22nd February, water-borne again, en route from Marina Polesana, Pula, the new homeport of Belisama, to Marina Veruda, the largest marina in the area, and where the annual service of the hull can be done. First winter sailing, under still quiet Yugo (south) wind with temperatures around 10°C. Luckily, the sea is quiet. We struggle to reach 4 knots with engine running at 2200 rpm and heavy turbulences in our wake, indicating that something is holding us back in the water...
Let's see...
This is what we discover when Belisama is lifted. A inviting algae salad with oysters and mussels! No wonder that the propeller was struggling. To the propeller's credit, Belisama hasn't had a hull cleaning for two seasons in the Mediterranean. With Belisama wintering in Toulon, it hadn't been possible to organize one. We'll keep that in mind :-)
It's always so impressive to see Belisama 700 kg centerboard:
Ahead of heavy rain and Yugo gaining strength, we rush to get her back to Marina Polesana.
Cleaned and painted Belisama on the crane
The return trip takes only half the time it took us to get here. The engine purring at 1600 rpm propels us at nearly 6 knots towards home port!
Looking forward to the season, which should see us kicking off in Venice in May, but we'll probably be out around Pula as early as April!
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