It’s Official: No Splash Until New Year

The lost two weeks at the start of the refit and some out-of-stock seals for our Perkins 4.108 engine mean that I’ll be back in Olbia in January to finish up the work.

As the friends on whose boat I am staying said, to quote G.B. Shaw, “At the end everything will be all right and if not it’s not the end.” My new mantra.

Everything is progressing well and using the extra time on the hard to get a few other projects done. The weather has been splendid the past 10 days – sun, no wind and highs of 15C. Nice way to spend the days, sanding, priming, painting, drilling and looking over the mechanic’s shoulder to learn everything I can about our engine.

My flight to Munich is booked for Dec. 22 where I will join Gabriela, Sol and Leonie to spend Christmas with our family there. The six-week separation has been unfamiliar for everyone after spending 24/7 together since June. We have each been able to explore and learn in our own ways. The children went to school with friends in Berlin for three weeks, Gabriela visited museums and galleries, and now they are soaking up family life with their Oma, Onkel and Tante. Both Sol and Leonie have been to see FC Bayern play, I’ll let them tell you about that in their blogs.

Here is a gallery of recent photos from the shipyard and the work crew:

– Luca continues to work his magic on an engine that was built when he was only 12 years old.

– Nathan guides all things rigging and his contacts in the marine industry have been indispensable as we have essential parts repaired and fabricated.

There are others I’ll introduce you to in future posts.