Sailing Dreams made in the Mediterranean – Are we really Living the Dream?

Andrea Jensen consumes our life and a whole new World has opened up to us, which we could never have imagined when we first stepped aboard her in 2016. We feel truly blessed at times and at other times we think ‘what have we done?’. You could say one of those times is now, in May 2020 with no prospect of a summer season due to Covid-19. But we have so many great memories which we need to pull on at times like this, to keep us motivated to keep going.

The virus is nothing we have brought upon ourselves of course. It’s really something we were unable to have foreseen, planned or prepared for. Its come at a time when we really thought we were getting the hang of this Mediterranean life, then bang the wind is knocked out of our sails.

On top of all this we have found rot in our main mast. The clouds are really hanging over us just now. I think we are living a nightmare just now and not the dream most people think! Yesterday we had a mammoth task of having to prepare and remove the rigging in order to have the mast removed at Alghero Ship yard by Rafael and his merry men. Thank fully we had lots of help and there is a local ship building expert, who has worked on Andrea Jensen previously, and has said he is able to fix the mast. That’s a relief! But at what cost?

The sorry looking mast is being loaded onto transport to take it to Iavazzo’s yard
There she goes, carefully guided out by Rafael and Fabrizzio

The hard work has started again!

Hi we are back! Its been a while since my last update but we have not been idle I promise!

So far this year the weather in Sardinia has been really stable, with dry sunny days, one after the other (aren’t we lucky). This has allowed Colin and I to get started earlier than usual on maintenance work, especially the bright work, masts and booms which all need their annual sanding, filling, varnishing and painting. This keeps them in good condition and looking great. We have noticed some water damage on the deck boxes (darker patches of wood) which needs investigating to find where the water is getting in and any gaps in joints need inspected for cracks which then need refilled before re-varnishing. 

Main companion way being completely stripped back to bare wood

Ant is Up the Mizzen Mast

Nice day for a bit of block replacement

The wind dropped and the sun shone so why not get our new volunteer to climb the mast? Welcome on board Ant and Ella! No time to waste, we start our fabulous day trips in 3 days time and there is still lots to do
(I cannot believe its Easter already). Something important is missing from the boat? Yes you guessed it, the SAILS! We are not going to get far with out them. But before they can go back on we had some blocks to change at the top of the MIzzen mast. Thankfully we had a brave volunteer. Thanks Ant!

Ella, in the meantime was getting to work on some sanding and painting. Those all important finishing touches make all the difference! Great work guys. Thanks.

Blog no. 5 Bosa

Our hard work at Bosa is almost over. We should be putting Andrea back into the water on Monday morning and heading back to Alghero to start the 2019 season. The journey takes about 3.5 hours up the North West coast of Sardinia, following the awesome cliffs all the way back. We may see Griffin Vultures if we are lucky! This is their territory, they live on the cliffs above Bosa. We have seen them once before when we were driving back from Bosa on a cloudy day and a Griffin flew really low in front of us. They are amazingly majestic with their white head and huge beak stretched out in front.

Bosa is a lovely town (a lot smaller than Alghero and more intimate) and sits on the banks of the on the only navigable river in Sardinia, the Temo.  The original old town is built on the side of a hill and is over looked by the remains of the ‘Castello’. The multi-coloured houses of the old town are famous and really make Bosa special. The friendly atmosphere is more ‘homely’ than Alghero and it is a real treat to sit out, sipping a glass of vino in one of the many riverside restaurants. So it goes without saying that we will be back visiting Bosa very soon!