Coming out of hibernation

It was much cooler and windier than last year but we still reckon Monastir is one of the warmest places to winter in the Med. As usual the weeks have flown by. In between making use of the wonderful dentist and medical facilities we still managed to have lots of fun with old friends and new. It was soon time to think about taking the boat out of the water for its biennial bottom scrub. We booked ourselves in for a lift at the end of March but promptly changed our minds. It was still blowing a gale. A couple of weeks later it was the turn of our friends, Rob and Amanda, to have a go at hauling out. The marina boatyard can't lift catamarans and the local fishing harbour was out of action. Instead they opted for Teboulba, a fishing port 25 kilometers south of Monastir and asked us along for the ride. It was a lovely spring day and dolphins led the way through the shallows to the busy fishing harbour.














                                             Arriving in Teboulba fishing harbour


Not another yacht in sight only hundreds of fishing boats going about their daily business. Having parked the boat next to the lift we had a wander around the yard, a grubby hub of activity. As well as boats being overhauled it was also a centre for boat building large and small. We watched the workers in action building boats from eucalyptus wood the traditional way. 

Traditional boatbuilding in Teboulba

Eucalyptus wood

Anyone for ribs?!

                                                 
                                               Traditional boatbuilding in Teboulba

We felt like intruders and they clearly didn't want yachts in their yard. It proved quite an intimidating option and the catamaran was left with a 24 hour guard. We later learned that the sea captain that was recently arrested for migrant smuggling came from Teboulba and there are rumours that many of the stolen outboard engines from Sicily end up here too. Thankfully we can lift in Monastir but it was a fascinating trip all the same!

Job done but no idea how she's going to get out...