Nazaré
02/08/07 17:32 Filed in: Portugal
Up early and after a shower went straight over to the contractor to see what was happening with my "A" frame.
Not a lot! The tubing had only arrived yesterday and the first bends were being put in as I arrived. Not good news. They needed 4-5 days to compete the job. This was out of the question so I paid €100 for some of the tubing with the contractor retaining the rest and cancelled the job.
I think there was a genuine misunderstanding about the date of my return. I had originally said 20th July to build in a safety buffer but this was interpreted as 20th August. In any case it was academic as the steel did not arrive until 1st August and there was no way the job would have been done in time even had they got the date correct.
Picked up the pushpit and returned to the boat. I was surprised to see Joseph and Ingrid on "Aurelia" moored two fingers along the pontoon. I had travelled with them last year and knew they had arrived in Camarinas a few days earlier. They had only reached Nazaré late last night. It was good to see them again. They had had a tough trip down the channel but an uneventful Biscay crossing and no repeat of last years mechanical problems.
I spent the rest of the day re-fitting the pushpit and getting ready for sea. I hoped to leave tomorrow morning. When it came time to pay the marina bill I had spent the month of July and the evenings of the 1st and 2nd of August in the marina. Departure was planned for 07:30 on the morning of the 3rd.
By my reckoning I owed them one month at the monthly rate and two days at the daily rate. However the marina manager insisted I had to pay for three days in August despite leaving at 07:30 on the 3rd. I failed to see the logic of this but then, they do things differently in Portugal
By late in the evening everything was ready for a morning departure.
Not a lot! The tubing had only arrived yesterday and the first bends were being put in as I arrived. Not good news. They needed 4-5 days to compete the job. This was out of the question so I paid €100 for some of the tubing with the contractor retaining the rest and cancelled the job.
I think there was a genuine misunderstanding about the date of my return. I had originally said 20th July to build in a safety buffer but this was interpreted as 20th August. In any case it was academic as the steel did not arrive until 1st August and there was no way the job would have been done in time even had they got the date correct.
Picked up the pushpit and returned to the boat. I was surprised to see Joseph and Ingrid on "Aurelia" moored two fingers along the pontoon. I had travelled with them last year and knew they had arrived in Camarinas a few days earlier. They had only reached Nazaré late last night. It was good to see them again. They had had a tough trip down the channel but an uneventful Biscay crossing and no repeat of last years mechanical problems.
I spent the rest of the day re-fitting the pushpit and getting ready for sea. I hoped to leave tomorrow morning. When it came time to pay the marina bill I had spent the month of July and the evenings of the 1st and 2nd of August in the marina. Departure was planned for 07:30 on the morning of the 3rd.
By my reckoning I owed them one month at the monthly rate and two days at the daily rate. However the marina manager insisted I had to pay for three days in August despite leaving at 07:30 on the 3rd. I failed to see the logic of this but then, they do things differently in Portugal
By late in the evening everything was ready for a morning departure.