It was only Bloody Seven Degrees when we landed at Gatwick
And there was nobody there to pick us up and we had to get a taxi from Victoria because they had a problem with the baggage which made us late and there was no beer in the fridge at Jack and Marion's when we got in and we had to sleep on the floor and we have to go back to work and it's not hot enough to wear shorts!
But it is nice to see everyone again and Oceana is still in the Canaries so we are going back and we have got a roof over our heads and we haven't had any bills yet but we are still waiting for the cushy jobs, DJ residency and the free drinks.
Well we thought that realigning the propeller shaft would be easy enough, but when Andy dove in the water to push the shaft home he noticed that there were only two blades on the propeller, not the normal three. So now when we return in September we are going to have to haul Oceana out of the water and buy a new propeller before we can head off on the second leg of the adventure.
We are flying home on the 19th just in time to see the Easter Bunny and collect our Easter Eggs. Any assistance given in the following areas will be greatly appreciated:
Jobs - not too many hours in the week (this might be too much of a shock) but a greatly enhanced hourly rate.
Free lunches (or evening meals) just to prove the old adage wrong.
A roof over our heads and a bed to sleep in.
A lift home from the airport (Gatwick, 23.30 19th April).
Free use of a sunbed to keep the tans topped up.
A propeller.
A resident DJ spot at a banging nightclub.
Or failing that just drop us a line at the Murphy household so that we can meet up for a few drinks - gin and tonic for Christina and a vodka and orange for Andy.
Well it´s been a hard decision to make but we have finally decided that we are heading home for the summer to work and then continue the adventure next September. We tried really hard to get work here, but it either payed crap money in the tourist trap hell that is the South of the Island or we needed to be fluent in Spanish. So then the options left to us were sail home via the Madiera Islands and the Azores or leave Oceana here in the canaries and fly home. Although the prospect of sailing back via the Islands was a very tempting one it made sense to leave Oceana here and fly back, both financially and also physically. Lets face it, it´s taken us nine months to get here so the thought of going back to where we started and saling over all that ground again (not to mention the prospect of more storms and contrary winds) made the decision much easier. After all, it gives a big incentive to save up and get back out here if the next passage we plan is from the Islas Canarias to the Cap Verde Islands - much more appealing than passage planning a trip from Brighton to Southampton!
The part for the engine arrived and has been installed by Andy, fast becoming a handy mechanic, and once the propshaft is finally aligned we will go for a sail before laying up for the summer. Sounds strange "laying up for the summer" and instead of making sure systems don´t freeze we have to protect everything from the sun whilst we are away.
So then, it´s a case of adios Canarias and hello Great Briton for the summer, no more lazing about in the sun and back to nine to five for a while. I hope that the shock doesn´t kill us! SEE YOU SOON!!!
