We're back!
Bruce didn't take long to swap jeans for shorts!
We're back in Portugal with a looming deadline of 10th April 2016 - that's when our winter berth contract ends so this is keeping us focused on the winter jobs list.
Who are we kidding! We've actually spent just as many days socialising with our liveaboard neighbours Brian, Len, Andy, Mike, Martin (all British), Vincent & Elizabeth (Portuguese), Trijntje & Kees (Dutch) and some of our Rocheford/La Rochelle friends, Peter & Steph, Chris and more recently Barry & Steph who all decided to swap the winter weather in France to enjoy the Portuguese weather instead.
L to R: Peter, Steph, Bruce and Chris
L to R: Caroline, Barry and Steph
The jobs list is long so yet again we've prioritised on what we deem critical for this year's sailing season. Most important was to make custom made bedding for our aft berth. It was a desperate situation (we can admit now that we've been sleeping on a rather large rip in our bottom sheet for the past few months) but we are pleased to say that we have now made two mattress protectors, three bottom sheets and four duvet covers. We even cut the duvet to the shape of our berth instead of putting up with loads of duvet just gathered by our feet. It's a pleasure to go to bed and know that your arm isn't going to end up trapped in a rip!
The sea water pump on the port engine has been fully serviced with new water and oil seals and we've replaced the starboard one completely because the casing had a deep cut which occurred from the backing washer spinning like a circular saw ;-(.
(Odd blade arrangement after a seasons cruising?)
We've splashed out on a new set of domestic and engine batteries which wasn't as straight forward as just replacing like for like - we had to make new battery boxes to fit the new batteries because of their larger dimensions! The end result is much more to our liking and we now have a whopping 400 amp/h for our domestic supply and 86amp/h for each engine.
wood ready for construction
batteries held securely in their new box
We've purchased another Lavac to replace our second toilet, added 'wheels' to our dinghy to enable us to pull the dinghy onto the beach more easily and modified the gantry to include an outboard lift to prevent us from accidentally dropping the engine into the sea or worst still putting our backs out!
dinghy wheels
outboard lift
All that remains is to change the engine fuel filters and finish off a couple of unexpected jobs that have caught us out as a matter of course.
Someone once said that owning a boat actually means working in exotic places... there may be some truth in that!!
We're back in Portugal with a looming deadline of 10th April 2016 - that's when our winter berth contract ends so this is keeping us focused on the winter jobs list.
Who are we kidding! We've actually spent just as many days socialising with our liveaboard neighbours Brian, Len, Andy, Mike, Martin (all British), Vincent & Elizabeth (Portuguese), Trijntje & Kees (Dutch) and some of our Rocheford/La Rochelle friends, Peter & Steph, Chris and more recently Barry & Steph who all decided to swap the winter weather in France to enjoy the Portuguese weather instead.
L to R: Peter, Steph, Bruce and Chris
L to R: Caroline, Barry and Steph
The jobs list is long so yet again we've prioritised on what we deem critical for this year's sailing season. Most important was to make custom made bedding for our aft berth. It was a desperate situation (we can admit now that we've been sleeping on a rather large rip in our bottom sheet for the past few months) but we are pleased to say that we have now made two mattress protectors, three bottom sheets and four duvet covers. We even cut the duvet to the shape of our berth instead of putting up with loads of duvet just gathered by our feet. It's a pleasure to go to bed and know that your arm isn't going to end up trapped in a rip!
The sea water pump on the port engine has been fully serviced with new water and oil seals and we've replaced the starboard one completely because the casing had a deep cut which occurred from the backing washer spinning like a circular saw ;-(.
(Odd blade arrangement after a seasons cruising?)
We've splashed out on a new set of domestic and engine batteries which wasn't as straight forward as just replacing like for like - we had to make new battery boxes to fit the new batteries because of their larger dimensions! The end result is much more to our liking and we now have a whopping 400 amp/h for our domestic supply and 86amp/h for each engine.
wood ready for construction
batteries held securely in their new box
We've purchased another Lavac to replace our second toilet, added 'wheels' to our dinghy to enable us to pull the dinghy onto the beach more easily and modified the gantry to include an outboard lift to prevent us from accidentally dropping the engine into the sea or worst still putting our backs out!
dinghy wheels
outboard lift
All that remains is to change the engine fuel filters and finish off a couple of unexpected jobs that have caught us out as a matter of course.
Someone once said that owning a boat actually means working in exotic places... there may be some truth in that!!
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