Tuesday the day of the lift out came round faster than we had expected. We were prepared, well as much as we could be. Pete had dived on the prop scraping off all the barnacles he could get to in one breath before gasping for air at the surface before going down again. Unfortunately the first scrape with the dive knife was only one he saw, after that the water around the prop was so cloudy all had to be done by feel till he had surfaced and went down again to see how effective it had been. Jackie fulfilled the roll of dive coordinator making sure he came up again though what she would have done if he didn’t we were not quite sure.

Anti-fouling paint in Spain is Very expensive and the decision as what to do was limited by only a few suppliers in Sant Carles. Had we known we were going to need a lift out we would have bought the stuff we used last year in the UK and shipped it out in the the end the choice came down to International at the chandler at 390 Euros, Hempel at the Feritier (Spanish Hardware store) 250 Euros or some UN-named brand at the fisherman’s co-operative at 140 Euros. Being a Yorkshire-man, cheapskate, & broke, the fisherman’s co-operative won!

Anodes, these fixed to the hull & prop shaft stop the vital metal bits if the boat fizzing away in the sea water by dissolving themselves. We always had problems getting the right ones in the UK Probably because the boat is Dutch and uses a type common in the Netherlands. So it was with little hope we trawled around town to find the right ones. As expected no luck! We could order it and it would be here in three days. This was only three days before the lift, so hoping against the odds we agreed.

All the preparation done we sat & waited for a hour & half till our confirmed lift time at 12:00 Hrs. Wishing it could be earlier so we could get on with it. At 11:30 we slipped the lines. Now was the moment of truth would the prop, still with some fouling actually drive the boat? (others in the marina who had stayed all winter had to be towed to the boat yard as the prop fouling was so bad) She moved! Slowly we came out of our berth and motored round to the yard. The guys were waiting for us and efficiently got the boat in the slings and lifted her up. Surprisingly the hull was not too bad just some slight green slime it was really just the prop & shaft that were covered in barnacles. They quickly moved the hoist with the boat to the wash-station and got on with pressure washing the hull. It was at this time the yard manager came over and said we’ve been trying to call you for the last two hours to ask you to come round earlier. Typical we were sat waiting for our appointed time and they were sat waiting for us! They then moved the boat to be chocked of so we could work on it it was at this time I realised the whole 75ton hoist with our precious boat was been controlled by a small remote control device just like someone uses to fly model aircraft – Amazing.
(see Photo). Efficiently the chocked off and also strapped the boat down with big ratchet straps and 15 mins from being lifted we were left to get on with the job.

Quickly we got the borrowed sanders out and started on the hull. The noise of other craft being worked drifted across the yard. About 25 mins later I realised the only ones working, was ourselves. Why? Spanish lunch and siesta time! All work stops at 1:00 and they return at 4:00. Like mad dogs & English men, we cracked on in the mid day sun, by the time they re-appeared we had started painting on the first coat of anti-fouling.

Sleeping on board ashore was an experience we were used to the boat moving slightly in the gusts and pulling on the lines. Here she stayed still but vibrated with strong gusts. We only experienced winds of 28 knots that night but both said we wouldn’t want to be here in a big blow. The plan had been to lift out Tuesday work Wed & Thursday and lift back in on Friday. By Wednesday afternoon we had the second coat of anti-fouling on the prop prepared & primed and the boot-top (contrasting line at the waterline) painted it became obvious we would be ready to go back in Thursday afternoon (saving a days storage costs on the hard).

Pete went to find the yard manager to see if we could move the lift forward a day. 'Not a chance' he said 'were fully booked for tomorrow!' Well that’s it the we'll have to go back on Friday. 'Can I just check what time the lifts booked for?' He looked, 'Your not booked back in on Friday' he said. At this Pete nearly lost it! 'But you are booked in for 4pm on Thursday' he continued with a smile.

So after two days working Flat out Aronauta went back in the water Thursday afternoon. The winds had been building all day and concerned at the tight manoeuvring to get back into our berth we had enlisted the help of another couple to assist in the manoeuvre. In the end the wind died just as we entered the water and we made it back to our berth without any incidents.

That night the wind really got with gusts of over 60Knots Argonauta heeled at her moorings and we were kept awake al night by the constant movement and roar of the wind. We had doubled up each mooring line but despite this two broke overnight. Whilst this was bad, it would have been even worse, strapped down on the hard 28Knts was bad enough. Friday all lifts in and out of the yard were cancelled, meaning if we hadn’t got in on Thursday afternoon, we would have been stuck out till Monday.

The weather for next week looks promising so with a little luck we will leave our temporary winter home and continue our travels.