Our Great Big Italian Refit.

Innocenti has been baked in the Asian sun, rained on in the Malaysian wet season, sandblasted in Sudan and Djibouti, and had the odd altercation with Egyptian fisherman near the Suez Canal. It’s time that our poor battered Innocenti had some love.

Wintering over in San Remo on the Italian Riviera has been a treat. The climate is beautiful, still quite cold, but with very little rain and beautiful, clear sunny days. We feel a little bit like locals, but we still need to work on our parlo Italiano.

At the start of spring, we found a shipyard in the city of Imperia, not far from Sanremo. Simon Alltree is the guy who owns the shipyard. He is Australian (but still a nice guy). This means that communication with the contractors and yard staff is not so complicato.

We’re lucky enough to have flower-growing friends who live in the hills near Vallebona and who have let us live in their piccolo casa while the boat is in the yard.

They have also loaned us a car. What a terrifying drive it has been, along narrow goat tracks with switchbacks, potholes, and rock walls, the road in places at a 45-degree slope, not to mention driving on the wrong side of the road! Every day for 6 weeks, we’ve made the pilgrimage. I think the stress has aged me by 25 years.

Here’s the job list…

1. New VHF radio (which was destroyed in a lightning strike in Greece). 

2. Remove HF radio – Angus loved his HF radio. He would chat for hours with anyone else who had a radio. High-frequency radio is a completely outdated mode of communication, not to mention the fact that our radio and tuner were fried during the lightning strike.

3. Batteries and charging system – We’ve offloaded the lead-acid batteries and had a lithium-iron system installed. It’s a Victron system with integrated charging and inverter and….two plug points (which I’m very excited about) and a shore power connection.

Marco was the Italian electrician who did a beautiful installation. He’s a meticulous planner and a registered installer. This means that we have a five-year guarantee on the work and equipment.  We had not appreciated how complicated the installation would be and how long it would take. We’ve done some price comparisons, and it works out to be about the same cost as we could’ve expected in New Zealand. Marco threw in some Italian swearing lessons free of charge.

4.  Replacement hot water cylinder – We’ve been unable to have a hot shower since Maldives (not that it was a problem during the hot weather, but during the cooler months, I wasn’t happy) Josh, the enormous Welsh engineer, who is actually more flexible than he looks, spent an uncomfortable day folded in half like a yoga expert, to install the new system into the locker under the galley sink, including replumbing the engine cooling system and the galley. The previous day, Angus spent with his head and torso in the locker, removing the old tank.

5. Repainting the hull. Innocenti has always been “Ceramco Blue” with a gold stripe. I wondered if it was time for a change. The dark blue colour makes for a very hot environment inside the boat during the Mediterranean summer and in the tropics. My suggestion was to change the colour to “Pigeon Blue”.  After all, a change is as good as a holiday, so they say. I liked the modern look. I thought it was still elegant, but it would be cooler in the summer . The product that the painters are using is called “Perfection Pro”, it’s an International product that is rolled, not sprayed.

I certainly wasn’t prepared for the depth of feeling from sailors and non-sailors about the proposed colour change and some bold, and interesting suggestions were put forward. Long story short…we’ve stuck with the blue and gold. The blue is slightly different. Flag Blue.

6. A new desalination unit –  My favourite piece of equipment. For 20 years our Seafari unit has worked hard desalinating countless litres of water.  Sadly, it died at the most inopportune moment, just as we got to Sudan! Rest in peace, faithful old friend.

We’ve now invested in a Schenker unit. It’s Italian-made — a bit like a Ferrari — and is a compact, modular unit producing 30 litres per hour. I’m confident that it will be more than enough for just the two of us; we’ll simply keep the tanks topped up. Cruising is a little different these days, not like when we had three kids aboard. 

7. Replacing the dripless seal on the propeller shaft. We bought the unit in New Zealand when we were there in January. Exciting stuff…but essential 🙄😐

8. Then there are the smaller jobs. 

• We’ve replaced the anchor chain.
• Servicing of the liferaft – 6 weeks ago, we delivered it to the chandlery, since then it has been on a little holiday to Sicily, and we haven’t seen it since. 
• Varnishing – we revarnished the cabin sole, the chart table and the quarter berth and had a locker door repaired.
• Antifouling – International micron 350 is the product that will be applied.

After more than six weeks, we’re almost ready to start the cruising season in the Med. The Italian Job is complete. Tutto bene! Stand by for the final reveal.