Wednesday 9 July 2014 - Riva di Traiano

Not much happening today.  The wind has gone down, but the swell is still large.  The weather forecast suggests over 2 meters!  So we are going nowhere.  We just have a leisurely breakfast and then decide to go look at all the shops (mainly for boat stuff) and see if we can buy a better painter for the dinghy (which we have now deflated and put away) and maybe a passerelle.  The latter is becoming more and more necessary.

I have been talking about the plank we have been using, but let me explain.  We have a seven foot long scaffolding board, which is 8 inches wide.  It was meant to be a fender board to put out to protect the boat when it is moored against a wall in a port.  There is no mooring like that here in the Med and we thought we could use it as a gangplank to get on and off the boat when we can’t put the boat close enough just to walk on and off.  The problem is that not only is it very narrow, but the only way to attach it to the boat or the pontoon is with ropes and they have to be loose because as the boat moves (which in these high winds it has been doing a lot) the board has to swivel from side to side and back and forth.  It is also very rare for there to be anything to tie it to on the pontoon.  Over the last few days because the boat has been moving side to side and back and forth a lot the board keeps falling into the water.  If we are both ashore it is very tricky to get it back into position (Richard has to leap aboard!).  It also moves horribly when you are walking on it.  So we think that it is only a matter of time before one or both of us falls off into the water.  In fact Richard is so worried about it he is carrying his  iPhone in a waterproof case!

So we are going to give in and buy a proper gangplank, known as a bridge or passerelle.  We find a shop that sells one that looks like it will be suitable.  It is the same length as our present plank, but nearly twice as wide.  It is aluminium and will have a proper fastening to the boat which will allow it to swivel without falling off.  It will also be detachable, so that we can store it forward (as we do with the fender board) so we can use the rear for swimming and boarding the dinghy when we are at anchor.  Richard finds some workmen who say they can fit it for us tomorrow, so we buy it.  I hope this means I don’t have to walk the plank too many more times!

As the day goes on the wind picks up again.  By dinner time it is blowing a force 6 again and the boat is lurching horribly.  I hate the movement and find it hard to do anything like read or do puzzles without feeling sea sick.  So we only manage to stay up until 10:00pm and then decide that the best way to cope it to go to bed!