Friday 4th December.... Sorry folks, one day late this week with the 'Advent'ures of Thesee. Ho Ho...
Of course you will all know (if you've been paying attention), it was a full moon this week, and we secretly took a photo of Santa Claus delivering our new sewing machine early. He thought we were asleep but he didn't know we had been up late taking full advantage of the cheap vino here in Licata.
Luckily, Dean was able to press ahead with making his sprayhood covers, as Emanuel brought the newly windowed sprayhood back. It was full steam ahead, and Dean's job has taken up most of the week. Just look at him go.....
Total concentration.... perfection at work
I couldn't get a look in.... and it's my Christmas present too you know! Oh well, I should leave it to the expert I suppose.
We got quite excited to find out that Sicily's VIP's were about to announce that our Coronavirus Orange zone was to be downgraded to Yellow zone.... Yippee, bars open again. We have obviously been very good and following all the rules and regulations... So on Tuesday we were got dressed up to go to Happy Hour at Blue Sky bar. Mind you they have to close at 6pm still, so we started Happy Houring at 4pm to make the most of it. Then we got takeaway pizza and chips on the way home with Ant & Cid.
All dolled up and ready for Happy Hour
Back to business, the sprayhood. Here's some photos of our spanking new windows....
Before
After
We've had the top window made out of super duper extra special (and expensive) plastic because Dean uses this all the time to be able to watch the main sail being hoisted. The three large windows at the front have been replaced with bog-standard stuff. Saffy, as usual was caught sleeping on the job.
Afternoon napping
So Dean got to work, firstly creating a cover for the top window. It was a fairly basic shape so a good place to start. The front curved bit is to be held down by two detachable studs, and the rear straight part will be tucked under the solar panel using a ruler, hence the turn up. I did call it basic, but a lot of technical thought went into it as we wanted to put the least amount of studs into the bimini,
Uncovered windlass
Covered windlass
It even has a slit for the chain... wow
Saturday brought some heavy winds and rain, and a lot of trash with it. The next day Dean and I walked along the central breakwater. The sea was still rolling into the harbour. There was a southerly swell coming straight in.
Calming down after the storm
The sea, not Dean
Cloudy skies hanging around
The colourful fishing port next door
Guess
End of the central breakwater
To warm the boat up, and our tummies, I made a yummy scrummy chocolate cake.
Mm mmmm
Half moon already
Oops, I seem to keep detracting from the subject of the week.... more covers to be made. It has taken a lot of thought and planning to work out how we wanted to do it. You see we can't cover the windows with one piece because we want to be able to open the centre window and leave the two outside windows covered to protect from the sun. There was an enormous amount of walking up and down the companion way with the material to measure and size up the first cover.... starboard side.
We added a tab here to hold the starboard cover in place
Starboard window cover looking good
Top cover fitted and held down by the solar panel
We've had a lot of rain which has kept us indoors, so Dean had to revert to indoor jobs. One of which was trying to tilt the fridge forward slightly as the door doesn't fit flush against the next cupboard. It was very tricky and he hasn't managed to do it yet. That will be a few sleepless nights pondering over his next move.
Next week... Christmas Decorations
Our new fairy lights around the boat rails
Close up
Some of the neighbours
On the whole it's been a pretty good week with things going well apart from the crappy weather. It has been quite windy again and that has stopped Dean pressing on with some jobs. However, he has succeeded in fitting the (second) new GPS antenna, and has managed to get the Chartplotter to read it, instead of it reading the AIS antenna. The electronics on the boat are a maze of technical information, and it can be mind blowing trying to understand it all, and getting it all to 'talk' to each other. We've definately learned something new this week, and are happy with the new set-up with a lot of time spent re-reading instruction booklets and searching the internet.
Down in the lazarette (his second home)
wiring in the new GPS antenna to the Seatalk NMEA 0183 system.... don't ask!
.... and it works, at long last 😀
This week's walkies with Ant & Cid took us back over the river into the other side of town and a long walk to Eurospin supermarket, as we heard they have 'BACON'. Well, yes, the packet calls it bacon and it's OK, but there just aint enough of it and it's paper thin, but beggars can't be choosers. So we bought two packs, don't think it will last long. The meat was a very good price and we bought some steak and also some lamb chops. I love lamb and it's so difficult to get here.
Our Steak night on Thesee
Just 5 euros for this!
We're trying to get a bit of food in, and yesterday did the death run cycle ride to Lidl. Fortunately we made it back alive and kicking. There's a few Christmas decs going up in the town so hopefully we will be able to have an evening walk some time next week.
Saffy had a bath and a lovely new pink collar. Her collar was donated by Ant & Cid, they had bought it a while back for their dog Lady, but Lady 💓 went to live in heaven before she got the chance to wear it. Saffy looks rather spiffing don't you think, and her hair is so soft now... and she smells nice too x
The skipper had a bit of paint stress this week, trying to buy zinc paint in Italy and trying to get the shops to understand what you want. Anyway, at his second attempt he got fobbed off with this grey stuff and gave the bikes some TLC as it has been raining a lot and they are outside under a rain cover that doesn't stop much rain.
Our three new solar panels arrived. Today, in between rain showers Dean fitted two of them to the sprayhood with just a small amount of alterations. Don't get me wrong, even small alterations take a lot of work and thought on a boat.
Arrival of the solar panels
Checking for package damage.... we've been ripped off before!
All looking OK
Today's end results
Nice and neat
.... and with the window cover fixed and velcro'd
Thursday 17th December... Only 8 more sleeps until Christmas! Now, what have we been up to this week on the good ship? All work and not much play as usual. Well one of us has been working and it's not me. It was time to fit the third new solar panel. This one is glued to the deck just in front of the sprayhood. The new panels are slightly different to the last ones and the electrical wiring is positioned differently. This meant that for Dean to do one of his super duper neat jobs he needed to drill a hole in the deck 😲. Don't worry, I have total faith in him, and if he wants to drill a hole in the deck I know that he has lay awake for many many many nights thinking it over.
You see, for a Captain's super duper neat job all the wires have to be hidden, and so a hole was indeed drilled. Not quite into the deck I might add. Nevertheless quite hair-raising, as there is a small gap between the fibreglass where all the lines run back from the mast to the cockpit.... and this is where the wires were going to go too.
Here's the newly drilled hole
Just in front of the sprayhood
.... and the wires will end up coming out through here
and up into the conduit (pefectly hidden)
Ooh, and meanwhile, our local wine delivery arrived. 12 litres of local wine for 19 euros... that works out to about £17... £1.40 per litre.
We'll soon get through it i'm sure
Back to the solar panel fitting... and here is the new 3rd solar panel glued down onto the deck. Note the wires disappearing perfectly. Well done Mr C.
Looking great
You'd pay good money for a job this well done
That's the end of the solar panels jobs and all is looking very spiffing.
We took a walk on Saturday to try and buy more fairly lights. The roads were very busy and I thought it would make a good photo to show you this large white van parked half way across the road, with the traffic having to squeeze past. This is the norm over here. They just park however they like.. and no-one seems to have a problem with it....only us!
The main street
We got beaten to the last set of suitable fairy lights as we were dithering over which ones to buy, and when we finally decided, someone else was at the till buying them. So off we went to have a coffee and croissant at the main part of town, where we found a very large Christmas Tree had appeared.
The big tree... sort of
... at last Chocolate croissants
Oh yeah
Then on the way back we decided to investigate some of the back streets and came across a lovely square with two cafes in full sunshine. So on Monday it was a lovely sunny day again and we went back with Ant & Cid for refreshments. The bars and cafes are open again here now, so it was a nice change.
The nice square
A very very old Church
Saffy on guard
She loves to drag her bed as near to the lounge as possible
Monday morning refreshments in the sunshine
Where's mi coffee?
3 Cappuccinos and Dean's Americano
I need this
From there we all walked to Euronics electrical store where Cid bought a new phone. It's a good walk away, and good exercise at the same time. At the shopping centre we got told off for un-knowingly trying to go out of the entrance instead of the exit.... ridiculous covid social distancing regulations. We were actually closer to the guy telling us off, than we would have been if he had just let us through.
Orange trees along the pavements
At the shopping centre
Dean's sewing this week was making a cover to go over the companion way doors. Mainly to keep the cold wind out as it's been quite chilly in the mornings. I have to say he made a great job of it it, and from now on I think he should do all of the needlework tasks. He's so methodical.
New tabs to hold the doors open when sailing
Measuring up....
Shouldn't that pencil be behind his ear?
The finished product
Thursday 24th December Christmas Eve... I've just started to write this week's blog and my photos won't upload. So until I can get this sorted out with Google I might have to look at another way of doing it. All I can say is we are well and the weather is fine. Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas out there. Enjoy your holidays... and no partying please 😀 xxx
Saturday 26th December... Boxing Day... Well Well, it appears that Mr C (that's Dean, not Mr Christmas) has sorted out our photo uploading problem. I have no idea how he fixed it and I don't think he knows either, so let's see how it goes from now on.
These are the photos taken since the 18th December....
Our festive indoor fairy lights and decorations
This new road island appeared suddenly in town, outside of the new
supermarket that opened a week before Christmas
The four of us went to Lidl on our bikes for
the last of the Christmas food shopping
Some pretty flowers along the way, feels like springtime
A few days later, deserted streets on the last weekend before Christmas.
We found out later that Shopping Centres are closed at weekends
during our Yellow zone Lockdown.
.... it was also lunch time, and the locals disappear for a snooze.
So we had a good walkabout whilst there was no need for social distancing.
Santa made his last delivery for Dean..... uh oh, correction, Dean says the presents are actually for me. A huge plastic syringe? A gooseneck? and a 2 metre length of conduit? No sign of the expensive perfume and designer boots that were on my Christmas list. I'm beginning to think Santa isn't for real.
The syringe..... don't ask.... I have no idea
Maybe for Covid vaccinations?
Ah, the new gooseneck block
All will become clear in due course
Ho Ho Ho says Saffy, who has made it to
yet another Christmas
I went for coffee in town with the ladies. It was the poshest coffee shop in town with fancy displays of expensive wines and the like.
Latte
Meanwhile Dean got busy finishing off the his sprayhood covers with an ingenious fix. You see the covers were a little floppy and kept drooping slightly, so he ordered some special elastic retainers to keep it all nice and taught. But the most sneakiest trick of all, was that he attached them through the sprayhood cover and into the bimini frame. At the same time, re-stitching the cover and adding a double thickness to keep its shape.
Looks pretty good to me! What do you think?
Back to the frivolities..... At Blue Sky bar we had a band turn up and play some songs for us. And on Christmas Eve some of the liveaboards came along the pontoons singing Christmas carols. It was good fun and they encouraged us all to join in with the singing, which we did of course... oh and we joined in with the tipple too.... all for a good cause, the breakwater cats.
The band at Blue Sky bar
We finally got to have an evening walk into town to look at the Christmas lights. This was in the main square.
On the way back Ant & Cid wanted to grab a bite to eat.... something other than pizza hopefully. Quite a task, and after trawling the streets in town, we were gobsmacked to find a van near the marina and they were selling burgers! The food looked so fresh and the van spotless. We had to laugh though as he had plugged his electric cable into a lamp-post.
The name of the van? Mc Jack's....
Mmmm not a very original name we thought.
Copycats.
Christmas Eve was a gorgeous sunny, warm and calm day. It must have been about 18 degrees. It was a great day for taking this year's Christmas photo....and here it is....
Merry Christmas Thesee Followers
We spent Christmas Day on Thesee with Ant & Cid. Sicily regulations stipulated we were allowed two guests, perfect!
My home-made crackers with jingle bells
Ready for our guests
Here comes Oscar in festive spirits
Saffy always gets excited when Oscar arrives,
and she wants to join in the fun
Oscar brought his bed with him, and at one point we caught Saffy trying to get into bed with him! Later on after the turkey, Oscar got fed up and went home without his bed. Next thing we know, Saffy is in Oscar's bed fast asleep! The little rascal.... 😀
Thursday 31st December... This week's Christmas celebrations didn't stop Dean from doing what he loves doing...... JOBS. Yes, he just can't stop making, fixing, fiddling, altering, mending, adapting, repairing, adjusting, improving, servicing, not to mention his favourite teak oiling. I've lost track really...
This is the new fan set up inside the fridge freezer
hopefully to stop it icing up so quickly.
It has definately made the fridge compartment much colder.
This is the old fridge fan now blowing onto the fridge compressor
... and now adjusted to make it quieter
This is checking the anti-syphon valve in the engine
.... it's looking fine
For most days over Christmas and New Year, Sicily has reverted to a red zone, to stop people having fun, oh and to stop them passing on their germs. On the 28th, 29th, 30th December we were downgraded to orange zone, which meant we were allowed to go out and walk around our own town, which we did. Well actually we walked to the beach to fly the kite, but there was not enough wind so we had to just walk along the beach. The sea was quite rough.
Trying to fly the kite
There it goes, but only for about 10 seconds
Our season's greetings to Thesee Followers
Dean and Ant seeing how far we could get without paddling
Not a soul around
They must all think it's a red zone day
Beach bar closed today
This used to be a boat
Cindy enjoying the surroundings
Just about keeping our feet dry here
Back in the marina, Ant colllects a parcel full of goodies for Eternite
Next day back in the red zone and pretty much confined to the marina, although we could go food shopping, and did some laundry. Afterwards, Dean took the hose off the forward heads and gave it a good bashing on the pontoon to clear the calcium deposits that form inside and restrict the water flushing through. It's a yearly job and keeps everything in good working order.
So it's New Year's Eve, and my favourite night of the year. Won't be so exciting this year of course as we still have a 10pm curfew so no conga chains at midnight i'm afraid. Oh well, i made a lemon tart instead, with the most extraordinary lemon i've ever seen.
I know.... where's the lemon??
Well this year didn't turn out as we had planned, obviously. But we still had some brilliant times with our sailing buddies old and new, and we visited some extraordinary places along the way. It's quite something to visit places that you've never even heard of before, like the Aeolian Islands. And who would have thought we would not only anchor next to an active volcano, but actually climb one as well. Dean's push ups challenge culminating on the top of Vulcano back in the summertime. For us, that has to be the most memorable moment of 2020.
Thank you to you all for following our adventures, we just can't wait to start the next sailing season.
Bring on 2021
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Lots of love to each and everyone of you
xxxxx
