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After a very hectic couple of days post-wedding getting packed and ready (and shaving Gerard's head), we arrived in Cagliari on Wednesday 18 September! In true Italian fashion, the repairs we'd requested in June commenced upon our arrival but they were finished very quickly and we were ready to have Starfire moved from its spot on the hard into the water. Due to our very limited grasp of Italian, this was communicated with two words: marina staff (while pointing at the boat) - "acqua?"; us - "si!"
So I thought getting married was nerve-racking… That was literally a drop in the ocean (first sailing pun!) compared to watching your boat (the one that Gerard sought out amongst the hundreds of boats for sale, that we lovingly washed, waxed and kitted out, and that we are relying on for shelter for the most part of the next year - that one) being lifted from the stilts that have been reliably supporting it for the last 4 months by a crane operated by an Italian gentleman of around 4ft who must be nearing 70, and manouvered between numerous other boats where the safe passing distance is deemed to be about 20cm. That leads to some serious butterflies!
Thankfully everything went well and we're in the water for the first time since we've owned Starfire! This has many advantages - we can use the toilet, we don't need a ladder to get on the boat, we're now reasonably certain she actually floats, we can cook, we have power… it's all very exciting. It also means we can set off whenever we're ready now - no excuses! As conservative (ex-)bankers, we've decided we'll have a practice run with an afternoon sailing around Cagliari first - so we definitely know we can make it back if we need to - before embarking on anything more ambitious. We also get to start putting all our hours of chartwork training to the test (before ultimately relying on the electronic equipment). Almost on our way!!
[Photo: Evidence]
- comments
Marten Super story, we are looking forward to what is coming in the year ahead! The boat seems to be in fine condition, just watch out for left wigers with Gerard on Board, he looks a bit extreme right wing now :)!
grandma Enjoyed reading this it sounds very exciting. Why has Gerard shaved his head? X