"To error is human" To really mess things up requires a boat!!

Necessity is on the hard here at the very beautiful Yasmine Marina located on the east coast of Tunisia with a replacement cutlass bearing that is the wrong size!! I see from my notes that I made the error in the measurement - not sure how. I even remember an areonautical engineer helping me. I am pretty certain Bill measured it corectly and I wrote down wrong!!

As far as things go here, it is Tunisia. There is good and bad. It is good that I came here in plenty of time. The weather is perfect, perhaps a bit too hot for me, but a nice breeze and minimal humidity. It is 30 and feels 30. And because this is Tunisia it always feels like the yard manager is out to pillage me! They have great confidence in their ability to do engine work, prop alignment and painting. He tells me that after all the work is done we will sit down and go over the billing together and it will all be good. Yikes! It is like sending a child to a gunfight with a plastic knife!!

There was a long but friendly process involved to get the paperwork organized. One department has absolutely no idea what the other is doing. A file code my boat partner gave me came in handy (file code 630 was key to locating our documents). Just in the nick of time a French cruising couple arrived and did the English/French translation. So it appears I am properly checked in and have taken procession of Necessity.

It was great to see they completed the anti-foul paint job before I arrived as insrtructed, however they misunderstood the rub rail job and painted the pedestal instead! And they charged ahead on the prop shaft removal without waiting for the prop puller. Our expensive precision German engineered Variprop is now in pieces. I raised concerns and was told 'not a problem'. I do not have a good feeling about the prop. Am wondering what pitch and diameter of a replacement fixed prop might be?

There will be a delay while I wait for the cutlass bearing to arrive with additional crew (good thing I came early as I said) such that I will not be able to launch until Sat. It being Ramadan (no food or drink from sunrise to sunset) beginning on Monday August 1st the workday will be 830 to 130. The upside is that I am allowed to work on the boat while it is on the hard. This, I was led to believe, would not be allowed.

The Palace Marina hotel I am staying at is great. Wi-Fi, large pool, beautiful design and meals are included in the already reasonable price. Downside is the hotel is not smoke free. Amazing how we have become accustomed to a smoke-free environment. I have extended my stay due to the delay in the lauch while we await the arrival of my crew carring precious cargo.

So that is my update. Sitting it the bar sipping white wine and eating some cheese and olives my very friendly bartender got for me. Life is good.

Dean not onboard Necessity
Hammamet, Tunisia