems that bad. With
the soup for night watch, noodle, crackers, nuts for apero, Cans for he extra 10 days, it does look like a lot but I am confident we will make more that a dent in our provision by the time we get there. It is not before 5PM that we manage to leave the harbour.
And just as we leave, there is the good light , speed and we get one more on board
Next stop : Barbados to pick up Gloria.
Happy Days 