Sunday, 16 December 2007
Our July 07 Refit Starts
Adapting to a foreign culture can be challenging. We had begun to suspect that this may be the case when all our requests from the UK for estimates for repairs from boatyards up and down the Costa del Sol were resolutely ignored.
Needing to find a solution we booked a lift out of the water at the boatyard which was right next to the marina we were in. We were told it would take 3-4 weeks as there was a waiting list and limited space and boat owners never got their boats ready on time!
We arrived at the boat 4 weeks later and our first action was to ask when we were due to be lifted out?
“Boat name” said the boat yard manager tersely.
“Silver Fox - we booked alift out a month ago”
“Not on the list” he said, warming to the task. “Who did you speak to?”
“You” I replied, tensing my muscles for the forthcoming tussle.
“Not on the list” he repeated “But I can lift you out tomorrow morning”
“But we need to book workman and we haven’t been able to do that because you couldn’t give us a date.” I replied. “When else can you do it?”
Tomorrow is the only slot, if not tomorrow then I cannot tell you when” he said with glee.
First set to the boatyard!
Knowing when to change strategy is important so after a moments consideration I immediately surrendered and agreed to be lifted out tomorrow. Once lifted out the balance of power changed when I opened up two very obvious holes in the hull where sea cocks needed replacing and left them open.
We did manage to get workmen to do the repairs that were too difficult for me but these took 2 weeks, rather than the two days the yard manager had assumed, because they weren‘t able to start at a moments notice. After the first few days we were clearly in the yard manager’s way at the peak of his summer season. If he could have, he would have lifted us back in the water - ready or not! But he couldn’t because the boat would have immediately sunk.
Set two to the Fox I think!
Watching him busily move boats around us on his crane was like watching someone trying to sort out some giant Rubik cube, there simply wasn’t enough room to do it efficiently
Every day he would tersely ask “Are you finished?”
And every day I would smile sweetly and answer “Mañana God willing”
Game set and match to the Fox!
The Adventure Begins....11/07/07
Departure
Well dearly beloved where should this tale begin? Dreams turned to reality as we flew out of Manchester Airport on July 11th 2007 bound for Malaga and the boat in Marbella.
The preparation since retiring on June 24th had been painful to say the least. We thought we had already disposed of most of our possessions but many trips in our transit van to the local council tip and to friends and relatives proved us wrong. Every day was filled with packing and disposing of “all our worldly goods” as they say.
What a lot of material things you acquire along the way without realising it.
Our daughter Suzie drove us to the airport where, it transpired Mags’ mum, Ronnie, sister Pat and brother Chris had taken time out to surprise us with a nice family send off, at least that was the plan. The Campbell’s navigation (or lack of ) skill is legendary and there was an interesting half hour whilst with the aid of frequent calls to the mobile a rendezvous was arranged though for a time it seemed that being in the same airport was as close as we w ere going to be.
A cup of coffee, lots of hugs and kisses and tugging of heart strings and then we were off.
We checked in close enough to the weight limit to be waived through, a formidable achievement for a couple leaving the country you might think? The full truth is that we had realised 10 days previously that we had far too much to take with us and arranged to have it freighted overland. Somewhat optimistically we had arranged for the collection of 3 x 25kg boxes. By the time the lorry had arrived this had grown to 13 boxes and we then had to call them again and arrange to ship another 10 more! But more of that later; quite a few of the boxes were filled with my tools, more of that later too.
It was a funny old feeling knowing we had single tickets. On the flight we decided the occasion warranted a bottle of champagne and a toast to adventure.
Arrival
Our transition from bricks and mortar in England to boat in Spain was eased and simplified by the wonderful help and support we received from Sarah and Mario our long standing friends who lived in San Pedro just outside Marbella.
They clearly thought then and still think now that we were absolutely potty, but as founder members of the potty club themselves, they did not see this mental aberration of ours as any reason not to give us their wholehearted support, added to which they housed and fed us for a month with the style and standard found only in the best hotels and restaurants.
Our plan was simple; put right the items identified in the survey as affecting the yachts seaworthiness, fix the damage to the bow caused in April and get sailing. Other “stuff” could wait until the winter we would carry out a refit and mould the Fox to our requirements.
That was our plan but more of that later too.
Well dearly beloved where should this tale begin? Dreams turned to reality as we flew out of Manchester Airport on July 11th 2007 bound for Malaga and the boat in Marbella.
The preparation since retiring on June 24th had been painful to say the least. We thought we had already disposed of most of our possessions but many trips in our transit van to the local council tip and to friends and relatives proved us wrong. Every day was filled with packing and disposing of “all our worldly goods” as they say.
What a lot of material things you acquire along the way without realising it.
Our daughter Suzie drove us to the airport where, it transpired Mags’ mum, Ronnie, sister Pat and brother Chris had taken time out to surprise us with a nice family send off, at least that was the plan. The Campbell’s navigation (or lack of ) skill is legendary and there was an interesting half hour whilst with the aid of frequent calls to the mobile a rendezvous was arranged though for a time it seemed that being in the same airport was as close as we w ere going to be.
A cup of coffee, lots of hugs and kisses and tugging of heart strings and then we were off.
We checked in close enough to the weight limit to be waived through, a formidable achievement for a couple leaving the country you might think? The full truth is that we had realised 10 days previously that we had far too much to take with us and arranged to have it freighted overland. Somewhat optimistically we had arranged for the collection of 3 x 25kg boxes. By the time the lorry had arrived this had grown to 13 boxes and we then had to call them again and arrange to ship another 10 more! But more of that later; quite a few of the boxes were filled with my tools, more of that later too.
It was a funny old feeling knowing we had single tickets. On the flight we decided the occasion warranted a bottle of champagne and a toast to adventure.
Arrival
Our transition from bricks and mortar in England to boat in Spain was eased and simplified by the wonderful help and support we received from Sarah and Mario our long standing friends who lived in San Pedro just outside Marbella.
They clearly thought then and still think now that we were absolutely potty, but as founder members of the potty club themselves, they did not see this mental aberration of ours as any reason not to give us their wholehearted support, added to which they housed and fed us for a month with the style and standard found only in the best hotels and restaurants.
Our plan was simple; put right the items identified in the survey as affecting the yachts seaworthiness, fix the damage to the bow caused in April and get sailing. Other “stuff” could wait until the winter we would carry out a refit and mould the Fox to our requirements.
That was our plan but more of that later too.
So where have you been for the last 6 months?
Sincerest apologies are due to our faithful reader for the lack of posts and updates. We have been busy beyond our wildest expectations and often with little of no web access.
To overcome this limitation we have stored our blogs and photos offline and now that we have web access we can post them in batches. Hope you enjoy reading them despite them being yesterday's news!
To overcome this limitation we have stored our blogs and photos offline and now that we have web access we can post them in batches. Hope you enjoy reading them despite them being yesterday's news!
Thursday, 26 April 2007
Is it me? (Part 3)
"Buenos dias Señor"
Would you like to renew for another month?
"Yes please!"
Fine Señor that is you paid up until the May 14th.
...... is it me or have I just received the three months in the Marina that was impossible three months ago? How does that work then?
Maybe they feel guilty about the damage?
Would you like to renew for another month?
"Yes please!"
Fine Señor that is you paid up until the May 14th.
...... is it me or have I just received the three months in the Marina that was impossible three months ago? How does that work then?
Maybe they feel guilty about the damage?
Worse things ....Happen at Sea!
As we walked up the pontoon I could see an unfamiliar dark stain on the Fox's prow. Anxious looks as we got closer revealed the prow of the boat had been damaged by repeated abrasion with the concrete quayside.
My first thought was to damn the yacht brokers who had taken the boat to present her to the VAT authorities and pay the VAT who had made a poor job of mooring her.
The air turned blue. "Those damn !!!?**?!?!**?!?**!?!?!! brokers"
It turned out these thoughts were positively slanderous as, after about half an hour, a Marinara turned up and explained that our mooring rope had snapped in a storm and as this had been provided by the marina we had to fill forms in at the "Officina".
We walked over to the marina office and met the head man who was very apologetic and said if we submitted two estimates and a report he would see that we were reimbursed by his insurers!
Wow! How is that for service?
Here are photos showing the damaged bow and quayside.
Fortunately the damage seems limited to abrasion with no structural deformation.
It's not great to be the only boat in the marina to take any damage.... but at least its not going to cost us anything to fix!
Here is the damage the bow did to the concrete - a very solid boat is a Moody!
Monday, 12 March 2007
Is it me (Part 2)
"Buenos Dias" I said in my best Spanish and then reverting to English "Is that the marina?"
"It is Senor" came the reply
"Good" I said," you asked me to call on the 12th when my contract expired to see if I could stay longer."
"Would you like to stay another month Senor?"
"Yes please"
"That's fine Senor, it is done"
..........I wonder what happened since the 8th that made it so easy? Oh well, problem solved until next month!
"It is Senor" came the reply
"Good" I said," you asked me to call on the 12th when my contract expired to see if I could stay longer."
"Would you like to stay another month Senor?"
"Yes please"
"That's fine Senor, it is done"
..........I wonder what happened since the 8th that made it so easy? Oh well, problem solved until next month!
Friday, 9 March 2007
Is it Me?
I had a really weird conversation with the marina people today. When we booked in they said we couldn't stay past March 12th - which is fair enough. So I rang today to see how the situation was and if things had maybe changed, and if we could extend our stay at all.
To my surprise the answer was that they couldn't tell me until the morning of the 12th when my booking expired, so I had to ring before midday to find out.
I explained I was in the UK, so if the boat needed moving I couldn't do it without any notice - II would need a few days extra on the mooring whilst I organised a flight out. "That's OK" they said.
So I can stay for a bit longer then - if only a few days? I said
"Can't tell you until the 12th" they said
Is it me!
To my surprise the answer was that they couldn't tell me until the morning of the 12th when my booking expired, so I had to ring before midday to find out.
I explained I was in the UK, so if the boat needed moving I couldn't do it without any notice - II would need a few days extra on the mooring whilst I organised a flight out. "That's OK" they said.
So I can stay for a bit longer then - if only a few days? I said
"Can't tell you until the 12th" they said
Is it me!
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