4 May 2010
Well it didn't happen. I was up at 06.00am in spite of the alarm being set for 7. A huge rain squall hit us and I leapt up to close the hatches. We phoned the yard at 8am. (Their VHF is broken). It is our only means of communication with them as we cannot go ashore in the tender, also broken. They tell us that there are "problems" with the travel hoist and it appears there is now a backlog. Of course we see at least two other boats waiting with fenders at the ready. David tries to sound hopeful and says that they might not be in the queue. Perhaps, he suggests, they are the ones who sail with their fenders hanging out! Who is he kidding..... We are now into our second night here. All day has passed but some progress was made. At midday one yacht edged its way in to the travel hoist. It was Grand Filou, the 62 ft something Shipman. My confidence was given a big boost. Oh well then. Perhaps they can lift us after all. Nothing happened for the next two hours. It was lunchtime of course. We watched through the binos as the hoist inched GF upwards.
The waterline had barely been cleared the surface of the water when it was lowered back down. This happened a few times more. Oh dear! There seemed to be much shouting. One hour later slowly, ever so slowly we saw her inch skywards, and.... ashore. Now the hull would be pressure washed. By 5.30pm we heard the hammering of metal on metal. Aah! The struts. It had taken a whole half day and we were still one boat away. "Might not be us tomorrow David". I am already planning tomorrow night's menu. Roast loin of lamb, stuffed with garlic cloves and served with roast potatoes and broccoli. I might even stir myself to bake a cake!!! Thank goodness for our books. I am reading a very good one at the moment about Griff Rhys Jones sailing his wooden classic to the Baltic, all the way to St Petersburg. It was a great read. "Hey, David how about that. Fancy sailing to Russia after we get home"? Now that really would be an adventure! I love reading books about sailing more than anything else. I should have been a man......
Susan Mackay