Hey, I hope you’re doing well and that the end of the year isn’t too stressful for you.
I wanted to take a moment to share a beautiful sunset from Levanto, where we spent some wonderful days with new friends. I’ve just returned from Elba, and let me tell you—I made it there just in time.
You can read the full story in my Patreon-only blog here: Simplicity of Happiness Logbook #20191216.
To give you a quick rundown, I originally planned to leave the boat in Marciana Marina for about three weeks, return after my Sahara trip, and get it ready for winter. But as life tends to go, it took me 10 weeks to make it back—and in between, I ended up sailing to the Canaries!
Last week, it was finally time to check on my little wooden boat, and I’m so glad I didn’t wait any longer. We arrived late at night, with waves rolling through the port. As soon as I opened the cabin door, I knew something was wrong. There was water halfway up the seats, one of the batteries had flooded, and we had no electricity or light to capture the scene.
The next day, I discovered the bilge pump had stopped working, allowing water to slowly fill the boat over several days. By the time I got there, we had 70 cm of water inside. It was a shocking sight, but I count myself lucky—it could have been so much worse. From the outside, the boat looked fine, but a few more days and things could have taken a drastic turn. Fortunately, aside from one ruined battery, nothing else was seriously damaged.
Over the next few days, I got to work:
- Replaced the bilge pump
- Rewired the remaining batteries
- Added an extra solar panel
- Replaced the bronze-lipped fairleads at the stern
- Fixed the backstay, which had ripped out of the transom
- Repaired the torn tarpaulin
- Repositioned the boat with the bow to the jetty
- And got the 8hp Yamaha outboard back in action—it’s now zipping my dinghy around the port again!
On the last day, we had strong winds with gusts up to 50 knots. The boat held up well, which gave me confidence for the coming winter storms, even though it made for a bit of a shaky night.
After five busy days, we headed back to Switzerland, relieved and ready for what’s next.
Thanks so much for your continued support, my friend. Take care and talk soon,
Florian