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26th April 2006 - Penny Rose in the Doldrums
Here is a slightly better picture of Penny Rose. Not much has
happened since I last wrote to you, partly thanks to what I am
discovering is a rather ‘laid back’ attitude towards the passage
of time on the part of Italian boatyards (or one particular
Italian boatyard anyway). Earlier this year we arranged for a
haul out to give Penny Rose’s hull a wash, inspection and
anti-foul treatment. The news was generally good, but not so
good was the fact that on closer inspection we discovered some
other problems to resolve. The main one is that there is water
ingress through the teak decking and the boatyard advised that
replacement is the only option. So, on Friday 17th
February we flew back home with the agreement that the boatyard
would send us an estimate for the work on the following Monday
or Tuesday. As I write this (on the 26th April), we
are still waiting! Attempting to communicate with the boatyard
is a frustrating experience. They do not acknowledge e-mails or
letters and, though I have the phone number of an English
speaking contact, his response is always to promise that I will
receive an e-mail the very next day with the fullest of details,
which of course never comes. The only consolation is that while
Penny Rose is at the boatyard, we are not paying marina fees!
Luckily, we had already cancelled our plan to move her from
Ostia over the Easter break when we discovered that there was
significant work to do, and we are now hoping that we can get
ourselves and Penny Rose in sufficient order to take our maiden
voyage during the May / June half term break. I think that to do
this we will have to forgo all but the most essential of works
in Ostia, or we could still be planning our maiden voyage for
summer 2007!
We also have had a change of plan about what is to follow, based
on some very helpful advice from Carol Paddison on the RYA stand
at the London Boat Show. Instead of heading for Spain via
Sardinia this summer, as was our original intention, we will now
be heading down the Italian coast, rounding Sicily, and then on
to Malta. Here Penny Rose will be laid up for winter and we will
also get our further work, including the decking, done there. I
have spoken on the phone to a wonderfully helpful person called
Annelise from the Melitta Marine Group at Manoel Island Marina
who was so reassuring about… well everything, that I can hardly
wait to get there. This then is option one; the entirely
unrealistic one.
Option two is simply to get as far down the Italian coast as a
leisurely summer cruise permits, and to regroup according to
progress.
There are two problems with option one. The first is that it
seems such a shame to rush past some of the wonderful places
that we might visit on our journey; Naples and Capri, the
Aeolian Islands, Taormina and Etna in Sicily, to name but a few.
The real stumbling block however is that our 7 year old daughter
Sofia trades each days sailing with two days of swimming and
generally playing around in the water. We have discovered during
recent charters that progress is always MUCH slower than we have
originally anticipated. Still, it is her holiday too and I’m
sure that Penny Rose will survive another season before her
modest refit.
In summary then, we are in our usual state of having lots of
good ideas but no clear plan. I sincerely hope however that the
next time I write it will be to report on Penny Rose’s sailing
characteristics and not on her stasis.
Warm wishes
Eric |
