On Monday24th June ‘Leesa Christina’ was towed out of the marina and round the outside of the commercial harbour into the lift out dock. The wind and waves were strong. This was a terrifying experience for all concerned.
Valentino and one of his men joined our crew. Our boat was towed at the bow by a member of the marina staff who borrowed a boat to do the job ! Robin was at the stern in the dinghy with the outboard on. There were several men with ropes in hand high up on the dock as we made a sharp left turn to enter. We just missed the partly submerged rocks at the entrance by a centimeter! Everyone was shouting loudly in Italian and no one was paying attention to anyone else ! Poor Robin, at the back couldn’t see what was happening and was within seconds of jumping out of the dinghy to fend off from the rocks to save his boat. Lady luck must have been on our side as we got safely into the dock lifted out and positioned on the hard
We all had to move out to a nearby hotel and the work got underway. The new engine did arrive on the Wednesday and the installation was completed on Saturday 29th just before 12 noon when the yard staff go off for the weekend. Valentino stayed on board as we launched ‘Leesa Christina ‘back into the water for engine trials in the afternoon. All went well. Valentino had done a very good job and we were very appreciative of his care.
We tied up at the harbour just outside the marina for our last night in Reggio di Calabria but could not escape the fragrance of the town sewer!