Another day in the office

So what is Italy like so far? The people are lovely and very family and friends orientated. Lots of outdoors, sport and exercise going on. Cycling heaven (Jackson…) The reaction to what we are doing is impressed amazement and enthusiasm with a hint of I don’t think I could do that. The service is fantastic with some real craftsmanship alive and well. Some of the workshops we have ended up in produce beautiful work and any mistake fixed very quickly. Have seen almost no made in China products. It’s proudly made in Italy for everything. They love their dogs, even taking them into the mall…? The place is beautiful, but there is a disappointing amount of rubbish and the harbour can have a pretty strong smell. The food and wine is Amazing! Just not a cheap as we hoped. The people work long hours and the bread line seems to loom for some even though they are happy. We are in an upmarket area and nice marina so a little insulated from some of the hardships. Feeling like we know the place a bit better after 6 weeks here and noticing it coming alive as the weather warms up. Summer is on the way! It’s lovely to wake up to church bells from the local village. Starts at a civilised 7am with 7 discrete rings, then pause before hammer and tongs wake up 15 dongs, then fading down through 7 dings just to make sure you are awake. Not sure we could live here with the unknown and changing rules you only find out about after the fact. We will be sad to leave La Spezia and the excellent Marina Del Fezzano but take with us good memories and friendships. Ready for the next stage now depending on the weather!

We are going that way my son, just don’t hit the hard bits

 

 

Some catch up snapshots from earlier in the programme.

We often set up office in the foyer to the marina change rooms for power and more stable but still wobbly WiFi while trying to sort out the long list of little details as the kids do school work/reward internet.

 

Beautiful morning light

 

El Cheapo lunch once we sort of worked out the vending machine at Coop before another shopping mission.

 

Before game of see how much shopping you can fit in a panda… Answer = A surprisingly large amount.

 

Better and more usual lunch back on the boat

 

Big moment with the first outside dinner as the weather warms up.

 

Just in case you think it’s all G&T’s on the aft deck, here I am fixing stuff again (still…)

 

First time filling the diesel tank. Motored to other side of bay to fuel dock. Only to find it closed as winter hours only open in the morning. No problem, the marina called the attendant who cycled in from home 15 min away just for us. Try that in NZ… Minor technical difficulty of kinked hose and underestimated flow rate had me arm deep in the locker and Shannon getting rinsed in diesel. Douh. Was somewhat compensated for when WOT (Wide Open Throttle) test on way back across harbour yielded 11.2knots into light breeze and wave to surf off! Wow.

 

Not another all day driving run around crazy shopping mission trying the finds things!

 

Yes. How much did that cost? Don’t ask… After their excellent help with the sea water pump and reasonable pricing the good guys at O.M.R. di Villafrate Giovanni got my order for engine spares. Sorted till NZ now is the plan.

 

Easy to spot the crazy kiwis in the marina… Another day in the life of the live board with EUR 5.00 for a small load of washing and another EUR 5.00 to half dry it means hand washing is the order of the day. Luckily the almost off the scale low humidity means the washing is pretty much sucked dry on the rigging as we hang it.

 

Next on the catch up, First Guests!