Mon 22^nd, Tues 23^rd & Wed 24^th Nov

On Monday morning we were joined by PG who is the specialist that Najad Yachts have sent out from Sweden to sort out the outstanding problems that we have had this season. We have met PG many times before both in Sweden and UK and so we very pleased to hear that it was him whom they were sending.

PG arrived along with several cases packed with tools and spares and all manner of bits that he might need.

The primary objective was the load creaking noises in two distinct areas and PG set about his tasks with good humour and plenty of enthusiasm and was not too fazed when we added quite a few other little jobs to his list!

The added excitement today was the arrival during the previous night of another 120 foot yacht. The poor Oyster (which we now discovered was actually 72 ft) was dwarfed by these huge boats who all had big crews on board and who appeared to be making preparations for a race as well as provisioning for an Atlantic crossing. It turned out that these monsters were taking part in a Trans-Atlantic race due to start here at 1.00pm (not much publicity for sure!) so James and Sarah set off on foot to get a good place along the sea wall to watch the big event. This turned out to be something of an anti climax as it was just the three super yachts taking part and the start line was quite a way offshore and total crowd watching the event numbered ....three.

Disappointed with this, James and Sarah set off into town to try to located some decent WiFi as there appears to be nothing here in the marina. This left me to watch PG giving a masterclass in how to dismantle a Najad 460 which meant that poor Sarah returned to find the boat pretty much upside down.  In fact Serafina’s saloon resembled a pit shaft with 4 pit props holding up a newly glued section of the ceiling. The effect was exaggerated by the fact that the props were bits of random broken planks and other bits of wood foraged from the skip area and screwed together. (photo to follow at www.rhbell.com)

 This was also James’s last day with us and so in the evening the three of us and Chris and Steve from Scott Free all went off in search of a decent restaurant. Clearly we started our search in the wrong place as we walked some distance up and down the hill that Santa Cruz is built on, before finding just about the only actual restaurant, right back in the square we had started! It turned out to be really good and we all enjoyed good meals and a wine that we are determined to track down in the supermarkets.

We hired a car on Tuesday so Sarah could take James to the airport (much cheaper than a taxi)  leaving PG and me to continue our trail of destruction. In fact it had been hoped that there would be some decent wind so we could go out sailing and with the ceiling now removed, PG would hopefully be able to see if his remedial works had succeeded. Sadly there was no wind at all and so he set about some of his other tasks.

Sarah returned from the airport several hours later having run into exactly the same problems with the traffic system as PG. The marina is very well signposted once you get onto the service road along the front, but access to this is nearly impossible to find and is completely unmarked. Having got back, she then picked up Chris and they went off to explore El Corte Ingles and various supermarkets. By the end of the day PG had done all he could and with the forecast for no wind at all again tomorrow he decided to take the day off and spend some time with his wife who had come out with him for the week but who we have not met yet.

On Wednesday Sarah took advantage of PG’s absence to tidy and clean Serafina and more exploration of the city revealed a number of chandlery shops as well as some of the usual suspects including an M & S Food hall. In the evening Steve and Chris came round for drinks and we discussed plans for the crossing as well as what might happen beyond.