Up, Up and away.
38:56.84N
20:45.91E Thursday
9th October The
weather is holding nicely and we have managed to get all the pre haul out work
completed today, which was handy as we are being craned out first thing
tomorrow morning! Water
was running today but a rate that invited only pity! Sarah went to have a
polite discussion about this with the office and I went along later to add my
halfpenny worth but to no avail as they have no idea why the pressure has
suddenly dropped. They did of course send the poor beleaguered marinero along
to explain this to us and he poor soul, will probably be happy to see the back
of us now. Exchange
of emails between us and Hempel Paints continues as we try to find the best
antifouling paint to use next spring (best to get it ordered now) which
surprised us as Hempel own Blake's paints, whose products we used this year.
However, they get full marks as they have kept up a daily correspondence
although we started out emailing the UK and then got routed to Greece via Spain
and finally have got a full and very helpful reply even giving us the names of
the key contacts here at Cleopatra. We
have both been fascinated by the fishermen gathered all day on an old ferry
landing hard just 50 metres from us. The water is teeming with some very
sizable fish, which they seem to catch from time to time. But there is a chap
with a spear gun that wanders from time to time around the marina and always
gets himself a pretty big specimen and these are not Grey Mullet. Then we get
people in small motor boats dropping an anchor just feet from the marina jetty
and then start fishing, in between spectacular shouting matches with the
fishermen on the hard! All makes for a very entertaining distraction. Friday
10th October Up
with the lark this morning, (well it was still dark) but the fishermen were all
already set up across the way on the hard. We were due to be lifted at 8.00am
so we motored over to the hoisting dock at 7.50am and moored up in the entrance
with a bit of excitement as there is a very strong cross current just as you
approach the entrance. The crane team arrived shortly afterwards and
immediately requested that we go out and turn the boat round and come in
backwards! This was truly a test of boat handling as reversing yachts is never
very straightforward and with this curious tide that eddies around the entrance
anything could happen! Needless to say we got it right although the lads were a
little shocked at the speed we came in at, but I doubt they really understood
the dynamics of what we were trying to do. Ego got a big boost when a 50ft
Halberg Rassey tried next and made a complete pig's ear of it all several times
before effecting a sideways crash landing on the pier head. Lads were not at
all fazed as this is clearly what most people do! We
have been positioned on a cradle in a brand new area of the hard standing,
which unfortunately they are still working on! Doubtless the position on Google
Earth puts us in a field. We had to get a little tetchy to get the water and
electric laid on for us as the proper units are not yet installed and we are
still waiting for the portable scaffold to allow us to complete some of the
work around the hull. Hard standing is probably a bit of a misnomer as they
have reclaimed the land by filling it with rock and then ever finer stones and
earth which is being endlessly rolled by a huge vibrating roller which makes everything
including our boat, shake. Sarah
used a bottle of 'strong pickle' that I bought at the chandlers for cleaning
off barnacles to brilliant effect. Our propeller is the shiniest in the whole
boat park and with a lot less effort than usual. However there are still lots
of other bits and pieces to do still, but it is very gratifying to see that all
Sarah's efforts on polishing the hull have paid off, despite the pressure
washer at the lift out spraying crud all over her shiny hull. Ground
to a halt around 5.30pm but we still have 4 days to get it all finished which
assuming the weather continues to hold should be fairly straightforward. It is
just that so many of these jobs are ones that we have not done before so they
take time to work out. Dramatic
sky this evening and a clear threat of rain, but the forecast is for the fine
weather to continue, so fingers crossed. |