Wow, what a day........certainly warm enough for a bikini today, but the guys in the boat yard do little enough work as it is without distractions of a white skin nature. Alan walks round wearing just his shorts anyway, much to the amusement of the locals who are already sporting their winter apparel, plus of course, the sunglasses which no self respecting Italian should ever be seen without.
The birds were chirping and the fish were jumping. Oh its great with the hills at your back and your feet in the water, all the time the sun is shining and not a cloud in the sky nor a breath of wind. Its just like a movie set here, the surrounding hills and canyons are alive with the sight of cactus and Aloe Vera, and Im half expecting to see a cavalry patrol chasing away some redskins. Funny old geology here abouts, a multi layer landscape of rocks laid down in differing forms which include what appears to be pumice, aluvial, sedimentary, volcanic intrusive, old red sandstone and metamorphic, all giving the jumbled appearance of a typical mid west American landscape, just like in the westerns. Steep sided canyons and vertical sided bluffs abound, all topped off with a level plateau.

So there we were, a painting and a polishing, and then while the rest of Sardinia were taking the mid day siesta, I washed the car cos its been covered with salt since we drove here from UK almost two weeks ago. As the afternoon wore on and shadows started appearing, our thoughts turned to measuring the main mast shrouds which need replacing. These are the wire stays which keep the masts upright and transmit the force of the wind from the sails into the hull. At 10mm thick and 19 meters long, they are rather heavy. We have a 100mt drum of cable on board and have measured what we need and so I cut a few lengths off ready to swage on the threaded ends tomorrow.

Both the main and mizzen masts have now been primed and top coated on one side and in the morning, with the help of the boat yard guys, we can turn them over and start painting the other sides. The masts had steps fitted part the way up them, but they were old and bent so we have replaced them with folding cast aluminium ones which wont protrude and interfere with rigging. After drilling and tapping 6mm threads at 500m spacings, I fitted steps to the finished side of the main mast this morning and when the mast is turned over, it will rest on the steps to prevent the paint being marked by the tressles.

Meanwhile, across the yard, work is progressing to install 3 underground fuel tanks, two diesel and one petrol. This means lots of noise and dust. Not good when your trying to paint as the digger and lorry loads of soil and rock pass closely by.
Meanwhile, across the Bosa river, work is progressing to carry barge loads of large rocks out past the river entrance to make a breakwater. For the last 18 months a large barge with a drag-line crane has been working 12 hours per day, 7 days a week, to load and carry the rocks out to sea. The quayside is piled high with rocks as big as cars and it resembles Bedrock.