Not sure where the time has gone but certainly it’s the sailing season again as the boat will be back in the water next week.

We went out to see Nimmie in February to check how the work had gone and also meet up with Peter, our caretaker, to discuss future work plans. As the boat was on the hard at Manoel Island Boatyard, you are not allowed to stay on board so we found an hotel in nearby St Julian’s at £50 per night. Lovely hotel, right on the front and a short bus, long walk to the yard – perfect. It was weird not staying on Nimmie in Malta as we have only ever stayed on board rather in hotels but it was lovely to be able to shower easily. Missed not being able to have pre dinner drinks in the cockpit watching the world go by, though.

Peter seems to have done a splendid job of sandblasting the keel (see previous blog) and putting more coppercoat on it. We are also having a metal bow protector added so that the very sharp end of the anchor doesn’t chip the gel coat as we raise the anchor. We have had a new main sail and stack pack (holder of said sail) made along with matching sprayhood. This time we have had a zipped window put in on the sprayhood so that we can unzip it and have air coming through but with the protection of the rest of the spray hood. We haven’t seen these yet so watch this space! For those of you who have been following, or even visited us, you will know about our frustration of a non working fridge. This should soon be rectified as we are having a new compressor fitted. Let’s hope that is all that is needed rather than a completely new fridge unit – a difference of hundreds rather than thousands of euros! Whilst out of the water, Peter noticed that the one of the bow thruster blades seemed to be rotating freely so that it wouldn’t be as effective going to starboard. Not a good thing when trying to get out of a tight spot. We have also had the life raft serviced so it should be good for a few more years – let’s hope we never have to use it!

As always with boats, the maintenance list is long so I won’t bore you with that list but, suffice to say, there has been plenty to keep Peter occupied all winter! Still, at least this means we can sail her when we go out rather than just doing jobs the whole time. The good news is that we have secured another 12 months at Msida Creek marina so we shall be in Malta for another year. This makes it so much easier with regard to getting to her and also having Peter around to look after her. We have become very found of Malta and surrounding islands. Our next visit is in a couple of weeks time to get her ready for our trip in June. Can’t wait!