20-May-19 1715hrs

After flight from Melbourne - Dubai - Venice, taxi to train station, train to Trieste then taxi to Cantierri San Rocco boat yard arriving at 1730hrs. Met with Nielsen at the yard and had a quick look at Westralia. All appeared in order. The yard kindly gave me a lift to the San Rocco hotel near Muggia. Chilled out until John Eustace arrived from the UK around 2030hrs. Had dinner at the hotel before crashing, the long haul and time change having the usual effect.

21-May-19 0800hrs

John and I had breakfast at 0700hrs before heading over to the Cantierri San Rocco at 0800. Met with Jacopo and Luka at the yard and went through the check list. John and I then conducted detailed a walkthrough compiling a job list and then got to work. One outstanding issue was the minor gel coat chip work. The colour match was way out and given the rainy conditions it would not be rectified in time for our departure. This will have to corrected at the end of the season. Also the genset heat exchanger anode was not replaced as Jacapo said it would involve removal of pipes etc. This did not make sense to John and I so we will attend to the anode replacement ourselves. Mitja arrived with the sails and running rigging around 1030hrs. All systems checked out with the exception of one spreader downlight and the stern light. The stern light is a connection fault. We will attend to these when we get underway.  Boat was lifted back into the water around 1300hrs. With the boat in the lift cradle we fitted the new dinghy to the davits, placed the running rigging and sails on the foredeck along with two new bowthruster batteries. We then ran up the engine and genset, all checked out. Finally motored around to San Rocco marina. Once there we connected to shore power,  filled the water tanks, prepped the boat ready to hoist the sails, which incldued John going up the mast to untangle the mousing lines,  attended to a miriad of jobs in and around the boat. By 1800 we were done and took a beer at a local marina bar before dinner at the hotel and an early night.

22-May-19 0800hrs

After breakfast at 0700hrs we started on the boat at 0800hrs. I walked around to the fueling station with the dinghy fuel tank, John filled the new outboard with oil, connected the battery and we ran up the outboard. Went without a hitch and we were very impressed with the new AB military spec RIB. The quality of the hull etc. is miles above the former Ribeye. Luka came around and finished off applying sealant to a side panel that had started to come adrift, locating it with wooden stakes until the sealant set. Around 0930 hours we commenced hoisting the sails. By 1130hrs we had the jib, genoa and main secured. Went and had a coffee to clear the boat whilst the Cantierre guys cleaned the boat, washed down the teak decking and then applied Nanoprom by brush. John and I returned to the boat and replaced the bow thruster batteries, replaced the stainless davit extension poles with carbon fibre tube, replaced the starboard davit lifting rope with Dynema rope, applied sealant to the main head floor (which had started to lift the previous season), cleaned the second water hose and the two port lockers which had accumulated a lot of black mould. John and I  then headed off to the shopping centre by taxi to get provisions. Returned to the boat around 4pm where I dropped John off. Taxi driver Andrea took me around to the Italian state police where I organised clearance papers to leave Italy. The Italian's are very sensible giving 24 hours grace to clear, so all organised for an early departure. Andrea dropped me back at the boat. I removed the gas bottles and replaced both with new butane bottles. As is always the case the fittings were different and after several runs to the marina chandlery we determined we had a range of different fittings on the boat (organised in 2013!) that did the job. We replaced the 6 year old TV with a new Sony Bravia. This proved to be more involved than initially thought as the mounting positions were quite different and the tolerance in the TV lift cabinet very tight. After another series of runs to the chandlery we successfully improvised and mounted the new TV. After cleaning up it was 2030hrs and we were knackered. We headed over for a beer and dinner. I stayed on board the boat and, after making up the main cabin bed, hit the sack at midnight.

23-May-19 0815hrs

We quickly disconnected the shore power, stowed the water hose, started the engine and cast off at 0815hrs. Winds were very light so motored out of Italy then across the Montenegro coast, during which we set the main and Genoa hoping for some assistance. At 2000rpm we were had SOG of +8kns.

23-May-19 1030hrs 45:26.293N  13:30.984E

By 1030hrs we tied along side the customs jetty in Umag, Croatia. Cleared customs, paid the arrival fees and then departed at 1100hrs.

Boat being lifted at Cantierre San Rocco, May 21

Motoring around to Marina San Rocco, May 21

Getting organised after berthing at Marina San Rocco, May 22

Military spec AB RIB, May 22.

John setting up new RIB, May 22

Welcome mat, May 22

Rigging sails, May 22

Set to go, late evening May 22

Departing Italy, May 22