“Working on a sailboat is 10% sailing and 90% cleaning.” – Steve Dewhurst
The boat that we are delivering on this trip has been sitting in the marina in San Miguel in Tenerife for one month. The previous crew that got it from France down this far disintegrated due to some of the crew members running out of time, so the whole delivery had to be abandoned.
The crew seemed to have left in a hurry, because there are more than 70 or so bottles of mineral water and lots of food left on the boat. The time the boat has sat here however has meant that it is very dirty. Covered in fine dust, apparently blown from the African mainland. I spent the best part of a whole day washing the boat down, scubbing it with detergent, and then scrubbing it again where there were small spots that needed extra attention. I agree with Steve’s reasoning – do it now rather than the end of the trip when we are all tired.
Basically, the boat needs to be delivered in as good a condition as possible, as Steve and Ellie get rated on a scale of one to five, five being the best, on how the boat is delivered. Aparently, they mostly get fives with ‘a few fours every now and then’. The scrubbing is rewarding however – nothing quite like a nice white boat. Ellie is on stainless steel duty, polishing the metal parts.
The boat looks rather small in the photo.
I always think boats are so deceptive as to size. It seems incredible that your cabin fits into this boat!