2016:

The year is just beginning, we are at home waiting for the weather to become a bit warmer and then we will resume working on the boat; this time, there are no high-priority works, just cleaning the topsides and applying the antifouling, after which we aim at launching the boat quickly in the hope to leave for an early-season cruise before the heat and crowds become unpleasant.

Further works, like the replacement of the settee covers, can wait until we come back!

FEBRUARY:

Waiting for a warmer climate, we perform some purchases, like additional paper charts and the new towable genoa car system.

MARCH:

It's still early, so we use our 70th birthdays as an excuse to allow ourselves a nostalgic trip to Brittany, returning to well-known places, from Saint Malo to Vannes, from Arzal to La-Roche-Bernard.     We even managed to find a few corners that we had not visited previously, and of course we stuffed ourselves of delicious crepes!!

A view of Saint Malo "intra muros"....                                       and a classic: Mont St.Michel

Arzal Nautique, where we bought Shaula3 back in 2005
 

The dam of Arzal (our first lock!)                                   A view of La Roche Bernard
 

The nice village of Rochefort-en-terre
 

The city hall of Poitiers....                                           and the small church of Breuilaufa

Among the many "creperies" we visited,

"Le Corps de Garde" in Saint Malo...                                                 and "Le Fournil" in Ambon, near Vannes
 

APRIL-MAY:

We begin working on the boat, this time the objective is to put quickly the boat in the water with the target of leaving early for a cruise to Greece, aiming to be back in Jesolo by early August, when friends and family will come to visit.

After the mandatory hull cleaning and antifouling jobs, Shaula4 can return to the water: besides the re-rigging of sails and running rigging and the reinstallation of all that was removed for winter, the main job to do is the installation of the new towable genoa cars, and while we are at it we intend to apply nuts under deck to the screws holding the genoa sheet rail to prevent an accident like last year when the mainsheet's rail was ripped off and broken!     Dirty work, because the bottom of the deck is not readily accessible from the cabin, but after some thinking we find an acceptable solution without having to disassemble the cabin's interior.

JUNE-JULY-AUGUST:

Cruise in Greece, read the story on these pages.

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER:

A handful of sorties for a swim, some repairs to the small breakages occurred during the cruise, a last modification job (the relocation of the toilet compartment's door hinges) and then we prepare the boat for winter: this time, Shaula will spend the winter in the water!

Unfortunately Baby manages to hurt herself seriously while demonstrating to a nephew how to flake a rope: the tail of the rope hits her eye, causing a rather scary hemorrhage which will require several visits to the hospital: and good luck that she did not hurt the good eye!

Time to return home, the season is over!