We write the text for our website in English. The multiple language selection feature is an auto-translation by Google. This translation is not perfect; it sometimes uses peculiar words and even expresses things in a very different way than what we actually meant. So, if you’re reading in a language other than English, and you read something strange, switch back to the English version to read what we actually meant to write!
If you’d like a shorter/summarized version of our posts, read only the “Highlights” section below and stop before “The Captain’s Log“, which is much more detailed, more like a logbook / diary and contains information for our reference as well.
Highlights – the overview
We’re happy to be back home on Dione IV again. The weather is lovely, nice and warm, but not too hot. We unpack the bags, do 3 loads of laundry and around noon we have a lunch appointment with an old colleague of Sher’s from Hewlett-Packard. They are visiting Sevilla for a few days, and happily we are back in time to get together with them. Sher has booked tickets to the Palacio Alcazar (that’s the only highlight of Sevilla we’ve not seen yet).
We wanted to go by scooter but: bummer. Louise has a flat tire. There’s a screw in it! So, we go by Uber taxi.
We have a nice tapas lunch in the old town of Sevilla, and after that we walk to the Alcazar. Wim has been here in 2006, in the Feria week. He remembers that time they just walked in on a Sunday morning. No tickets to book, free entrance, hardly any people inside. Now, we had to book a time slot just to see the main building and the gardens. There’s a 100m waiting line! For a half an hour time slot… We have to show our passports to a security officer! Inside, there are thousands of people, most Asians. Well, despite all that it’s still a beautiful site.
The tapestries were very intricate and although reproductions, they are still centuries old. The interesting thing is the perspective on the map… instead of the “north up” we are used to now, they showed “south up”, or the upside down view!
A beautiful peacock is enjoying all the attention 😀
Wim replaces Louise’s tire. We are fed up from leaking tires so we’ve bought solid ones. The solid tire is less comfortable but riding a bumpy road isn’t a joy anyway, without suspension.
It’s a pain to remove the wheel: take apart the entire battery compartment (heat the rubber bottom and peel it off, loosen about 50 screws and disconnect the wires to the motor). And an even bigger pain is to get the tire off and get a new one on (that takes a huge force).
Time for more projects… new hinges on the galley cupboard doors. Next, Wim bought a wireless control (it’s actually a wireless garage door opener, lol!) for the anchor windlass, and to install the receiver / relay box, Wim has to dive under the floor in the forward cabin. Meaning: everything that was in there has to come out! Another job on the list is a power supply for the screen in our bed (media nest).
Now that there’s some space in the forward cabin now, Sher continues her inventory. Bit by bit we get detailed lists of what we have and where it is!
More little projects… The plastic rail of the sliding doors in the galley had some broken spots. We bought new rail and Wim cuts the old rail off and glues the ones in. The next job here is a paint job. But we’ll combine that with some other paintwork later. Meanwhile, Sher starts with sewing covers for the life raft and the dinghy (when it’s folded and stowed on deck).
We discovered that all stickers on the life raft have been totally bleached by the sun. And they contain important information such as identification, certification and expiry date. So we have requested new stickers at Viking’s. Also, the fiberglass container shows some cracks, probably caused by UV. So, we’ll protect the life raft with a pajama! 😅
More projects… When Wim was working at the new cables for the wind generator he discovered a chafing spot on the line that connects the main mast and mizzen mast. This line is called “bird stay” because birds like to sit on it. It’s a non-essential stay that proved a little bit of extra stability to the mizzen mast because the mizzen mast has no back stay. The chafing spot is at sheave box where the line enters into the mizzen mast.
We decide to protect it from chafing with a little aluminum tube. Wim climbs up the mast while Sher handles the lines in the cockpit. We take out the line, shift the little tube over it and insert that into the sheave box.
Let’s hope that works. Later, we’ll replace the line and check at the same time if it’s protected well enough.
Sher has almost finished the pajama for the life raft. It fits very nicely! The only thing to do is to add some straps that keep it in place.
Wim had a problem with a tooth before we left for Scotland. The top had come off (it was a composite repair from 2015) and we went to a dentist in Gelves. He made an emergency repair and he advised to go to Wim’s own dentist for a definite solution. So, Wim made an appointment and booked a flight to the Netherlands. Sher stays on board in Gelves and enjoys herself with sewing projects… Finishing the life raft pajama and starting to make a dinghy pajama for on deck.
And she makes modifications to an Orca pajama for herself. She ordered these from Amazon and the sleeves and shoulders were way to big and long, so she wanted to return them to Amazon. They came from China and the seller immediately refunded the amount, but said she didn’t need to send back the pajamas. Gift orcas! Well, in that case, let’s alter them so they fit properly! 😂
Wim’s molar has been repaired (composite reconstruction) 🥳
He flies back to Seville. In the red oval is the town where his daughter lives. We were anchored at the lake when her daughter was born, 2 years ago.
This is our last day in Puerto Gelves. All traveling done – Sher’s travel to the US, our trip to Scotland, and Wim’s travels twice to the NL! Time to move on.
The temperatures in Andalucia are rising to summer values: 38ºC (100ºF) in the afternoon. Puerto Gelves is so well sheltered and far inland, like being at the bottom of a box, and there’s no breeze… so it’s really hot.
They are repairing the docks, which are in desperate need of fixing. This is the Spanish way: one guy working, 7 looking 😂
At 1430h, just after high tide (which is necessary as we are stuck in the mud at low tide), we leave our berth in Puerto Gelves. Heading down the Guadalquivir river towards Chipiona.
We’ve really enjoyed our time (nearly 2 months) in this quiet little town. It was a perfect place to leave Dione IV when we were traveling: very well protected, very safe and secure, plus very affordable. And we accomplished a good number of boat projects, it was very handy to have big stores nearby.
Adios, Puerto Gelves! 👋🏻👋🏻
The Captain’s Log – the complete story
May 12.
We’re happy to be back home on Dione IV again. The weather is lovely, nice and warm, but not too hot. We unpack the bags, do 3 loads of laundry and around noon we have a lunch appointment with an old colleague of Sher’s from Hewlett-Packard. They are visiting Sevilla for a few days, and happily we are back in time to get together with them. Sher has booked tickets to the Palacio Alcazar (that’s the only highlight of Sevilla we’ve not seen yet).
We wanted to go by scooter but: bummer. Louise has a flat tire. There’s a screw in it! So, we go by Uber taxi.
We have a nice tapas lunch in the old town of Sevilla and after that we walk to the Alcazar. Wim has been here in 2006, in the Feria week. He remembers that time they just walked in on a Sunday morning. No tickets to book, free entrance, hardly any people inside. Now, we had to book a time slot and pay 15,50 euro each (but only 8 each for seniors like us. What? we are senior citizens? But we feel so young at heart and spirit!!! Just to see the main building and the gardens. There’s a 100m waiting line! For a half an hour time slot… We have to show our passports to a security officer! Inside, there are thousands of people, most Asians. Well, despite all that it’s still a beautiful site.
A beautiful peacock is enjoying all the attention 😀
May 13.
Wim replaces Louise’s tire. We are fed up from leaking tires so we’ve bought solid ones. For some reason it’s always the rear tire that goes flat and it’s a pain to remove the wheel: take apart the entire battery compartment (heat the rubber bottom and peel it off, loosen about 50 screws and disconnect the wires to the motor). And an even bigger pain is to get the tire off and get a new one on (that takes a huge force).
The solid tire is less comfortable but riding a bumpy road isn’t a joy anyway, without suspension…
May 15.
The old hinges on the galley cupboard doors had a spring latching system, keeping them closed (more or less) when not locked. But since we replaced those worn-out hinges by piano hinges the doors swing open even when we’re in a marina. So we had use the locks all the time. Not so handy. The locks are used at sea to prevent stuff falling out when the boat rocks.
So, we bought little snap locks on Amazon to keep the doors latched when we’re not sailing. Much more convenient.
May 16.
The wired control box for our anchor winch has a wonky button for some time already. We decided to buy a wireless one on Amazon. Actually it’s a garage door opener 😄
To install the receiver / relay box, Wim has to dive under the floor in the forward cabin. Meaning: everything that was in there has to come out…
Here’s the new remote control. We leave the old wired control box in place as a backup. We think a wireless control is more handy: you can keep in in your pocket and it also works from within the cockpit.
It came with 2 of these blue boxes so we have a spare (should we drop it in the sea 😅)
Now that there’s some space in the forward cabin now, Sher continues her inventory. Bit by bit we get detailed lists of what we have and where it is!
Another job on the list is a power supply for the screen in our bed. Till now, it had a temporary solution with a car-cigarette-lighter-plug (unbelievable that these things still exist!) for the USB-C power supply. One of the disadvantages was, it’s always on. So it always consumes a little bit of idle power.
May 17.
More little projects… The plastic rail of the sliding doors in the galley had some broken spots. We bought new rail at the Leroy Merlin. Wim cuts the old rail off and glues the ones in. The next job here is a paint job. But we’ll combine that with some other paintwork later.
Meanwhile, Sher starts with sewing covers for the life raft and the dinghy (when it’s folded and stowed on deck).
We discovered that all stickers on the life raft have been totally bleached by the sun. And they contain important information such as identification, certification and expiry date. So we have requested new stickers at Viking’s. Also, the fiberglass container shows some cracks, probably caused by UV. So, we’ll protect the life raft with a pajama 😅
May 18.
When Wim was working at the new cables for the wind generator he discovered a chafing spot on the line that connects the main and mizzen mast. This line is called “bird stay” because birds like to sit on it. It’s a non-essential stay that proved a little bit of extra stability to the mizzen mast because the mizzen mast has no back stay. The chafing spot is at sheave box where the line enters into the mizzen mast.
We decide to protect it with a little aluminum tube. Wim climbs up the mast while Sher handles the lines in the cockpit. We take out the line, shift the little tube over it and insert that into the sheave box.
Let’s hope that works. Later, we’ll replace the line and check at the same time if it’s protected well enough.
Sher has almost finished the life raft pajama. It fits very nice! The only thing to do is to add some straps that keep it in place.
May 19-20.
Wim had a problem with a tooth before we left to Scotland. The top had come off (it was a composite repair from 2015) and we went to a dentist in Gelves. He made an emergency repair and he advised to go to Wim’s own dentist for a definite solution. So, Wim made an appointment and booked a flight to the Netherlands. Sher stays on board in Gelves and enjoys herself with sewing projects. Finishing the life raft pajama and start to make a dinghy pajama for on deck.
And makes modifications to an Orca pajama for herself. Sher got these from Amazon and the sleeves and shoulders were way to big and long, so she went to return them to Amazon. They came from China and the seller refunded the amount, but said she didn’t need to send back the pajamas. Gift orcas! Well, in that case, let’s alter them so they fit right! 😂
May 21.
Wim’s molar has been repaired (composite reconstruction) 🥳
He flies back to Seville. In the red oval is the town where his daughter lives. We were anchored at the lake when her daughter was born, 2 years ago.
May 22.
This is our last day in Puerto Gelves. All traveling done (Sher’s travel to the US, our trip to Scotland, and Wim’s travels twice to the NL)! Time to move on.
Temperatures in Andalucia are rising to summer values: 38ºC in the afternoon. Puerto Gelves is so well sheltered, like being at the bottom of a box, and there’s no breeze… so it’s really hot.
They are repairing the docks, which are in desperate need of fixing. This is the Spanish way: one guy working, 7 looking 😂
From Mito Solar (in the NL) we receive an update on our new solar panels. All of them have been assembled and soldered and the first one has been laminated!
May 23.
At 1430h, just after high tide, we leave our berth in Puerto Gelves. Heading down the Guadalquivir river towards Chipiona.
We’ve really enjoyed our time (nearly 2 months) in this quiet little town. It was a perfect place to leave Dione IV behind when we were traveling: very well protected, very safe, very affordable. And we did a good number of boat projects, it was very handy to have big stores nearby.
Adios, Puerto Gelves! 👋🏻👋🏻
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