Believe it or not, we need to get some more work done to the boat already. We had made arrangements to take it to the well reputed Manoel Island boat yard. So, yesterday morning we pulled out of Grand Harbor, went out to the ocean for a minute, and then pulled into the bay on the other side of Valletta’s peninsula. Manoel Island is a small island that sits in the middle of the harbor, connected to the mainland by a bridge. We pulled up to their dock and tied up.
The boat yard has a beautiful view of a part of town we believe is called Sliema. This harbor is night and day different from Grand Harbor. Most all of the buildings are new and modern, with mostly high rises all along the waterfront. The harbor is loaded with mooring balls, and every one of them taken, mostly with sedan cruisers. There are quite a few colorful little fishing boats, as well.
The crew got to work right away. The first things were standard maintenance. The windlass and toilets were ready for some maintenance. Both are jobs that are probably better to let a professional do. They have the right tools and knowledge and can get it done properly and quickly. If Eric tried to do it himself, it would take a long time and there would be the risk of making things worse instead of better. The windlass was working fine, but it would be a tragedy if it died, so we needed to be good on the maintenance. The toilets were showing signs that they needed new joker valves (some water coming back into the toilet). The windlass and master toilet were done in literally minutes. The forward toilet is more difficult to access, and that one took quite a while, with almost all the time spent getting the toilet off and on the mounting. Continue reading
