Nov 29, 2009
The last week......
Firstly apologies for not really posting much this week. It has been a bit of a slog work wise with so much to do and so little time.
We have refitted 20 windows, with only the front windscreen ones to do. This has been a major effort, often working late and relying on the yard and the window suppliers to come up with the goods. We have still got a fair bit of work to do and this has resulted in me flying back to Cowes for three days to teach a GRP course and collect some mahogany veneers to repair the main saloon. All credit here goes to Chris back home. I rather dropped him in it by phoning with the simple request to find me long lengths of veneer, the only thing is can you get them with the grain running across rather than along them. Well eventually he sent me a text saying that he had found a furniture maker in Ryde who had what we wanted so next tuesday i am off to see what they've got, I am taking a bit of the boats paneling home just to compare it.
Looking back we have achieved one hell of a lot in four weeks, staring with a boat out in the open tied up to the quay to having a tent fitted and removing and then repairing the frames and replacing the glass, not to mention all the other little jobs that we have covered on the way.
I am really looking forward to being home, even if it is only briefly, and seeing Debs and Rocket. Also catching up with how Mark is getting on with the renovation work!!. (apparently i should be ready for dust everywhere!)
Sadly on this last day before i go home the weather is not being kind we have torrential rain and wind and there is really not a lot to do......well it is sunday! So we settled down to hot roast beef sandwiches and reading old sunday papers!!
So fly back to Britain in the morning and then back here Thursday.......
will hopefully keep you all posted as to whats going on and see some of you when i get back....
Bye for now..
We have refitted 20 windows, with only the front windscreen ones to do. This has been a major effort, often working late and relying on the yard and the window suppliers to come up with the goods. We have still got a fair bit of work to do and this has resulted in me flying back to Cowes for three days to teach a GRP course and collect some mahogany veneers to repair the main saloon. All credit here goes to Chris back home. I rather dropped him in it by phoning with the simple request to find me long lengths of veneer, the only thing is can you get them with the grain running across rather than along them. Well eventually he sent me a text saying that he had found a furniture maker in Ryde who had what we wanted so next tuesday i am off to see what they've got, I am taking a bit of the boats paneling home just to compare it.
Looking back we have achieved one hell of a lot in four weeks, staring with a boat out in the open tied up to the quay to having a tent fitted and removing and then repairing the frames and replacing the glass, not to mention all the other little jobs that we have covered on the way.
I am really looking forward to being home, even if it is only briefly, and seeing Debs and Rocket. Also catching up with how Mark is getting on with the renovation work!!. (apparently i should be ready for dust everywhere!)
Sadly on this last day before i go home the weather is not being kind we have torrential rain and wind and there is really not a lot to do......well it is sunday! So we settled down to hot roast beef sandwiches and reading old sunday papers!!
So fly back to Britain in the morning and then back here Thursday.......
will hopefully keep you all posted as to whats going on and see some of you when i get back....
Bye for now..
Nov 25, 2009
Nov 24, 2009
At last a day off!!!
Woke up on monday morning and the weather gods had been kind to us! The sky was clear and blue so after Roger had dealt with the little outstanding issue with the shipyard we packed up our things with some basic lunch ingredients and set off for San Romolo. We parked in the middle of the village and were immediately approached by two small dogs (sort of cross labrador/beagle/springer/mutt) so we set off up the path to the summit of Big Non'e (i think thats how you spell it) at over 1599 metres we think this definately counts as mountineering!. The path up varied from nice chestnut wood to rocky vertical outcrop but the weather was still good enough to walk uphill wearing a t shirt. After about 2 and a half hours of pretty hard walking we reached the church on the top.....still accompanied by one of the dogs! Here we stopped for lunch with our four legged friend closely watching us!. (we did give him the leftovers!) Sadly at this point the cloud came in below us so we were unable to see back to San Remo but we set off back. This proved to be a much harder trek as the amount of chestnut leaves on the ground made it hard to see the stones underneath. We were all glad we had poles.
The dog followed us all the way back down to the car where he then met the people off the bus and proceeded to follow one of them! I can honestly say we were all knackered when we return to the boat.
But thoroughly refreshed so after a short break we decided to head into town for dinner as Lisa was allowed to have a day off from cooking too!!.
Today:
The day started well although we all still ached a bit. I set off early to catch the market and buy a few things to bring back with me. Then it was back to work filling and sanding and generally getting the boat ready for more windows. The kind man on the boat opposite gave us a bag of small scorpion fish (we lent him a hammer to break up crab a few days ago) so Lisa was forced to make soup for lunch. It was touch and go whether it was worth sorting out the meat on the fish but the soup tasted great. Then it was back to work for the afternoon. I am now just having a quick rest before setting off for the weekly barbeque........
See you all soon.....
The dog followed us all the way back down to the car where he then met the people off the bus and proceeded to follow one of them! I can honestly say we were all knackered when we return to the boat.
But thoroughly refreshed so after a short break we decided to head into town for dinner as Lisa was allowed to have a day off from cooking too!!.
Today:
The day started well although we all still ached a bit. I set off early to catch the market and buy a few things to bring back with me. Then it was back to work filling and sanding and generally getting the boat ready for more windows. The kind man on the boat opposite gave us a bag of small scorpion fish (we lent him a hammer to break up crab a few days ago) so Lisa was forced to make soup for lunch. It was touch and go whether it was worth sorting out the meat on the fish but the soup tasted great. Then it was back to work for the afternoon. I am now just having a quick rest before setting off for the weekly barbeque........
See you all soon.....
Nov 22, 2009
No rest for the wicked.........then disaster strikes!!!
The plan for the weekend was to work a bit of saturday and then work a little on sunday so that we could go for a trek in the hills on sunsday afternoon...
Little did we know what was about to happen. To explain a little bit beforehand, part of the windows that i am out here replacing consist of a sheet of glass which slides in a stainless steel runner lined with furry stuff. This is than fitted into a stainless or brass frame (part of the boat) and this is then fitted into the wooden surround and held in place by a nice neat flat polished stainless frame with screws on the front.
We had given the local shipyard the inner brass and stainless frames so that they could make us up the new stainless and furry liners and there had been no real problems (apart from a few not fitting). So Roger went to the yard on saturday morning to collect the other half only to find that the yard had made up the new liners and then folded up our frames and thrown them in the skip!
So the yard manager was summonsed to the boat...... What happened can't really be described involving the yard guy saying it was our fault for leaving them with him and then lisa interjecting only only to be told that the yard manager would not deal with a woman only the aptain and then a long diatribe about how arguing about blame was like the Israelis and Palestinians it could go on forever and with that he walked off the boat taking his dog saying ......come and find me monday and maybe we can sort it out.....
As you can imagine this sort of set the tone for the day... we carried on working up to three in the afternoon and then decided to set off for the big excitement.... to cheer us up.....
The San Remo Ice Cream Festival!!!!
What a way to spend an afternoon, Jostling with Italians fighting over free, yes free, icecream.......
There more flavours than i can remember and the best thing had to be the ice cream maker making it on site using a traditional hand powered churn and asking the audience to help.....It was worth the wait....each mix only served about 10 people so you had to have long arms and sharp elbows!!
After that we headed down toward the old port to watch the San Remo round of the "national?" go cart championship.....it all happens here!!
After we had had our fill of two stroke fumes it was back to a local bar for a few pre dinner drinks and then back to the boat...
I must say that the day finished rather better than we thought it would earlier.....
Sadly the weather on sunday didn't look to good so we decided to swap days and carry on with the work. It was nice to actually complete the windows in the wheelhouse which actually meant that we could take down the polythene on one side at least.
We also made a definite plan for my schedule in that i am only going to fly back to Cowes for a few days to teach the Grp course then come back and work here for another week.... i know its a tough job but some ones got to do it......
Hopefully monday will be a day off if we can sort the yard out first thing.........
Little did we know what was about to happen. To explain a little bit beforehand, part of the windows that i am out here replacing consist of a sheet of glass which slides in a stainless steel runner lined with furry stuff. This is than fitted into a stainless or brass frame (part of the boat) and this is then fitted into the wooden surround and held in place by a nice neat flat polished stainless frame with screws on the front.
We had given the local shipyard the inner brass and stainless frames so that they could make us up the new stainless and furry liners and there had been no real problems (apart from a few not fitting). So Roger went to the yard on saturday morning to collect the other half only to find that the yard had made up the new liners and then folded up our frames and thrown them in the skip!
So the yard manager was summonsed to the boat...... What happened can't really be described involving the yard guy saying it was our fault for leaving them with him and then lisa interjecting only only to be told that the yard manager would not deal with a woman only the aptain and then a long diatribe about how arguing about blame was like the Israelis and Palestinians it could go on forever and with that he walked off the boat taking his dog saying ......come and find me monday and maybe we can sort it out.....
As you can imagine this sort of set the tone for the day... we carried on working up to three in the afternoon and then decided to set off for the big excitement.... to cheer us up.....
The San Remo Ice Cream Festival!!!!
What a way to spend an afternoon, Jostling with Italians fighting over free, yes free, icecream.......
There more flavours than i can remember and the best thing had to be the ice cream maker making it on site using a traditional hand powered churn and asking the audience to help.....It was worth the wait....each mix only served about 10 people so you had to have long arms and sharp elbows!!
After that we headed down toward the old port to watch the San Remo round of the "national?" go cart championship.....it all happens here!!
After we had had our fill of two stroke fumes it was back to a local bar for a few pre dinner drinks and then back to the boat...
I must say that the day finished rather better than we thought it would earlier.....
Sadly the weather on sunday didn't look to good so we decided to swap days and carry on with the work. It was nice to actually complete the windows in the wheelhouse which actually meant that we could take down the polythene on one side at least.
We also made a definite plan for my schedule in that i am only going to fly back to Cowes for a few days to teach the Grp course then come back and work here for another week.... i know its a tough job but some ones got to do it......
Hopefully monday will be a day off if we can sort the yard out first thing.........
Nov 20, 2009
A Bit of a catch up..........
The last couple of days have been a bit of a blur (more about this later!) so apologies for not keeping quite up to date with the blog.
Wednesday 18th:
Having recovered from the regular quayside barbeque the night before we all set too again for what turned out to be a pretty logs hard days work. The weather was being very kind to us with bright sunshine and no wind to we managed to epoxy fill all the window surrounds still left and also make a bit more progress on the chocks for the tender. I think we all felt a bit weary after the excesses of the weekend and after a swift walk into town, dinner of mexican wraps and salad and one beer we all headed off for an early night....
Thursday started well.... the weather was still very good and Dario our painter, who is going to spray the areas that i have worked on popped round to invite us up to his house in the early afternoon. He wanted us to see his workshop and facilities, basically he is a great salesman and wants as much work as possible!!.
We spent the morning doing more work on the window surrounds while Roger cleaned out the brass runners that the sliding windows sit in. We had a great lunch and then Dario called to pick us up....
His house is just outside san Remo in one of the valleys, surrounded by greenhouses and farms. He owns quite a big plot of land and hopes in the future to build houses for his sons....The drive up was a bit hair raising through the winding zig zag roads but we made it and spent an hour or so with him chatting about work etc. When we were about to leave he gave us 4 bottles of his home made wine.... you can see where this is leading .....we made our way back to the boat and continued working for what was left of the day.
We then had to do a quick run to the supermarket to pick up supplies and also visit the diy store next door.
When we arrived back Lisa started dinner (squid and seafood pasta) and we decided to open a bottle of the wine.... The evening went downhill from there, the pasta was superb followed by chocolate cake and another two bottles..........well it was good wine......
Today started well considering the night before.... The wind had got up quite a bit but we still managed good progress, fitting two more window frame back in before coffee and another before lunch. I must say at this point that a have been really spoiled with food. Lisa is an excellent cook and there is always a great lunch of cold meats and salad or fresh quiche or homemade pie. In the evening we usually have a few drinks and sit down for our main meal... tonight is curry and i have been smelling the ingredients all afternoon.
I think overall we are making good progress. The windows have turned into a much larger job than expected as the woodwork around them was in pretty bad condition. Also the respray that happened two years ago was not great and water has been getting in in lots of places. We have had to shelve a few jobs but all in all we are getting there. There is now a very big possibility that i will fly back to the uk for about 5 days and then come back here for another week just to finish things off, as we still have to replace all the mahogany veneer that has been damaged by water ingress....
Anyway will keep you all posted. I am starting to miss Debs and Rocket quite a lot but at least i am still working each day in shorts and a t shirt (no shoes).........and glad to be missing all the lousy weather.....
Wednesday 18th:
Having recovered from the regular quayside barbeque the night before we all set too again for what turned out to be a pretty logs hard days work. The weather was being very kind to us with bright sunshine and no wind to we managed to epoxy fill all the window surrounds still left and also make a bit more progress on the chocks for the tender. I think we all felt a bit weary after the excesses of the weekend and after a swift walk into town, dinner of mexican wraps and salad and one beer we all headed off for an early night....
Thursday started well.... the weather was still very good and Dario our painter, who is going to spray the areas that i have worked on popped round to invite us up to his house in the early afternoon. He wanted us to see his workshop and facilities, basically he is a great salesman and wants as much work as possible!!.
We spent the morning doing more work on the window surrounds while Roger cleaned out the brass runners that the sliding windows sit in. We had a great lunch and then Dario called to pick us up....
His house is just outside san Remo in one of the valleys, surrounded by greenhouses and farms. He owns quite a big plot of land and hopes in the future to build houses for his sons....The drive up was a bit hair raising through the winding zig zag roads but we made it and spent an hour or so with him chatting about work etc. When we were about to leave he gave us 4 bottles of his home made wine.... you can see where this is leading .....we made our way back to the boat and continued working for what was left of the day.
We then had to do a quick run to the supermarket to pick up supplies and also visit the diy store next door.
When we arrived back Lisa started dinner (squid and seafood pasta) and we decided to open a bottle of the wine.... The evening went downhill from there, the pasta was superb followed by chocolate cake and another two bottles..........well it was good wine......
Today started well considering the night before.... The wind had got up quite a bit but we still managed good progress, fitting two more window frame back in before coffee and another before lunch. I must say at this point that a have been really spoiled with food. Lisa is an excellent cook and there is always a great lunch of cold meats and salad or fresh quiche or homemade pie. In the evening we usually have a few drinks and sit down for our main meal... tonight is curry and i have been smelling the ingredients all afternoon.
I think overall we are making good progress. The windows have turned into a much larger job than expected as the woodwork around them was in pretty bad condition. Also the respray that happened two years ago was not great and water has been getting in in lots of places. We have had to shelve a few jobs but all in all we are getting there. There is now a very big possibility that i will fly back to the uk for about 5 days and then come back here for another week just to finish things off, as we still have to replace all the mahogany veneer that has been damaged by water ingress....
Anyway will keep you all posted. I am starting to miss Debs and Rocket quite a lot but at least i am still working each day in shorts and a t shirt (no shoes).........and glad to be missing all the lousy weather.....
Nov 17, 2009
The windows are going back in!!
The day started well with lovely warm sunshine spreading over the tent. In fact it was so nice Lisa De-camped from the boat to the dock side to work on the varnish work on the saloon chairs.
Roger and I decided that it was about time we started to get things moving so we managed to put in three new windows before lunch! We then looked at how bad the port side of the coachroof was and made a plan that i would "simply" router out the bad wood and cut in some new ply. Well you can imagine what i looked like after half an hour using a router while lying on my side down the side of the boat.... It was hard to see where i started and the boat finished. In fact it took another hour to hoover up!
We then thought that the under lying wood was still too damp to epoxy so it was an early shower and off to to the weekly quayside barbeque for steaks and beer.
Also heard from Debs this evening that she got home safely and the house is still standing even if it is a little dusty and one of the rooms is a bit bigger than it used to be!!
Roger and I decided that it was about time we started to get things moving so we managed to put in three new windows before lunch! We then looked at how bad the port side of the coachroof was and made a plan that i would "simply" router out the bad wood and cut in some new ply. Well you can imagine what i looked like after half an hour using a router while lying on my side down the side of the boat.... It was hard to see where i started and the boat finished. In fact it took another hour to hoover up!
We then thought that the under lying wood was still too damp to epoxy so it was an early shower and off to to the weekly quayside barbeque for steaks and beer.
Also heard from Debs this evening that she got home safely and the house is still standing even if it is a little dusty and one of the rooms is a bit bigger than it used to be!!
Nov 16, 2009
Time to catch up after the weekend...
Thought it was about time i caught up with everything over the weekend. As you might have read in the last post Debs turned up on thursday night safely and got to the boat despite my driving.
She was then able to acclimatise gently (lie in!!) whilst Roger, Lisa and I carried on with work on the window frames. In the evening we went out to the Muleterria restaurant ( excuse my spelling ). This was once the place that fed the Mule drivers in the old city in San Remo and is still run by a little old lady who might possibly still date from that time!!. It is quirky, fun, and great value with only house wine from the barrel and dinner consisting of pasta, pasta or pasta with an assortment of sauces and maybe some olives or toasted things to start with. We had a superb evening and very happily rolled back to the boat...
Saturday was a free day for me so Debs and I set off to explore the market and the old town, whilst stopping off for coffee, Gelatos and then more shopping.....
As you can see from the photos we made it to the top of the old town and really had a great day... This was topped off by a magical mystery tour in the evening with Roger and Lisa to find "The mushroom restaurant?"
With direction that go "drive to taggia then turn left and head inland up the valley till you see the mushroom!, you really can't miss it.."
We set off and sure enough if you follow the instructions and avoid the crashed cars (some other time!) eventually if you keep going you will find a giant concrete mushroom (about 20' high) just past the giant snail!!! (is this starting to sound like the magic roundabout yet).
If you cross the small bridge and avoid the agitated italian lady (from the kitchen) in the car park you WILL FIND THE MUSHROOM RESTAURANT!!!!
Called "Cam Erre" it think....
We had a superb meal consisting of 10 courses mostly involving mushrooms of some sort... mushroom rissotto, mushroom with pasta, mushrooms and carpaccio, etc etc and followed (for me ) with Tiramisu .....
served (you won't believe it) in a large enamel potty, commode, chamber pot complete with toilet roll.
It would probably have served 4 or 5 but i did my best and finished it.....
This was then followed by lemonchello and grappa (they just brought a bottle of each and put it on the table!!!
As you can imagine the next morning we woke up late......
An then went off to visit Bussana Vechia. This town was destroyed in the late 1800's and the locals were so fearful that a new town of Bussana was built in the valley below. In the 1960's the original destroyed town was taken over by hippie~travelers and rebuilt only using materials found..... as you can imagine the architecture is quaintly ramshackle.....in fact it was not until the late 80's that electricity was finally laid on in the town.....
After this we drove on up into the near mountains for a bit of a walk..... a bit of nice fresh air and lots of low cloud.....sadly not the views back to San Remo we were hoping for but it was probably best that we got the exercise to work off the excesses of the weekend...... Then it was back tot the boat for a quick drink and then a game of cards before a fantastic dinner of Courgette pasta and profiteroles (cooked by Lisa) and then we all settled down to watch a movie......
Monday i had to carry on with the work so Debs was left to enjoy the last of her brief holiday, walking in the old town and generally lazing on the boat or in the sunshine before sadly i had to drive to the airport for her flight home.........
Boo Hoooo.......
She was then able to acclimatise gently (lie in!!) whilst Roger, Lisa and I carried on with work on the window frames. In the evening we went out to the Muleterria restaurant ( excuse my spelling ). This was once the place that fed the Mule drivers in the old city in San Remo and is still run by a little old lady who might possibly still date from that time!!. It is quirky, fun, and great value with only house wine from the barrel and dinner consisting of pasta, pasta or pasta with an assortment of sauces and maybe some olives or toasted things to start with. We had a superb evening and very happily rolled back to the boat...
Saturday was a free day for me so Debs and I set off to explore the market and the old town, whilst stopping off for coffee, Gelatos and then more shopping.....
As you can see from the photos we made it to the top of the old town and really had a great day... This was topped off by a magical mystery tour in the evening with Roger and Lisa to find "The mushroom restaurant?"
With direction that go "drive to taggia then turn left and head inland up the valley till you see the mushroom!, you really can't miss it.."
We set off and sure enough if you follow the instructions and avoid the crashed cars (some other time!) eventually if you keep going you will find a giant concrete mushroom (about 20' high) just past the giant snail!!! (is this starting to sound like the magic roundabout yet).
If you cross the small bridge and avoid the agitated italian lady (from the kitchen) in the car park you WILL FIND THE MUSHROOM RESTAURANT!!!!
Called "Cam Erre" it think....
We had a superb meal consisting of 10 courses mostly involving mushrooms of some sort... mushroom rissotto, mushroom with pasta, mushrooms and carpaccio, etc etc and followed (for me ) with Tiramisu .....
served (you won't believe it) in a large enamel potty, commode, chamber pot complete with toilet roll.
It would probably have served 4 or 5 but i did my best and finished it.....
This was then followed by lemonchello and grappa (they just brought a bottle of each and put it on the table!!!
As you can imagine the next morning we woke up late......
An then went off to visit Bussana Vechia. This town was destroyed in the late 1800's and the locals were so fearful that a new town of Bussana was built in the valley below. In the 1960's the original destroyed town was taken over by hippie~travelers and rebuilt only using materials found..... as you can imagine the architecture is quaintly ramshackle.....in fact it was not until the late 80's that electricity was finally laid on in the town.....
After this we drove on up into the near mountains for a bit of a walk..... a bit of nice fresh air and lots of low cloud.....sadly not the views back to San Remo we were hoping for but it was probably best that we got the exercise to work off the excesses of the weekend...... Then it was back tot the boat for a quick drink and then a game of cards before a fantastic dinner of Courgette pasta and profiteroles (cooked by Lisa) and then we all settled down to watch a movie......
Monday i had to carry on with the work so Debs was left to enjoy the last of her brief holiday, walking in the old town and generally lazing on the boat or in the sunshine before sadly i had to drive to the airport for her flight home.........
Boo Hoooo.......
Nov 14, 2009
Nov 12, 2009
Debs is Coming here soon! Debs is Coming here soon! Debs is Coming here soon!
Boy am i excited!!! just a few hours and Debs will be in San Remo, Just got to have dinner and then i go to Nice to pick her up...
Today has been great. Great weather, Great progress!.
We all set too on the window frames stripping out the old sealant and getting them ready for the epoxying. I cut away some pretty bad pieces of rot and then had to make up little "interesting shapes" in mahogany to fill them. Roger ordered the new window frames, so all is right with the world!
Now all i've got to do is to get used to sharing my little cabin for a few days and teach Debs about the electric toilets and the noisy shower!!!!
yippeee.......
P.s. my email system is finally up and working again.......
Today has been great. Great weather, Great progress!.
We all set too on the window frames stripping out the old sealant and getting them ready for the epoxying. I cut away some pretty bad pieces of rot and then had to make up little "interesting shapes" in mahogany to fill them. Roger ordered the new window frames, so all is right with the world!
Now all i've got to do is to get used to sharing my little cabin for a few days and teach Debs about the electric toilets and the noisy shower!!!!
yippeee.......
P.s. my email system is finally up and working again.......
Nov 11, 2009
Sunny but hard work
Ok maybe i've complained too much about the cold as today was brilliant sunshine and no wind!!
Most of my day was spent finishing off the bits in the forward cabin while Lisa and Roger proceeded to take ALL the windows out of the starboard side of the boat.... the good news is that there looks not to be much rot but the bad news is we still have to clean up all the holes, coat with epoxy, order new glass, make up new runners, order uprights and rubbers, and then fit it all back again.... and then we still have the other side and the front still to do.
Its looking more and more like i might have to fly back to finish the front off but we will cross that bridge when we come to it!
Chatted to Des lots today on skype... even managed a quick video call. Had to sort out all the little things she needs to bring out with her (more warm socks!!) . She is coming out for a long weekend so i'd better hide the wallet when she finds all the lovely shoe shops and interior design houses!
Day didn't finish too well with a bit of a dodgy tummy (might have been the beer and bunt food at the barbeque last night) so off to bed early with a dvd and a mug of tea......
Most of my day was spent finishing off the bits in the forward cabin while Lisa and Roger proceeded to take ALL the windows out of the starboard side of the boat.... the good news is that there looks not to be much rot but the bad news is we still have to clean up all the holes, coat with epoxy, order new glass, make up new runners, order uprights and rubbers, and then fit it all back again.... and then we still have the other side and the front still to do.
Its looking more and more like i might have to fly back to finish the front off but we will cross that bridge when we come to it!
Chatted to Des lots today on skype... even managed a quick video call. Had to sort out all the little things she needs to bring out with her (more warm socks!!) . She is coming out for a long weekend so i'd better hide the wallet when she finds all the lovely shoe shops and interior design houses!
Day didn't finish too well with a bit of a dodgy tummy (might have been the beer and bunt food at the barbeque last night) so off to bed early with a dvd and a mug of tea......
Nov 10, 2009
Monday-Tuesday......week 2 already!
Monday....
Hang on, when i was talked in to this little trip Roger talked about working in shorts and how warm it was....
so why is it raining and cold again?
Decided to use the morning to source materials to rebuild the cabin that i had very carefully demolished over the weekend so off to Ferrolegno (Metal and wood, a very apt name for a hardware store) and then Self (as in Do it your) managed to find some very nice hitec insulation and some white faced panels to make the headlinings with.
Then in the afternoon it was off again to Cannes to Collect R + L and bring them back. This also involved bringing 3 other people back from Cannes to Nice Airport with everyones luggage!!! so that was 6 people in a jeep cherokee, that's 2 in the front and 4 in the back with the boot full of bags so the local gendarmes cant see whats happening.... It worked, if you got the order right.... But it did involve stopping for a rather nice dinner before the airport... but that only made it harder for everyone to get in.
Tuesday.
The tent arrived. I woke to the sound of loads of italians walking all over the boat and finally we have a large white cocoon. Amazing they stuck the plastic over in the morning and started to shrink it in the afternoon.
This means that we can now remove the windows safely without worrying about the weather.
Roger and i thought the best plan was to stay well out of the way so we proceeded to put up headlinings and replace wiring in the fwd cabin. This all went well, in fact so well that we rewarded ourselves by finishing in time to head round to the barbaque.
For those who haven't caught on yet this is a bit of a tradition in San Remo. Every Tuesday there is a barbeque on the superyacht dock which normally then turn into a crowd standing round a bonfire in the winter.
You can begin to see a few issues with this firstly we light a fire next to billions!!! of pounds/dollars worth of yachts and secondly what do we burn?
Roger and i took a few bits of off cuts from the work we had been doing but there really wasn't enough to keep going so Scotty (the engineer off Dark Shadow, a 100' wally yacht) and I jumped in their crew truck and went on a raiding party.
We had noticed over the weekend that another boat had been making up some floor panels using a couple of pallets as a sort of workbench, well to cut a long story short they might have to find something else to use in the morning! and know one will ever work out who it was (apart from they turned up in a huge 4x4 pickup with DARK SHADOW written right down the side!!).
Anyway we stayed a few hours till the food was running low and hypothermia was starting in our feet and then said farewell and headed back to our nice heated boat...another great evening.
Night Night...
Hang on, when i was talked in to this little trip Roger talked about working in shorts and how warm it was....
so why is it raining and cold again?
Decided to use the morning to source materials to rebuild the cabin that i had very carefully demolished over the weekend so off to Ferrolegno (Metal and wood, a very apt name for a hardware store) and then Self (as in Do it your) managed to find some very nice hitec insulation and some white faced panels to make the headlinings with.
Then in the afternoon it was off again to Cannes to Collect R + L and bring them back. This also involved bringing 3 other people back from Cannes to Nice Airport with everyones luggage!!! so that was 6 people in a jeep cherokee, that's 2 in the front and 4 in the back with the boot full of bags so the local gendarmes cant see whats happening.... It worked, if you got the order right.... But it did involve stopping for a rather nice dinner before the airport... but that only made it harder for everyone to get in.
Tuesday.
The tent arrived. I woke to the sound of loads of italians walking all over the boat and finally we have a large white cocoon. Amazing they stuck the plastic over in the morning and started to shrink it in the afternoon.
This means that we can now remove the windows safely without worrying about the weather.
Roger and i thought the best plan was to stay well out of the way so we proceeded to put up headlinings and replace wiring in the fwd cabin. This all went well, in fact so well that we rewarded ourselves by finishing in time to head round to the barbaque.
For those who haven't caught on yet this is a bit of a tradition in San Remo. Every Tuesday there is a barbeque on the superyacht dock which normally then turn into a crowd standing round a bonfire in the winter.
You can begin to see a few issues with this firstly we light a fire next to billions!!! of pounds/dollars worth of yachts and secondly what do we burn?
Roger and i took a few bits of off cuts from the work we had been doing but there really wasn't enough to keep going so Scotty (the engineer off Dark Shadow, a 100' wally yacht) and I jumped in their crew truck and went on a raiding party.
We had noticed over the weekend that another boat had been making up some floor panels using a couple of pallets as a sort of workbench, well to cut a long story short they might have to find something else to use in the morning! and know one will ever work out who it was (apart from they turned up in a huge 4x4 pickup with DARK SHADOW written right down the side!!).
Anyway we stayed a few hours till the food was running low and hypothermia was starting in our feet and then said farewell and headed back to our nice heated boat...another great evening.
Night Night...
Nov 9, 2009
Sunday...fancy a spot of demolition?
Not a great day weather wise.... rain....drizzle......more rain....
But as Lisa and Roger are away I have been scheduled for a bit of alteration work in their cabin.
First just a few bits of simple boatbuilding fit a few vents then re-fasten a hand rail. This was all quite straight forward. then i had to trim off a piece of timber next to Roger's side of he bunk....he complained it digs into his shoulder. But the final jub was to take down the headlining and see where a small leak was coming from....
Now any boatbuilder will tell you that headlinings are one of the most hated jobs on boats. You are upside down and normally working in strange positions with everything falling on you! and this job was no exception. Part of the linings had been taken down before and they were quite simple, apart from the fact they were made of hardboard!!! But the rest of them (3/4) were still original (hardboard too) and had been nailed into place on battens that had been nailed to the beams and had trims round them that had been nailed on top....
So out with the crowbar.........
Yes they all came down eventually. Now all we have to do is wait for the guys to come back to make a decision on what they want to go back up. We might even fit a bit of insulation in first...
After a shower to wash off all the dust! went for a quick walk (during the only gap in the weather) and then did a bit of Gourmet cooking..... Baked fennel and spicy sausages with rice and salad......mmmmmm
But as Lisa and Roger are away I have been scheduled for a bit of alteration work in their cabin.
First just a few bits of simple boatbuilding fit a few vents then re-fasten a hand rail. This was all quite straight forward. then i had to trim off a piece of timber next to Roger's side of he bunk....he complained it digs into his shoulder. But the final jub was to take down the headlining and see where a small leak was coming from....
Now any boatbuilder will tell you that headlinings are one of the most hated jobs on boats. You are upside down and normally working in strange positions with everything falling on you! and this job was no exception. Part of the linings had been taken down before and they were quite simple, apart from the fact they were made of hardboard!!! But the rest of them (3/4) were still original (hardboard too) and had been nailed into place on battens that had been nailed to the beams and had trims round them that had been nailed on top....
So out with the crowbar.........
Yes they all came down eventually. Now all we have to do is wait for the guys to come back to make a decision on what they want to go back up. We might even fit a bit of insulation in first...
After a shower to wash off all the dust! went for a quick walk (during the only gap in the weather) and then did a bit of Gourmet cooking..... Baked fennel and spicy sausages with rice and salad......mmmmmm
Nov 8, 2009
Saturday Sightseeing!
Decided that i should have a break and find out more about san remo so got up early and battled my way to the indoor market. Magnifico. Spent a good hour just wandering round the fruit and veg area just looking at the stalls and watching the locals. There was everything from freshly picked funghi to home grown vegetables (there is a section of the market where smallholders can bring there produce as well as the more usual greengrocers etc.)
Having purchased the staple items for lunch, goats cheese, salad and fresh bread. I stopped for a quick coffee and then wandered back to the boat.
I then decided to explore the old town. Amazing. All the streets are only about 4-5 feet wide and almost completely covered the houses are 6 or seven stories high and in a lot of places they have built out over the paths to join up and form tunnels. The trek up to the chapel at the top was a killer but the view was worth it!!
Then it was back for a spot of lunch before going out for a bike ride.
Before i go any further let me just describe the bikes..... small wheeled folding, five gears, folding pedals, just about right for a quick trip to the shops.....
So i set off on the new cycleway that used to be the rail track east.... Lisa had told me that she tends to go to the end in taggia and then come back... about 45 mins if you sprint. So off i went looking at the view and always wanting to know what was around the next corner.
The trip to the end that Lisa had described was great...really flat and smooth but i just wanted to know where all the cyclists in lycra where going next as i kept meeting them going both ways and they surely weren't out just for half an hour so off i went through the town and after a few junctions i found the next section of track....
So i just kept going.....sort of a forest gump moment really.......my legs were feeling good and the track was flat and there was no wind. perfect.
It was just fantastic past farms and bays just wanting to know what was around the next headland. I even passed a Lidl.....
Much much later i came through the most amazing tunnel with warning signs saying beware this tunnel is over 1km and could take 20mins to walk through. I can honestly say it was the strangest feeling, Cycling in a tunnel that had bends so you couldn't see the end (it had lighting) and the only sound was the clicking of the gears....
So eventually i found another break in the cycleway and decide to turn back. For those interested i had just cycled from san remo to san lorenzo al mare on a folding bike!!!
The trip back was a test of stamina, considering i normally only cycle around Cowes town centre......
But eventually i made it back to the boat....
Very saddle sore....almost unable to open my hands and by now quite cold....
So i looked up where i had been... San remo to San Lorenzo al mare old town..... approx 22km.....
EACH WAY!!!
Now i know why i hurt so much....
But undaunted after a quick shower and change it was back out into the lights of San Remo for Pizza and window shopping........
So to sum up today:
Great fun,
Great views,
Lovely market,
VERY SORE BUM!!!!!
Having purchased the staple items for lunch, goats cheese, salad and fresh bread. I stopped for a quick coffee and then wandered back to the boat.
I then decided to explore the old town. Amazing. All the streets are only about 4-5 feet wide and almost completely covered the houses are 6 or seven stories high and in a lot of places they have built out over the paths to join up and form tunnels. The trek up to the chapel at the top was a killer but the view was worth it!!
Then it was back for a spot of lunch before going out for a bike ride.
Before i go any further let me just describe the bikes..... small wheeled folding, five gears, folding pedals, just about right for a quick trip to the shops.....
So i set off on the new cycleway that used to be the rail track east.... Lisa had told me that she tends to go to the end in taggia and then come back... about 45 mins if you sprint. So off i went looking at the view and always wanting to know what was around the next corner.
The trip to the end that Lisa had described was great...really flat and smooth but i just wanted to know where all the cyclists in lycra where going next as i kept meeting them going both ways and they surely weren't out just for half an hour so off i went through the town and after a few junctions i found the next section of track....
So i just kept going.....sort of a forest gump moment really.......my legs were feeling good and the track was flat and there was no wind. perfect.
It was just fantastic past farms and bays just wanting to know what was around the next headland. I even passed a Lidl.....
Much much later i came through the most amazing tunnel with warning signs saying beware this tunnel is over 1km and could take 20mins to walk through. I can honestly say it was the strangest feeling, Cycling in a tunnel that had bends so you couldn't see the end (it had lighting) and the only sound was the clicking of the gears....
So eventually i found another break in the cycleway and decide to turn back. For those interested i had just cycled from san remo to san lorenzo al mare on a folding bike!!!
The trip back was a test of stamina, considering i normally only cycle around Cowes town centre......
But eventually i made it back to the boat....
Very saddle sore....almost unable to open my hands and by now quite cold....
So i looked up where i had been... San remo to San Lorenzo al mare old town..... approx 22km.....
EACH WAY!!!
Now i know why i hurt so much....
But undaunted after a quick shower and change it was back out into the lights of San Remo for Pizza and window shopping........
So to sum up today:
Great fun,
Great views,
Lovely market,
VERY SORE BUM!!!!!
Nov 6, 2009
To Cannes and Back....
Started early this morning doing the final cutting of the templates for the front windows. There then followed great discussion about where the spinners needed to be. (In english the spinners are those strange round things on commercial boat windscreens that spin and flick the water off, a bite like whizzy wipers!).
Should they be lined up with the boat, the driver, the wheelhouse uprights, the moon etc etc. Any way after that they were rushed (we drove) up to the glass maker to be ordered (delivery 2 weeks maybe).
Then we all got ready for the drive to Cannes. Lisa and Roger are Dragon racing this weekend so we took the opportunity to visit the dive compressor man and the largest toy shop, i mean marine chandlers i have ever seen.
Roger and I managed to spend about £1500 in less than an hour......
The after ferrying a few people about i left to drive (on my own in the owners jeep...) back to San Remo. I can honestly say that when trying to get used to a strange LHD car......in the dark and trying to find your way out of the centre of Cannes is not the best place. But i survived and have just finished a great self prepared supper back on the boat.
looking forward to at least a morning exploring san remo tomorrow....
Goodnight.
Should they be lined up with the boat, the driver, the wheelhouse uprights, the moon etc etc. Any way after that they were rushed (we drove) up to the glass maker to be ordered (delivery 2 weeks maybe).
Then we all got ready for the drive to Cannes. Lisa and Roger are Dragon racing this weekend so we took the opportunity to visit the dive compressor man and the largest toy shop, i mean marine chandlers i have ever seen.
Roger and I managed to spend about £1500 in less than an hour......
The after ferrying a few people about i left to drive (on my own in the owners jeep...) back to San Remo. I can honestly say that when trying to get used to a strange LHD car......in the dark and trying to find your way out of the centre of Cannes is not the best place. But i survived and have just finished a great self prepared supper back on the boat.
looking forward to at least a morning exploring san remo tomorrow....
Goodnight.
Nov 5, 2009
Sun...Wind....RAIN and windows
Good start this morning doing delicate woodwork in the sunshine. Roger and Lisa went off to collect some wood so that we could make the templates of the front windows and also bought me a broom (with lovely black and purple stars all over it). Not a hint at my cleanliness, it was just so i could sweep up the big piles of sawdust off the quay.
After a light lunch of mexican wraps with homemade refried beans we set too again on the windows with great success. We have now removed all of the windscreens and made templates of them and temporarily re fitted them with gaffer tape. They are now more secure and more waterproof than they had been all season which is quite a good thing.....more of this later....
We all decided (Roger mostly) that it would be a good idea to stroll into town and buy a gelato or two. What can i say, when in italy eat ice cream!!!.. We then had a wander so that i could be shown where things were etc etc. At this point it started to rain then rain more then hail a bit then rain harder. Needless to say we just had to find a bar and stay there until the rain stopped enough to let us dash back to the boat.
So i am now sitting here listening to the torrents of rain pouring over the boat and hoping that the windows stay in.....
But at least i'm full of ice cream, beer and pasta...................
After a light lunch of mexican wraps with homemade refried beans we set too again on the windows with great success. We have now removed all of the windscreens and made templates of them and temporarily re fitted them with gaffer tape. They are now more secure and more waterproof than they had been all season which is quite a good thing.....more of this later....
We all decided (Roger mostly) that it would be a good idea to stroll into town and buy a gelato or two. What can i say, when in italy eat ice cream!!!.. We then had a wander so that i could be shown where things were etc etc. At this point it started to rain then rain more then hail a bit then rain harder. Needless to say we just had to find a bar and stay there until the rain stopped enough to let us dash back to the boat.
So i am now sitting here listening to the torrents of rain pouring over the boat and hoping that the windows stay in.....
But at least i'm full of ice cream, beer and pasta...................
Nov 4, 2009
DAY 3 AND 4 (TUES AND WEDS)
Yesterday morning woke to brilliant sunshine and warmth.... much more like it!
Spent most of the day working on the quayside making attacking the dinghy chocks. loads of dust and dirt, just like a proper boatbuilder. Roger and lisa decided to wash down the boat as the weather was so good.
In the evening we all went around to the soooooper yacht dock where every tuesday there is a barbeque. Basically a few of the crew off each yacht get together burn food and any driftwood they can find and drink too much. This was the perfect end to a pretty perfect day.........
Just one note: Debs pointed out my italiano spelling was not good e.g. chow being a dog food not goodbye so will try harder, but what do you expect if you have learnt italian through your ipod and not a book.
anyway back to the blog:
Today was forecast to be winding and they were right. It was great fun working on the dock with large bits of plywood trying to act like sails and blow me away. Today the painter also arrived to start putting the tent up over the boat so we can take out the windows. This afternoon Roger and i tried to get the windscreens out but the job, like most things here took longer than expected... we were still trying when it got dark. It seems that when the boat was resprayed in Turkey they just filled over everything and sprayed so finding screws and old joins in window surrounds is a little bit tricky....
We have made lots of decisions today about glass and spinners (the round things that go in the screens to keep them clear of rain) and also lots of little details like the handles for the sliding windows etc. many many many discussions and thinking went on.
Finally getting used to the randomness of the music on Lisa's ipod (just wait till i plug mine into the boats system). The final bit of good news is that this could be the last meal without pumkin in it... i think i was going to start looking like Dale Winton soon with all this orange food.......(Roger and Lisa brought a huge piece of pumpkin back from their friends in france and it has featured in almost every meal except breakfast (i think....)).
Any way Ciao
is that better?
Spent most of the day working on the quayside making attacking the dinghy chocks. loads of dust and dirt, just like a proper boatbuilder. Roger and lisa decided to wash down the boat as the weather was so good.
In the evening we all went around to the soooooper yacht dock where every tuesday there is a barbeque. Basically a few of the crew off each yacht get together burn food and any driftwood they can find and drink too much. This was the perfect end to a pretty perfect day.........
Just one note: Debs pointed out my italiano spelling was not good e.g. chow being a dog food not goodbye so will try harder, but what do you expect if you have learnt italian through your ipod and not a book.
anyway back to the blog:
Today was forecast to be winding and they were right. It was great fun working on the dock with large bits of plywood trying to act like sails and blow me away. Today the painter also arrived to start putting the tent up over the boat so we can take out the windows. This afternoon Roger and i tried to get the windscreens out but the job, like most things here took longer than expected... we were still trying when it got dark. It seems that when the boat was resprayed in Turkey they just filled over everything and sprayed so finding screws and old joins in window surrounds is a little bit tricky....
We have made lots of decisions today about glass and spinners (the round things that go in the screens to keep them clear of rain) and also lots of little details like the handles for the sliding windows etc. many many many discussions and thinking went on.
Finally getting used to the randomness of the music on Lisa's ipod (just wait till i plug mine into the boats system). The final bit of good news is that this could be the last meal without pumkin in it... i think i was going to start looking like Dale Winton soon with all this orange food.......(Roger and Lisa brought a huge piece of pumpkin back from their friends in france and it has featured in almost every meal except breakfast (i think....)).
Any way Ciao
is that better?
Nov 2, 2009
Day 2.....
Woke to heavy rain this morning but at least got up at a sensible time!. Roger and I set off intrepidly to the hardware shop. By the time we got there we looked like drowned rats but we were able to get some plywood etc to start me off.
By the time we left the store the sun was shining and all was right in san remo.
Later Lisa took me off in the jeep to the large B and Q equivalent fine if you want to put shelves up but not so great for boatbuilders. Still looking for mahogany veneers and pieces of teak...soon i might have to resort to cutting other boats up.
This afternoon i finally started to make things we lifted the tender cautiously on the crane (the crane is flexing the coachroof slightly...a job for the shipyard NOT ME).
I have now made up the temporary chocks and will start tomorrow adjusting the real ones to fit the new tender... This all has to be done before we get the boat shrink wrapped on wednesday.
Escaped the boat early evening and borrowed Rogers bike.
This area has moved its main railway inland and now the old coastal route is a great FLAT cyclepath running right round the next bay and to the next town with plans to go on further. I got only as far as the next bay and stopped to look at the waves crashing in.
On the way back i became quite italian by chatting on the phone whilst cycling. The funny thing was i was chatting to Eleanor (who is italian) who runs the slam shop back in Cowes.
Anyway
Chow for now....
By the time we left the store the sun was shining and all was right in san remo.
Later Lisa took me off in the jeep to the large B and Q equivalent fine if you want to put shelves up but not so great for boatbuilders. Still looking for mahogany veneers and pieces of teak...soon i might have to resort to cutting other boats up.
This afternoon i finally started to make things we lifted the tender cautiously on the crane (the crane is flexing the coachroof slightly...a job for the shipyard NOT ME).
I have now made up the temporary chocks and will start tomorrow adjusting the real ones to fit the new tender... This all has to be done before we get the boat shrink wrapped on wednesday.
Escaped the boat early evening and borrowed Rogers bike.
This area has moved its main railway inland and now the old coastal route is a great FLAT cyclepath running right round the next bay and to the next town with plans to go on further. I got only as far as the next bay and stopped to look at the waves crashing in.
On the way back i became quite italian by chatting on the phone whilst cycling. The funny thing was i was chatting to Eleanor (who is italian) who runs the slam shop back in Cowes.
Anyway
Chow for now....
Nov 1, 2009
Arrived in San Remo yesterday
Well finally arrived in Italy with Roger and Lisa,
Drove back from nice airport (mad italian drivers) and made it to the boat.
Had a great pizza dinner at the local restaurant complete with italian speaking parrot!!!. The boat is beautiful too much varnishwork and teak. I have my own cabin with adjacent shower etc. The bunk is just about long enough if i lie diagonally.....
Weather is a bit overcast in fact we had a few rain showers this evening and Lisa even went so far as to put a fan heater on while we were eating....
Workwise didn't achieve a lot except finding all the boats tools and making a few templates up for the new dinghy chocks.
But i did find the boats supply of wood.... all five bits!
Anyway early night tonight as i might have to get up before 10am in the morning......
Drove back from nice airport (mad italian drivers) and made it to the boat.
Had a great pizza dinner at the local restaurant complete with italian speaking parrot!!!. The boat is beautiful too much varnishwork and teak. I have my own cabin with adjacent shower etc. The bunk is just about long enough if i lie diagonally.....
Weather is a bit overcast in fact we had a few rain showers this evening and Lisa even went so far as to put a fan heater on while we were eating....
Workwise didn't achieve a lot except finding all the boats tools and making a few templates up for the new dinghy chocks.
But i did find the boats supply of wood.... all five bits!
Anyway early night tonight as i might have to get up before 10am in the morning......
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