It ain’t half hot Mum!

We had to return to the UK for a few days, primarily because we are in the process of selling our house. Our trip home therefore mostly revolved around visits to our solictors and estate agent, as well as getting quotes from a variety of removal companies. We also found time to fill out our tax returns and get the car MOT’d (it would have expired in a couple of months) which were good to get ticked off. Best of all were that my grown up kids were able to fit in a visit to see us for a few days in and around their work commitments, and that the timing of our return worked out as perfectly for us to visit Nicky’s sister and brother-in-law to meet their 4 day old newborn. So all in all it was a very productive trip home.

Whilst we were away Toby, a new-found friend who keeps his yacht in the marina BV is in, very kindly kept an eye on BV for us. His e-mails to us talked of some pleasant days but also some rain so we were amazed to leave an overcast UK in just 17 degrees and arrive back to find that Vigo was, and still is, basking in 30 degrees plus (in the shade!) and enjoying clear blue skies.

The immediate transition in temperature prompted us to start making a boom tent for BV. The material had actually been part of a very useful Christmas present and we had bought some but not all of the bits for it before we left back in April. Somehow though, we had just not managed to find the time to put it all together. The urgency for good shade whilst we are lazing at anchor or in port, however, now seemed to bump it up to the top of the priority jobs list.

The timing for our trip home was also very opportune because we had bought the missing components for the boom tent along with some other ‘essentials’.  Goodness knows what the x-ray machine operator made of our bag. Amongst the usual spare shirts etc our luggage included a handful of bolts, several metres of shockcord, plastic hooks, spare cogs and grease for the Duogen, carbon filters for the water system, some charts, measuring spoons, 0.5 kg of our favourite instant coffee and 1.5 kg of biscuits (garibaldi and gingernuts). The instant coffee and biscuits we deemed essential for making long night passages more comfortable.

Making the boom tent was not a job for a windy day because, when sewn together, the canvas measures 6 x 4.75 metres; a big enough 'kite' to cause trouble. The mornings have been a very helpful flat calm and so we have concentrated our efforts then. By late afternoon, however, the daytime heating has been kicking up about 15 knots of wind. As a result, making the boom tent has been split over two days.

In between the sewing chores we have had to make regular checks on our new battery charger. It doesn’t seem to like the heat because, despite having a very good cooling fan, it doesn’t seem to want to use it when it needs to. Telephone calls to the manufacturer in the UK have been somewhat non-committal about replacing it until they have tested it in their laboratory. I guess we’ll have to either arrange for it to be shipped back or add it to the list of strange luggage contents for the x-ray team to look at when we next travel home.

Despite the efficient links in our journey back, one thing we did overlook was the Spanish Bank Holiday for San Juan (the Feast of St John) on Monday 24 June. Having arrived at the station in Vigo we walked to the nearby supermarket to stock up on lots of fresh food before getting a taxi back to BV. A perfect plan… except that all the shops were shut for San Juan. On the plus side we did get to eat Nicky’s inspirational creation of lentil, TVP (soya mince) and tomato pasta lasagne (aka ‘whatever you have in the store cupboard pasta bake’). Despite the circumstances of its creation, it was actually really good and we have no doubt we’ll try to recreate it again.

Whilst waiting for the whatever-you-want-to-call-it bake to cook, and having enjoyed much needed showers, we sat in the cockpit to enjoy the sundowners in the shade of the boom tent. By this time the wind had picked up to a brisk breeze and we agreed that we still need to adjust some of the tensions on the shock cord to get it all taut but, hey, after two days messing about in the sun with a sewing machine and scissors, trying out the (my) new beer drinking tent seemed to be much more important!