Twenty-first Century Argonauts

The saga of the Selden shackle for our Code 0 sail continues.

Kirk’s shackle from Comber was a different brand and just a little bit too small to fit, despite being an equivalent.

Plan B was rolled out. We have catalogues from two different chandlery chains, and both of them list the elusive Selden ‘Golden Fleece’ shackle. That makes about 20 chandleries within our vicinity.

I reckoned we could be in Dalaro in a week, and so called the chandler there and asked if they had one or could order it for us. No problem, it would be delivered within 2-3 days. So on Friday we headed for Dalaro to collect it. The marina in Dalaro is down an inlet, with a canal at the end. When we arrived, we could see the chandlery on the quay, but there were no visitor berths! And the only spaces even temporarily, were too shallow. A quick look at the guide book and we realised our mistake. The yacht marina was the other end of the Canal, and the Canal was only 1m deep with a Chinese wooden bridge in the middle. We had no hope of going through.

So we turned around and once again made our way the long way round the coast to the other marina. Two hours later we were there, and there was just enough time to walk briskly along the Canal back to the first marina before closing time.

Was the shackle there? They hadn’t even ordered it!!!! Oh yes, it was 2-3 days delivery, but they wanted to have more things to order before placing their order. GRRRRR.