Getting Sorted

Saturday 26th September

We are settling in well now - the weather is still warm - no heating needed so far - cloudy mornings and warm or hot afternoons.

we are lucky that our cockpit faces west and it catches the best of the sunshine in the afternoon.

Jackie actually had enough sun today and retreated below before dinner - TOO HOT !!

A busy day today.

My main job is to get BBC TV for Jackie to see Strictly Come dancing and various other programmes because I promised that they would be available here - THEY ARE NOT !!

Yesterday I tried -

Both ipads - little or no reception on Blazer - disconnecting constantly.

The on board computer - poor Internet connection and trouble using BBC i Player.

After dinner we went to Le Benjis for a drink and found the connection to the Internet was great but no BBC could be found apart from You Tube with some out of date short recordings.

I considered buying a satellite dish, but on a boat that bobs about - no good.

Then the penny dropped !!

BBC make it so that their programmes can't be seen overseas without them making some money out of it - 

even on the Internet.

First - I set up the big booster Ariel - bolted to the handrails pointing directly at the wifi transmitter.

For the first time since I bought it a few years ago it worked really well - The signal went from very poor to excellent !!!

Then I found a website that gets around the problem but you have to pay them - £10 per month - Not bad when you were as desperate as I was.

IT WORKS !!!

With an hour to spare we tested it out with Catchphrase - A bit disjointed - the sound is out of sinc with the film but overall - use able. - Jackie was happy with it.

Other jobs today.

We cleaned Blazer up today - washed the deck and all the topsides + scrubbing + cream cleaner.

I wire brushed and washed at the same time  the teak toe rail around the edge of the deck and cleaned off algae and flaking varnish - like new now !!

I made up some hot oxalic acid solution and sprayed it on the deck woodwork and various areas that had algae - it should get rid of it gradually then I will rinse it off.

Jackie cooked up Ham Carbonara with pasta for tea - lovely with fresh baguette.

We are determined to reduce our mountain of tinned food this trip - we have enough to open a shop - and lots of it is approaching the use by date.

Traditional Sunday roast tomorrow.

I Did check out the engine yesterday - Dry - no prop shaft seal leaks ! - Not much oil had leaked - I now put absorbent pads under the engine to soak up leaks - much better.

It fired up straight away - no churning - after 7 months stood idle - WOW !! - not bad for 35 years old.

I ran the prop and loads of green stuff came off the hull and prop - masses of it !!

I must lift out this winter and clean the hull  - plus anti foul paint.

The rudder and waterline are clean - the local mullet fish eat the weed that grows there !!

A busy but productive day.