In October 2017 it was time to hoist Vela Nautica into a cradle and spend Vela Nautica an extensive refit.
The usual repair list got so long…
We needed to spend the european winter as well to clear some papers and apply for an US Visa.
In this episode we show how we took the stay and jib down to store them under deck. We left the main and mizzen sail furled up in the Mast. They are well protected against UV radiation in the masts. The portuguese Algarve is a very dry area, moisture is not to be expected an issue. Never the less this stay on land became much longer than expected. Looking back, I would have prefered to take all sails down. The small UV protection that is still out of the mast gets damaged and may need replacement.
We needed to navigate the Ria Formosa up to the riverfront of the city of Faro, to reach the shipyard Nave Pegos. At low tide, wide stretches of this river marshland fall dry. Only a littel water is left in the channel. For the last stretch to the crane bay the shipyard sends a pilot boat. This guides the yachts throug winding , narrow, dredged channels where small vessels are moored to both sides.
The travel crane bay turned out to be quite narrow, so that there was only less than 2 inches left on both sides of the hull. The staff had placed some carpets along the walls, because it was no more possible to get fenders inbetween.
We have to say thank you for the proffessional handling of the Nave Pegos staff. So they made it easy for us to enter safly the crane with Vela Nautica
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