Madera - break

Semptember 30th 2007

On Madeira everything is going fine. Preparations are running smoothly. The only disturbance is the lack of materials, the rain or an "obligatory" party event, organized by the Team Yemaya.

I spent the last couple of days on preparations of the boat and of the equipment (computer, video camera and camera). There are tons of footage and photos, which had to be revised, segregated and filed. Thanks to my sponsors I am equipped with very good devices. However, a 200Gb capacity of hardware turned out to be far too little. I am sending the materials step by step, but uploading 200Gb into the network takes some time. There seems to be too little space on the servers. And this is the reason for the delay of news.

The preparations on the boat are rather insignificant. We are having a standard inspection;). The shipment from France from "Świstak" hasn't still arrived, which can only be a result of the French sluggishness. The package contains materials, which I wanted to use for repairing rudder boxes (carbon 250 UD). Fortunately, we managed to get it on the island. There were however other things I mostly long for splicing tools, which could not be taken on the plane because of the new regulations at the airports. Luckily all of the ropes we got in Liros (thanks to Maciek Skibski and Lenin) turned out to be great. No damages whatsoever. I only have to put the "covers" on the halyards in the places where they will be fastened by the jammers. There are no signs of usage on the ropes, but the second leg is much longer - 3100NM. Better safe than sorry.

Rudder boxes are our biggest problem, which I somehow tackled two days ago. I wanted to have it fixed by yesterday, but the rain thwarted my plans (and yes, it is raining here from time to time, as it does for example today). Laminating the boat is impossible today, as there is no space in the repair premises. I am doing all the work outdoors. The premises is in fact a misnomer. The place where I am repairing the boat is a hangar with tools (you can find here boards, sails and lots of other things), which Antonio, the coach of the Madeira Team of windsurfers. We got on well together from the start, we exchanged some views on Gdynia and Sopot and reminisced about our friends. Personally I have special greetings for Paweł Kowalski. Antonio is busy today because of the regatta, but the whole last week his hangar was the most visited place among sailors of Mini class on the island. Everyone who wants to have something laminated with epoxy or carbon comes here. It is actually the only place, where it can be done and Antonio is the only person who can do it. Thanks a lot Antonio!

So.everything is working just fine. We will be ready for the next part of the race. Today routier Jure arrived, yesterday we received the auto-pilot electric rams from "Faruś" (Eljacht), whom I would like to thank, the shipment from France is still on its way.I hope it will arrive before the start;)

Greets from the hangar:)
Marek Goły Gałkiewicz