Tuesday, April 20, 2010

The Boats Floating




We are in the water finally.



The water line has been changed to accommodate the extra weight we have in the aft.



The spots from the salt water have been touched up on the mast and spreaders. Allis repainted.





We think we may stay here another couple weeks. People say the wind in Tunisia is up and the sand and dirt is carried on to the boats and it gets into everything. So we think we will pass this time.





The ports on the east coast of Sicily are also good so we will move that way as soon as we get ready to leave. The weather is warm now and the sun is hot and we are in a beautiful port so what the hurry is.





We now know the market is for good buys on fish and fresh food. There are some other things to do here but we just haven’t had any time making sure everything is ready for the launch.





We have met some good people here which always make it more interesting and you get good information.





The Pope was here Sunday; we were in the area and saw the crowds’ downtown but not the Pope up close.



Once we get I the water we will activate the spot and in the next few days we will need to do a shake down sail off the coast before we head out.





Keep in touch.





Brad and Ian







Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The Start of a New Year







Hello everyone,
Ian and I are back in Malta. we arrived yesterday after a stop in Belgium to see Rik and Dinska and their children. They have changed a lot in the 5 months when we stopped last to visit.
we spent Easter with Danny Carrette and his family. It was a traditional dinner with some wines. all of the boys had their female friends at dinner also. It's nice to see them moving forward in their lives and there nice girls.
Malta is sunny and 70 degrees during the day. The boat came through the winter months OK. We need to put a new water line in paint and touch up the bottom where we ran into a few things, but over all everything is in good shape.
We are staying a few blocks off the waterfront in an apt. while we are completing the prep work. the mast needs a bit of touch where the salt has attacked the paint where it has been nicked or scratched.
The fresh water in the Great Lakes doesn't attack the finish like it does in the salt.

We are scheduled to go in the water next Tuesday and the a few more days here before we leave for N. Africa for 3 weeks while it warms up in EU.

We had the Spot on today for awhile so we should show up on google earth.
We are also going to do a better job of keeping up with the blog. Hope we don't see any pirates in Africa.

It is a blessing for the gopeds (small motorized scooters) we have with us, they save so much time traveling between spot to spot. Mine is electric and Ian's is gas. I have had to carry mine as much as driving do to great luck with a flat tire on the first day riding.

Brad