Addaya (Part 2)

Charlotte would be arriving on Wednesday morning and so we were in Addaya very early for that. However, the next couple of days allowed Nicky to put some extra coats of varnish on the areas she had been working on and we gave BV a good clean ready for Charlotte’s holiday with us. We also used the laundrette at the marina and, most importantly, we made contact with the riggers via the boatyard office in the marina. We’d been recommended the boatyard as a place to use if we needed any work doing on BV but they did not have an on-site rigger. Fortunately, they know a good one and were prepared to help us with translation. Through them we arranged for the rig check to take place on Wednesday morning around about when Charlotte was due to arrive. At least we thought that we did. It turned out that the rigger was there half an hour before but with no one there to pick him up he moved onto another job; our rigging check was delayed until Thursday morning. As expected there were absolutely no issues and the report has been forwarded to our insurance company to keep them happy.

Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong,
not a boat name I would like to have to spell out on the radio    

Aside from all of this ‘busyness’ it was good fun just watching the comings and goings in the cala. There was a regular stream of visiting yachts so we had to keep one eye out when they were anchoring because in the shelter of the cala the yachts were spinning in all directions, sometimes aligning with the wind and at other times with the gentle current. Knowing where they had dropped their anchor gave us a clue as how close they might end up to us.

Inevitably some yachts did get very close. The French couple above finally twigged that they were a little too close and move to a better position…

… only to be replaced just a few minutes later by this French yacht. We woke up in the morning to find them in their cockpit just a few feet ahead of BV’s bow but unable to start their engine because of a flat battery. So we threw them a couple of lines, secured them alongside BV and then then ran our generator for an hour so that they could recharge their battery enough to get their engine going. Delighted to have their engine working again we were presented with a rather nice bottle of French wine as a thank you before they moved on.

Our new CA burgee

Charlotte arrived without any difficulties and discovered that the Menorcan taxis are even more expensive than those back home on Guernsey. The only issue from our perspective was that she brought some Mancunian weather with her; we had rain that morning for the first time in weeks! Fortunately, the clear blue skies were not long in returning bringing much better holiday weather for her. 

Replacement drag link rose joint   

As she settled in and unpacked we got some useful spare parts she had brought out with her. A handful of shaft seals so that I can rebuild the spare water pump for the generator, a spare water pump and control box for the fridge, a new rose joint for the end of the drag link rose on the steering system, and a nice new Cruising Association burgee.

I fitted the rose joint immediately and, satisfyingly, solved the slight wobble in the steering system. The rest of the spares were stowed away and the CA burgee hoisted. It was then time to relax and click into holiday mode for Charlotte. Following a top tip from Ross and Lisa on Arcarius, we took a dinghy ride up the cala to pick some blackberries. Ross and Lisa had enjoyed the anchorage there so much that they had returned there for a day or two whilst they waited for a good wind to make their way east towards Sardinia. Stopping by briefly to say hello we set off again equipped with their boathook, thick gloves and precise directions to the best blackberry picking area. Triumphant we returned with 3 boxes of blackberries and, despite the gloves, a lot of scratches. Our dinghy also came in handy for trips out to the entrance to the cala to go swimming. Here the water was much clearer but still a far cry from the anchorages we’d be moving on to. The only slight delay on our departure was getting the rig check done and so once that was complete we were free to head east towards Mahón, the island’s capital.

Addaya, Menorca, Spain