8 Months on the hard stuff.

After late nights packing and a couple of long flights we arrived back at Vega to find her looking a little folorn after her 8 months wintering on the hard at Planaco boat yard on the small island of Aegina. She was covered in a layer of grey dust and although we had stripped most of the running rigging, the few lines that remained on deck were heavily UV damaged. The dry, windy winter had taken its toll.

So we set to cleaning and scrubbing, and in a couple of days had Vega looking much more respectable. In addition to cleaning we had, as always, a list of jobs to do. These included antifouling, top side polishing, bending on the sails and fixing the forward head, installing new halyards, bimini and spray hood. We also took the opportunity to service the winches. Heathers folks, Peter and Ruth have accompanied us for the first three weeks cruising and as Peter was fixing the forward head, he hurt his back and has been out of action ever since…we will get him into a doctors in the next day or so and see if we can fix him up.

Managing kids and work full time work in a boat yard is always an interesting balance, but this year was easy as Milly and Ben made friends with a 10 year old aussie girl Teagan who’s parents Leo and Narelle had recently bought a Gulf Star 60 and are preparing her for extended cruising. The three of them spent their days playing with the resident boat yard dogs who couldn’t believe how much love they were getting, leaving Peter, Ruth, Heather and I to get Vega ready to launch.