The yard in Bari, Italy has been very busy since we left Nimmie in October 2017. We had given them a pretty comprehensive list of winter “jobs”, including re-applying Coppercoat to the hull as it’s now been 8 years since it was first applied. It hasn’t been working as well as it should over the last couple of seasons so two years ago we had Peter re-apply Coppercoat to the keel and the rudder in Malta. However, we have decided that it needs to be completely redone. It has kept the hull clean from barnacles and growth for a good few years but lately we have had to scrap the hull several times a season. We had thought that with being on her for six months in 2017 and moving from place to place, it would be okay but we still had to scrap her several times by hand. Hence, the decision to re-apply the copper based anti foul.

The list of jobs we gave the yard had 16 items on it but not long after Antonio and his team started to do the work it started to grow. It’s a bit like an old car that you try and fix up. As soon as you look at one thing, another problem pops up. Whilst servicing the engine, they noticed the raw water pump had a small leak. We had noticed the same thing earlier in the season but it wasn’t obvious where it was coming from and was also quite small. It’s simpler and cheaper to do as they were already working on the engine. The other problem they spotted with Nimmie out of the water was that the shaft (that connects the propellors to the engine) was worn and needed to be replaced. Next, the bow thruster propellors were broken. We knew there was a problem with the connections as it kept cutting out at the most inopportune moments so we had asked them to fix that but hadn’t realised that there was a problem with the actually propellors! Ah well, at least she’ll be all set for the new season even though our bank account will be taking a hammering!

One piece of good news is that 3D Tenders have finally replaced our tender. We only bought it last winter and didn’t start using it until May but very early on, it developed a leak where the seam hadn’t been sown properly in production, which meant that one side slowly deflated. Not great when you depend on it to get you ashore whilst at anchor!

We now need to decide on when to go out and check on all the work that is being done on her. It’s always exciting to go back out and see Nimmie. Makes the start of the season seem that bit closer even if it will be June this year…..