Mark1grp

Sailed my midget 31 from Uk to algarve last autumn...via casablanca
(casablanca was aimed for not a navigation error...and ...for those who dont know...a midget 31 is a dutch sailing boat ...this is not some strange lonely hearts ad)
First of all...seagoing boats do need to be reliable....so getting to know them is a matter of everything going wrong and needing fixing .. Thus i was quite unfazed when tonight at 1 am the gas under the kettle stopped ( it would be when waking for a cuppa in the early hours of course but i was in a marina at VRSA fortunatly) . i even had an internet connection. So undaunted i set about trying to change cylinders quietly in a boats gas locker in a marina on a night so quiet you can hear a pin drop. As a break..and to let neighbours get back to sleep....i googled how to undo a repsol gas reg., and i arrived at Expats. The consensus instructions were good up to the point it said put the cylinder in the fire ( yes it Does...you check)....and nothing to the contrary. I didnt have a handy fire, it seemed not a good idea in a marina in middle of the night and i didnt want to wake the neighbours up again so i passed on that. And the changeover worked anyway and i had a nice cup pof tea. So i thought id quetly tap away and join the site to say thank you and pass on the good news.

old.sparkles

Hi Mark and welcome to BE

This has got to be one of the better introductions I've read. Hope you're enjoying your late night cuppa

Where abouts is VRSA?

BEVS

BE is full of such wisdom. Will you be recycling the empty cylinder as an on-board bbq for when the 2nd cylinder gives out ? There are instructions here on BE for that too I believe.

Kia Ora from New Zealand. Now you have found us all, have a good mooch about and enjoy.

bakedbean

Hello from Malaysia Have fun.

Mark1grp

Thanks for the kind welcome. VRSA is Vila Real de Santo Antonio .... but try getting that on the road signs? Sadly for a nice town it shares this acronym with a superbug ...vancomycin- resistant staphylococcus aureus ... but noone seems to get muddled in practice .

old.sparkles

So are you there for a few days, or just a brief stop off on the way to the next port?

Mark1grp

Iveoverwintered the boat therewhilstflying back to get my van with resuppliesfrom uk.
Biscay ratherhurt seven year old sails. And its given me opportunities to see the hinterland of portugaland spain too...which you can only imagine whilst sailing by.

Mark1grp

Thanks baked bean! And , for Bev, i do like the idea of barbies but solo sailing ive found it easier just to catch a single mackerel and cook it in a teflon pan on camping gas stove in cockpit. Delicious with some lemon and garlic. But then i seem to have no interest in fish on land...its always meat.
At sea i make what a friend called my see wasser brot...to go with the fish. Its just normal yeast wholemeal bread with 10Opc saltwater. However the high salt which seems fine at sea is maybe ott on land...never seems as nice on land anyway!

lavenderfest

hi Audrey here (lavenderfest) uk .welcome BE, not quite sure where you from
but just to say how wonderful your sailing exploits, very adventurous, where
you from/ going to . hope you found home for gas cylinder

Rosemary

Hello and a big welcome to BE.

Excellent information can be found in the BE Wiki, not forgetting the Living and Moving Abroad forum that will help you, another set of great help is the permanent threads at the TOP of each forum, they are very pertinent to that particular forum and makes sensible reading.

Moderators deal with any problems that arise such as inappropriate posts, spammers etc, you will find their names at the bottom right hand side of each forum's index in bold font.

Please contact me if I can give you any further help.

Rosemary