1001 Repairs

When we arrived in Las Palmas at the end of August we were two dedicated circumnavigators just popping in for a pit stop. The idea was to get a few repairs but mainly upgrades done within a fortnight and we would still be on track for our planned route to go around. That was before I knew anything about boat repairs in a foreign country - and as it turned out I knew even less about boats. Steel boats in particular.
However, we were tied up on pontoon 16 in the Marina of LasPalmas, and it turned out to be a lovely place. All people around were helpful and nice to have a drink with, so I felt rather good about the whole thing. After a couple of days I found the right chandlery and got a professional recommended to look after my little project. When the guy managed to get people coming to my boat at 9 a.m. I thought I`d be safe. Because it takes some standing to achieve this small miracle in Las Palmas. For a couple of days I felt relaxed enough to go for extended lunch breaks, even having a few drinks.
However, it was not long before the tewo painters got down my front hold to paint it and came back up after a while refusing to continue to remove the rust below the waterline. This got me warmed up!
Next thing I knew the boat was up on dry – and stayed there for more than one intense month.
For the next step the specialists I hired found the boat seaworthy and started painting.
Luckily a pontoon-neighbour, who happened to be a trained steelworker, checked my hull for integrity. I watched him doing it and was amazed how little effort it took him to make a whole in my hull. It turned out we were sailing with only a few tenth of a millimeter of steel left in some places below the waterline. Good job we did not hit any objects at sea, that boat was quite ready to take on water seriously.
Then there followed a couple of really tense weeks. There were monents where I thought I had practically lost the boat. Needless to say that my relaxed state by then had changed into being on my toes full time. It felt quite like being in a hard job, working 12 hours a day and not getting your mind off it after office hours.
In the whole bargain there are two reasons why I consider myself lucky. First, the boat did not sink during the weeks we were at sea. Second, I actually ran into someone with the expertise to do the repairs. Had I had to rely on local people to do the welding it would either have been outrageously expensive or a bad job, most likely both. No fun below the waterline of your boat.
So practically I spent two and a half month being stressed out. It was a great relief when the boat went back into the water and it kept tight for a few days ( and thereafter).
Just that after that I still had to worry about getting the engine back to life and other “details”.
The end of the story is that I overpaid the boat by at least a third of its buying price, and I spent more than I bought it for to get it back into the water as a seaworthy boat.
On the upside I still can afford to continue my journey.
Needless to say that with all that our plans have gone down the drain quite literally.
This is sailing for you. It is far less about planning than it is about improvising.
On the positive side we met a gentleman from Brazil. He not only told us about his home country and place in colourful language, he also showed some quite irresistable pictures.
So there you go. Next stop will be the Cape Verde islands, just to cross over to Brazil from there. And by the looks of it we might arrive just in time to wait for the carneval in a save anchorage. Which is nice!
What we do after that? I really don´t know and I don´t care either. I guess I have started turning into a real sailor.

In a couple of days we will be at sea again, and when you read my next lines I will have uploaded them somwhere in the Cape Verden islands – so I hope.

So long!
Andreas