Well we woke up in good time to get ready for the lift out. As requested we went to the office at
10:30 to arrange to go at 11. But
then they said no, and put it back to 12:00 saying they would come along with
the rib to push us into the dock to be lifted. But 12:00pm came and went and nothing happened. So Richard went to see them and they
now said they would do it at 2:00pm!
We have wasted a beautiful morning of bright sun and warmth. We would have liked to go to the beach,
but have been messed about. So
instead we have lunch on board and get ourselves ready for 2:00pm.
Again, 2:00pm comes and goes and no one comes to take us to the
hoist. I am getting
hysterical. I can see that this
will never happen. Richard is also
fed up, so by 2:30 when he can see that the hoist is empty he just decides to
take the boat over and force the issue.
I am worried about this, but it turns out to be the right decision. We manage to get out of our berth
without the bow thruster and get into the dock for the lift with the help of
one of the marina staff who guides us in with our warps (mooring ropes to the
non-nautical speakers).
It is just our luck that as we start the process it starts to rain,
having been beautiful all day. To
be lifted Richard also has to unscrew the backstays. This is a task and a half and doing them up again is even
worse.
So the boat comes out of the water safely. It looks in remarkably good shape and is very clean. The mechanic looks at the bow thruster
propeller and says he can’t see anything wrong with it. His suggestion is that there is
something wrong in the basic unit and that he will have to dismantle the whole
thing and get parts to repair it.
At this stage I am nearly hysterical. This would mean at least one or two weeks delay and maybe
more. We would not make it to Rome
and back home in time.
Richard and I have a quick discussion and decide that the only way to
proceed is to go on without a bow thruster and make it to Rome, with help in
the marinas on the way, where we will get the manufacturers to recommend an
expert to look at it. We will try
to anchor as much as possible.
The mechanic sees the state we are in and says he will try something
else. So he takes the propeller
for the thruster off and then puts it back on checking another pin and
bolt. He asks Richard to try it
and when he does, the propeller goes around! So then we put the boat back in the water to test it and lo
and behold it seems to work. The
only thing the mechanic can think is that the nut attaching the prop got loose
and having tightened it up, it now works.
I am not convinced, but we seem to have a bow thruster that works, so we
will carry on. We get back to our
mooring place and manage to manoeuver on to it with the thruster working. Let’s keep fingers crossed.
Of course, by the time we tie up again, the sun is out. But it is too late to go for a swim, so
we just stay on board. After the
traumas of the day we treat ourselves to a couple of Rum and Cokes each with
nibbles and then eat a pasta meal on board (having used up all my fresh
supplies). We will now go out for
an ice cream, as we feel that we still need a pick me up. We will leave here tomorrow no matter
what. The weather report seems OK.
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