Jeff and Sandra got off on their flight nearly a week ago and since then we have been hard at it to put Splice to bed for the winter. We only gave ourselves a week this year and have thought that we might have cut it fine but it seems to have worked well so far. This was partly due to us recently having changed the engine and sail-drive oil and so this job was not on the list, and as the weather co-operated and gave us the first two mornings with no wind. We were able to get the two foresails off the first day and the mainsail the next. This speeds up many other tasks that are dependent on having stripped off the sails first.

So far the main jobs accomplished are:
- Main, genoa and gennaker sails off. Chris has had to climb the mast three times this week - a grub screw had come loose in the foil and prevented the sail dropping - as he took the wrong size tool the first time so he had to climb again! Then again to check the rig properly before we leave the boat
- Mainsail repaired (torn at the second car joint as the top car failed during our crossing from Montenegro - that’s on the list to fix) and returned and all three folded and stored below
- Dinghy gear stripped out, plug out so she will drain rainwater during the winter and winter cover on (this took two attempts as the wind kept blowing it off the first time!) and ‘Fid’ is hoisted onto her davits
- Port trampoline removed and repaired where the weight of descending bodies had torn the supporting rings out of the fabric
- Running rigging (the lines that control the sails) washed and dried for storage
- Winter mooring gear in place. These are strong metal springs linked into the mooring lines with shackles to help cope with the surging water in strong winds
- All the external safety gear stowed away below
- Outboard engine serviced and cleaned and stored below
- Port heads and piping filled with a mix of fresh water and vinegar in an attempt to restrict calcium growth in the pipes overwinter. Starboard will be done at the last minute for obvious reasons!
- Water-maker sterilized and stopcocks closed
- Cockpit surround panels dragged out of the port forward berth where they have languished all season and reinstalled to keep the weather out.
- Halyards and lazy-jacks moved away from the mast to stop banging in the wind – it drives us nuts when people don’t do this and you have to listen to the crashing all night from their vessel.
- All the stores checked for use-by dates sorted into ‘use now/give away/retain for 2018’
- All the spares and other paraphernalia checked and lists made of additional or new items needed for next season – as usual the list stretches to three pages on A4 with two columns on each – there’s always plenty of things to do on board

We have also found a local man who will look after Splice, check her mooring lines, run the engines and open her up to air out on nice days. He’s always around the marina here and seems a nice guy, well connected to the local tradesmen as well which will help.

We are now about 36 hours away from the time we need to leave Splice and all that remains is final packing, tighten up the lines, turn off the fridges, gas and shore power (the solar panels top up the batteries as there is no power being drawn whilst we are away) and make tracks for the airport.

Thank you for reading, a very big thank you if you have been reading the blog throughout the year. As usual there will now be a winter 'blog intermission', we expect to be back out here in April sometime next year for the 2018 cruise.

Have a great winter.

Photo: Splice in her winter berth at Marina di Brindisi