Tag: boatyard

Drama In The Yard

Hamar WilliamsLeave a comment

There was a little drama and excitement in the boatyard today. While I was having a great time last night having a danger shower in the rain and lightning storm, a boat went and fell over. Exactly how this happened is unclear as I wasn’t a witness and whether it happened in the night during the storm is also unclear as they were only messing around early afternoon rectifying it, but I am going to create the link. There wasn’t the greatest deal of damage, only some chips in the gelcoat as you can see from the picture below and in another spot what appeared like a small hole in the fibreglass which will be easy to fix.

I remember a few years ago a friend of mine, the guy whose boat I sailed on that very first time actually, had a similar situation with his yacht. He was unfortunate enough that the boat next to his toppled along with a few others in a wild storm, smashing a big hole in the side of his. Purely by fortunate chance todays boat somehow managed to find itself leaning in an empty space between two other boats. While watching them lift it up I did what all boat people do and decided the people actually doing the work were doing it wrong. As you can see from the picture they appear to be using the keel for support which seems completely crazy and must be putting so much strain on it. I would not like to sail that boat without some kind of structural engineer giving it a thorough check.

Boats are stressful. They are worth so much money and I can see why people spend most of their time worrying about their own. The yard were very lucky the owners weren’t around, I can’t imagine the drama had they been. I hope it wasn’t anyone’s fault though and simply a result of the weather. Let’s hope they’re insured for an act of god though otherwise in the worst case scenario they may have just lost themselves a lot of money. Saying all of that I decided recently that I would like to have my own boat, probably to live in. The problem is that likely I’ll go for some cheap thing I think I can do up and it’ll all be great until some engineer tells me that the keel is structurally unsound because of a likely incident in a boatyard. That’s twice I now know of, perhaps these things are more common than first thought.

On My Hols From The Safety Of My Hole

Hamar WilliamsLeave a comment

I’m off on my holidays today. Going to Thessaloniki for the weekend. I’ve been there a couple of times before, usually passing through but not really seen the place that much. I’m not entirely sure what there is to see to be honest, or what state of lockdown they’re in. I suspect not at all but I’ll know when I get there. The main plan is to visit an old friend who’ve I’ve not seen for a few years since the heady days of the refugee crisis. Unlike most people who came over he stayed and I think runs a women’s shelter in the city. I’m not entirely sure though but I don’t doubt I’ll find out.

It’s good catching up with people though. I enjoy it. When you create bonds for whatever reason, as long as they’re positive, you should make sure to keep them as strong as life allows. And of course life happens, I’ve met many people who I’ve struggled to keep in contact with beyond the first or second attempts but you just never know when the third will be. My time in Greece is specifically about fixing up this boat I’m on but I know I will see people while I’m here and this is exciting. My next city trip will be Athens but it may have to be slightly longer than two nights.

It can involve effort going places though. I arrived in Greece exhausted from months of insanity and this boat at the end of the yard has been a nice little hole to hide away in. There is a part of me that doesn’t want to leave, it is safe here and I can continue hiding away. It can be hard not to listen to this feeling, especially as it’s currently raining outside and my instincts tell me to hide away in the shelter of the boat. At some point though we need to step out of our safe hiding spots or the world and life just passes us by. Saying that, maybe it’s just a sign that I need to stay hidden a little longer. I may need more time for myself but it’s only two days and I still have the best part of two weeks before my self-imposed moving on deadline becomes reality.

Anyway, I should have probably left about an hour or two ago. I was going to avoid the toll roads and add two hours to the drive, I enjoy scenic routes and feel taxes should pay for roads. The rain doesn’t give the feel for a lovely scenic drive though and I may just have to dip into my pocket to save two hours. I’ll let you know how I get on.