Finally, we are back in Europe, back at "The Dream" and this time for good.
It took John a ferry ride, 2 flights and a road trip from Lisbon to Paris 16 hours by car each way to get Ella and me.It took Ella and me, 2 flights and a road trip from Paris to Lisbon with John, so long even Ella's legs were shaking at the end.
Was a long journey for all of us, a week of many firsts for Ella, with only a few moments of relaxation. But as soon as we arrived it was time to roll up our sleeves and work hard to get the "The Dream" ready to splash again.
Ahhh boat works in Paradise... (not exotic but still paradise).
The list wasn't long but still had a few critical items, there was the dead battery bank issue to be addressed and that was the most important one, followed by the solar panels support system.
Minor items were, "unclogging" the heads, maximising the storage areas with some changes to the sail locker, additional cupboard in the laundry (removal of the head (toilet) from that compartment), creating a system to better organise the cockpit lockers. And minor cosmetic repairs/maintenance works.
All this while we also wait for our belongings to arrive through a cargo shipment, oh we can't wait for the coffee machine.
The work dragged a bit while we waited for the new batteries to arrive, working only until mid-afternoons, tackling jobs one at a time.
Climbing up and down the ladder dozens of times a day, visiting the chandlery and hardware shops almost every day because we're simply starting from scratch, a clean slate.
Having moved halfway across the world to kick-start this project means we don't have any tools, we buy as we need, to try and avoid waste, not always successfully.
We do climb that ladder many times a day, we squat, we bend, we stretch, we carry weights in awkward positions. Our legs, arms and backs tell us what a physically lazy life we had previously. Don't think gym life would have made any difference in how tired sometimes we feel at the end of the day.
But it's good, we feel the changes in ourselves as we are more active.
The next step is not any different, once we finish these works it will be time to set up the "house" and that will involve more ladder climbing, squatting, bending and stretching all to store our things, provisions for the big adventure! The next big step!
Photos can be seen in the album Boat work - 1st round on our Facebook Page.