Gaeta - April 2020 - The lock-in continues

Tuesday 7th April... Greetings to all our faithful and avid blog followers out there. We trust that you are all behaving yourselves and not breaking the rules?? 

First news of this week was CHARLIE'S BIG 10th BIRTHDAY. Happy Birthday Sailor!! Charlie told us that he made himself a cake and what a whopper it was too.... just have a look at this....

The Big 10

Just a quick mention too for Claire working at the front line...very proud of her 💗

Stay safe out there

So a new month begins and that means monthly maintenance checks. Dean has a spreadsheet which he updates every month once his checks are done.

Very neat and efficient spreadsheet

Almost looks as if I know what I'm doing!

Lying down on the job

Checking the mast after the rigging adjustment

You remember when we arrived here one of the first jobs was to check and clean the toilet pipes, well it's that time again! I decided that during monthly checks it was not worth putting the acid clean through the toilets. Mistake, they blocked up again. It's not such a bad job. I just flush though, vac out the pipes with the wet 'n' dry vac, remove the pipes and beat them on the quay side. The calcium deposit breaks up and falls out.

Pipe beating ceremony

Needs a bit more

I used to worry about picking something up off the pipes/toilets but with all the hand washing that's going on that worry is over. 

Every now and again I check all the lights to make sure we're all ready to go. I found the mast head tri-colour was not working. I thought I'd fixed it when I found a loose connection at the base of the mast but in the end...you guessed it, I ended up going up the mast again.

Checking connections at the mast base (inside the boat)

There it is, best shot we could get!

After working on the toilet pipes I thought I better try and take a look inside the holding tanks..nice. I tried once before but couldn't get the inspection hatch off. I the end I made a tool that fits perfectly. Unfortunately the inspection hatches still wont budge. I'll revisit that job again sometime.

Making the hatch tool

Nice day for it

Getting there

Now just needs a handle

Job done

Linda has been a bit under the weather with hay fever, but she managed to knock up a quick peach crumble, yummy. We cooked a chicken in the Cobb BBQ again so that went down well for Sunday dinner.

Yummy peach crumble

We had a visit from the marina owner who told us that the lockdown had been extended until April 16th and possibly longer. We sort of guessed anyway so not such a big surprise. I thought I better get hold of some masks as most people are wearing them when I'm out shopping and I had one bloke stop me and said I should have one on too. At least that's what I think he said....who knows, I don't speak Italian.

Home made mask

Makes my sunglasses steam up a bit but at least I don't get any comments now.

The water in the marina was extra clear the other day and the fish where out in there numbers. Sometimes it feels like we're sitting in an aquarium.

Fish

Silver fish feeding at the water line of our neighbour's boat

More fish

David, one of the other Brits here in the marina needed a couple of lines moving about on his mast so I volunteered to go up the mast and sort things out for him. Linda took these photos from our boat.

Just starting up

Nearly done

On the way back down

It's surprising what you do for a free beer.  Mmmmm lockdown! Well it is still in the marina which is kind of our back yard and I'm much farther than 2 metres away from anybody. 

Over the last few weeks we have managed to compete in online virtual quizzes with our friends from home, and also our friends from last winter back in Almerimar. We haven't managed to win yet but its good fun and it keeps us occupied on a Saturday night. 

The US ship USS Mount Whitney that's moored quite close to us in the NATO base has been trying to keep spirits up locally by playing some music each day before they take the flag down, so far we've heard: Fly me to the moon, Don't stand so close to me, and Sweet Caroline. There's more but I can't remember, once the music is over they blast the fog horn. 

Yikes..Monday was shopping and laundry day... busy, busy, busy. First job, find the key for the laundry, walk around to the boat yard (half mile) and put the first load in. Then walk up to the shops with the trolley up hill about 2 miles. Then back to the boat to drop off the shopping and get the second wash load ready. Back round to the boat yard with the second load, walk back and hang out the first load to dry. Four loads later and my feet are killing me! Beginning to think Linda's hay fever thing is all put on!  No wonder my sunglasses are steaming up.  Stay safe everybody. 

Tuesday 14th April...
LINDA - It's surprising how quick time flies when you've got to self-amuse yourselves. The blog posts seem to be getting shorter but less is more as they say, and there's no shortage of excitement this week onboard the good ship Thésée. 

I caught Dean lying down again. Of course he was at work.... he never stops. This time, i found him repairing blue gel coat on the hull, only it was out of his view and there he was with a mirror in one hand, and gel coat in the other. 

Mirror in his left hand

Working awkwardly....

I like to offer my ideas and assistance when needed, and suggested that i sit on the quayside with a mirror on the end of pole in order to free up both of his hands. He agreed it was a good idea, and added that we should float the mirror and pole on top of a fender. Here's a photo to show you how it worked. Yes i had the camera in one hand and the pole in another. What would he do without my bright ideas, i keep telling him.

That's the way to do it

I thought i had better do something about Saffy's bed. It's been in quite a state for a few weeks now. Trouble is she keeps destroying it with her scratching. She's either trying to get comfy, or she's digging as if burying a dog bone. We took the cover off it and as you can see from this photo, she has completely wrecked the base. We've already mended it once and she's only had it for a year.... it was expensive too, naughty dog. 

That's a fine mess you've got into Saffy dog

Whilst Dean was mending the base, i had unpicked the cover and was replacing the worn parts with a new lining cut out from one of her blankets.  We were given an old sewing machine last year in Almerimar. Dean had given it a service back then, and one of his super duper once overs, and now it works splendidly. It's the first time i've used it and it
did a fine job. 

Putting the new pieces together by hand

Now for the serious sewing

Dean cut out an old mat and stuck it down 

to form the new base

And here's the new inside cover 

Turned out great me thinks

Well this week's baking was limited to a few fairy cakes. I'm still suffering the hay fever, just can't seem to get rid of it. Fairy cakes was about all i could muster up for Easter, but they tasted nice once we'd added the ice cream and strawberries. 

Who will get the odd one?

Devil cake?

Unicorn cake?

We had a surprise on Saturday afternoon. The Polizia turned up in the marina whilst we were walking Saffy dog. They stopped and questioned us for a short while. They wanted to know why we were walking around the marina. We weren't wearing our masks, and they didn't mention that. We don't wear them unless we leave the marina. They seemed satisfied, carried on driving about the marina, and we finished off our walk. 

About half an hour later they returned with a 'detective'. They walked along the quay to all four of our liveaboard boats and wanted to see all passports. Dean showed them Saffy's passport first! They were on the phone to someone official we presume, reading out our names and passport numbers.  In the meantime the marina owner had arrived to help with the 'enquiries' and to clarify how long we had been there. We seem to think that someone had reported seeing people in the marina, and the police had come to see if we were locals having an Easter holiday weekend away during lockdown. They went away satisfied and we've not heard anything since, so we must have passed. 

Since then, we have restricted our doggy walks to the outer half of the marina, so that we are not upsetting the locals. Still, it's nice up this end and the flowers are starting to appear along the Super Yacht Berths.

Spring is here

That's what i call a rockery

Quiz night again Saturday brought to us from Spain, and joined in by us and our friends in the UK. We are all playing in separate teams obviously, and this week we all did pretty well. I reckon if we got together in one team, we would win it. We must try and work out how to do this.

The week's excitement didn't stop there... Sunday night i was getting a new kitchen roll out from storage behind the sofa cushions. I picked it up and something large caught my eye. All of a sudden Dean shouted 'COCKROACH'. Well... I flung the kitchen roll across the saloon before you could say 'Jack Robinson', the cockroach going with it and landing on the floor heading towards the fore-cabin (bedroom). Dean shouted to get the fly spray and gave it a blast and trapped the cockroach under the fly swatter. Meanwhile i was safely half way up the companionway steps viewing the events unfolding. Saffy woke up and came wandering out of the forecabin to see what was going on. 

Dean managed to get the cockroach in a plastic cup and throw it overboard. I would say it was about the size of a 50p coin. So what happened next? Well we had to check to see if there were any more stowaway cockroaches lurking in Thesee's depths. Dean checked all the nooks and crannies as you can see in the next photo but he didn't find any signs of further unwanted visitors. This gave me the confidence to go to bed without any worries of three in a bed.

We think that the culprit cockroach must have come in with the shopping last week, and was probably lurking inside the kitchen roll tube. Next week we'll be extra vigilant. I definately don't want to see any more of those things living with us. 

All upside down doing a thorough check for unwanted visitors

We always keep the boat clean and tidy, but since the Colin the Cockroach incident Dean's been cleaning all those extra hard to get at places as a precaution. Today he spent the morning removing the cooker and cleaning all behind and around it. He's done a wonderful job of it. As always, once you start something it goes on and on. He ended up removing the oven door and removing the handle, rubbing it down to remove the ageing varnish, and then teak oiled it (you know how he likes his teak oil). 

He's cleaned out all the cupboards, removed the hinges and rubbed them all down. Well like i said, how time flies when you've got to self-amuse yourself. Good job he's got me to take photos of all his hard work. 

Cleaning the cupboard which houses the gas valve

One of the cupboard doors removed 

Now the oven door coming off

Oven door handle getting the teak oil treatment

All back together and looking sparkly spiffing

I'll finish off this week's report by showing you how much Saffy likes her lovely newly refurbished pad. 

That'll do nicely mum and dad

Snug as a bug....

Don't mention BUGS!!

Tuesday 21st April.... 
LINDA - Day 43 of our confinement unless i'm going crackers and can't add up anymore. Now what's been happening, lets see....

Dean got hold of some very sticky sticky tape and attached some mosquito netting to the companionway door vents. We did try this a while back but it kept falling off. All seems good this time.

Mozzies not welcome here

Our friends gave us some old yachting magazines, and after reading i was spurred on to have a recap of our man overboard procedures. After so long sitting in port your brain gets a bit rusty. I cut out a cardboard Thesee with some sails, a wind arrow and a man overboard, as you can see in the next photo. Dean and i talked about how to crash tack in order to stop the boat quickly if someone goes overboard, obviously assuming we are sailing at the time and not motoring. I wanted to get it straight in my head about what happens to the sails in this event. Dean reminded me that the best way to get back to someone is to perform a figure of eight. It all comes back to you when you have a refresher course. We talked quite a lot about how we would get someone out of the water, and Dean reminded me about which lines would be the best to use.

Here's our model setup

I think it was the following day when we noticed USS Mount Whitney was flying a yellow and blue flag. Dean knew this was a K flag meant 'i wish to communicate'. We're not really sure who the ship was aiming to communicate with? Being in learning mode, i decided to try and learn the International Code Flags alphabet and their meanings. I drew and coloured the flags as you can see below...

I'm doing quite well, but not perfect yet

Our friends Ant & Cid celebrated the safe arrival of a new grandson back in the UK on Wednesday. Unfortunately it's not possible for them to travel home with the ongoing current restrictions, so had to 'wet the baby's head' from afar. Congratulations all round. 

Next is to tell you about the skippers jobs... The weather was still fine, and David from Eternité offered his dinghy so that Dean could polish Thesee's hull from the water. It's a hard job at the best of times, and doubly as difficult trying to hold your balance standing in a wavering dinghy. Next day, Dean was all aches and pains. I have to say he made a great job of it, and we currently have one shiny side.

Just starting the polishing

Starboard side almost finished

On Sunday i found Dean outside playing with his drone. He's good at controlling it and learning more each time. He flew it right down the quay past our friend's boats and Ant came out to have a look what was going on. We had to laugh when we found out later that the other three were doing Yoga and gave them a big fright when they saw heard and saw the drone overhead, not knowing it was Dean.

Here's the drone taking off

Now just on the left of the photo

with Dean on the right

Back on Thesee and close quarters manoevring

 Another shot

 The top of the mast

Coming in to land

Dean likes to have everything shipshape and Bristol fashion, which means he's always fiddling with something. Yesterday he removed the rev counter. It's rather temperamental and is hit and miss when it comes to showing the engine hours. So out it came for a complete overhaul, as you can see below Dean is picking out some old silicon with a cocktail stick. Apparantly he tells me that the silicon can hold the damp and cause problems. The bulb was broken too and he managed to go out and get a new one for 2 euros... bargain. It was a fiddly job and re-attaching the unit to the boat is even more fiddly and awkward because he has to get his upper body into a small hole in the aft cabin. But of course he did it, and it works. How much would you have to pay to get someone to do that job for you?  A couple of hundred euros probably. Dean's very good at researching problems and fixes, i think he actually gets pleasure from it.

The rev counter getting some TLC

Tuesday 28th April...

LINDA - Blog day comes round really quickly, even when you're twiddling your thumbs. I'm finding it difficult to find things to report on as we are now on lock-in Day 50 .... yikes and double yikes. 

Still we did receive some good news ... The Italian Government have said they will start lifting some restriction as of May 4th, that's Dean's favourite day of the year. He calls it Star Wars day, May the 4th be with him...

We shall be able to go out of the marina without being policed. We still have to wear a mask and keep a metre apart though. More and more shops are being allowed to reopen. For those of you who want all the nitty gritty, click on this link...

https://www.thelocal.it/20200426/breaking-italy-unveils-phase-2-lockdown-measures

Unfortunately not much news on sailing though, but we do believe we may be allowed to sail as long as we do not go out of the Lazio region, which isn’t much good to us as we are right on the southern border of it and we want to go south into Campagnia region next.

The hull cleaning and polishing is now completed. Dean spent another two days on it working from the dinghy. One of the days was quite warm and he did so well to complete the task with the sun shining on the hull. He wanted to get it finished though as there had been some rainy days predicted, but that hasn’t really materialised.  So polishing was finished and it’s beautiful to see the sparkly sunlight reflecting off Thesee’s shiny hull. 

Sitting down on the job

That's the way to do it

Next morning I caught Dean making himself another new tool. This time it was for scrubbing the waterline and beneath.  It’s amazing what you can do with a bit of wood and a wire scouring pad. Thesee’s bottom was painted with copper coat 5 years ago, meaning we don’t have to paint it every year with antifouling paint. The copper coat is supposed to stop marine growth too and we can certainly tell the difference between our boat and our neighbours. Dean said that Thesee only had a handful of barnacles and a few wormy bits as opposed to our neighbours who look like they’re faring worse. Overall, we have certainly been pleased with our copper coat since it was applied at Hamble Yacht Services in the Solent.

What should we call this new scrubbing tool?

Answers on a postcard please

Along with all of this Dean managed to rub down the teak cockpit table again because it was starting to show black patches. It really annoys him because he spends so much time taking care of the teak and it just seems to always want more and more TLC. He’s such a perfectionist and cannot stop himself from putting things right. After he rubbed it down he added three layers of teak oil. Lets see how long this lasts….

Hands off the beautiful table please

Thesee's sparkly shiny hull reflections

Our Aloe Vera plant has come back to life and we were thrilled to see it has reproduced a new shoot this week.  Must go now as Dean is due back from his weekly supermarket shop, what a perfect Mr C he is.

 The new shoot excitement

The next blog post will be called 'Gaeta - May 2020 Summer or Winter?'