The last few days I have visited Cebadal, which is an industrial park on the outskirts of Las Palmas, not far in fact from the Northern end of the port. I don't know why I am writing this entry other than to confess that I love visiting the place. Yesterday a man pressed a bag of loose stainless steel screws and an odd assortment of fittings into my hand with the words, "Here you go they are free" All because I was off a "Barco". The kindness of these guys is amazing when you consider the technical pratfalls of having to explain with a combination of gesture and drawings what you are looking for: a coaxial cable connector and flexible four strand electrical wire with only .5 to .7 mm diameter etc. etc. . .
Today I went in for another sortie. This time with directions to find a two component glue for the dinghy. My friends Christine and Flo were looking for Plexiglas. Not at the right business we got instructions only to be intercepted by a guy who was going to the right shop. This all in Spanish. It was great. We all piled into his truck, Patrick as well, another in our party, and away we went. The picture above is from the shop floor we visited. Great stuff. A 4 ton crane working above the floor, any type of metal you wanted in bars, ingots and rolls. A little sample of my industrial espionage. . .