8th November

Safety check passed after much buying of unnecessary item. Rigg checked but
forgot to change tricolour bulb . Then drinking and end result that Dan fell in a drum of oil jumping over a wall. Result oily Dan . word is that Andrew McPake is visiting 9th. Up in AM and to Cortes to new out of town store for drinks for party. PM at lectures on provision of rigging and emergency navigation.

Then cherry party in evening and as usual drinking, then to bed by 0100am at latest.

10th November

In Las Palmas Muelle Deportivo.
Up early George doors - refreshed after long snooze. Erwan as usual still in bed ear plugs and all! Malcolm and I headed straight for our favourite shoppy to do a bit more provisioning having a great time debating the merits of a dry boat. Spent most of the
morning in El Corte struggling with the trolley which had a mind of it own. Back to the boat for kebabs and salad almost as good as the fat soaked ones we eat in the marina bar.

Off adventuring this afternoon to the Real Club Nautica - used the ARC pass to gain access to this fine establishment. Had a great swim as the sun set in the outside heated swimming pool, followed by a  quick sauna, topped off by a super shower. Retired to the terrace bar for some beer and tapas under the full moon and the backlit swimming pool.
Round to the dreamer for supper, great laugh, lots of booze and Perudo. After the meal the game was won by novice Perudo player John from Curachan. Malcom retired earlier than the rest to save any blushes. I will report this as being due to tiredness (the fact
that I personally had to see him off the boat and make sure he got aboard cherry in one piece really was only due to him being tired.)

11th November

Las Palmas Pontoon 17.
Two little piggies went to market, well Dom and Malcolm actually. Will get fresh food next Sat. Dan to Chandlery's and Erwan to Trisail. Dinghy in. Then in PM Dom and Malcolm found couldn't remove the thermostat . Engineer sent for. First aid drugs corrected.
Malcolm and Dom off to owner's dinner. Then all crew joined in, Malcolm concerned with womad (world of music and dance). Dom, Erwan and Dan out till early hours so no one awake on 12th.

Up a little late this morning as all except  party pooper Bod were hungover. Today was the Don Pedro international dingy race. We dressed up for the occasion in ridiculous costumes and hired some new crew. Eduardo  and Jen from Wet Dream ,the slow
unreliable Rival 38 and Esther from Kim. Esther brought two machine gun style water cannons
so that we could not only soak but also injure the competition. The race continued in fine style, everyone totally soaked and swallowing loads of highly polluted water.
No doubt we will all suffer terribly. After this all back to cherry for lunch including the Vikings then back to the Texaco dock for the volley ball competition.

We narrowly lost our game. Then the evening barby and prize giving. Barby not the best - cold uncooked meat and cockroaches everywhere, mmm, nice!!
Met Eric Maarstaad, a friend I sailed with and his brother 5 years ago in Stockholm.

Had supper with him and all the guys then back to Marie Helen for singsongs and beer.

13th November

Woke up this morning with Malcolm throwing a pillow at me  - as I slept I thought it was one of Nightowls cats so woke up with a start and tried to strangle the pillow!
Of to get my hands on some hard drugs this morning relax - our medical kit (which is probably more comprehensive than a third world hospital) had to be topped up. Managed to pick up most drugs without any problem.

Malcolm headed to the dentist for a check up and for reasons only known to Malcolm and the tooth fairy he allowed the mad non-speaking tooth puller to play (and I do mean play) with his teeth. The Las Palmas butcher as he became affectionately known wrenched out a tooth and played wth the nerves - all I suspect in the name of sport. Looks like I may have to do further operations on Malcolm at sea  ....yipee.

The Diary continues January 2001.