What’s it like to live in a boat yard?

Well, I can’t say for any other boat yard but this one – and for now, which is August 2011 and it is O.K. The people, as mentioned are great and that is what makes it. There’s around seven boats that are occupied with people living aboard at the moment, and  quite a few others – one family in particular, who come daily to work on their boat but live elsewhere. There are also the guys that work here – probably around 8 – 10 of them; difficult to say because there are so many of them doing different things – one guy welds in his workshop and the rest are either helping a boat in or out of the water or are doing various jobs around the yard. During the week it is quite a busy place. But with a consistently friendly atmosphere from all.

It is really grubby which is probably the worse thing.  The dirt and sand get everywhere, our boat is filthy, which is horrible. It has ( strangely for August) rained here recently – but it was a splattering of rain, not enough to wash anything and in fact makes everything look worse! We all share one or two loo’s depending if the second is open or not, which is another major down-point. In fact this is the worse thing about staying here. But they are kept pretty clean and well, that is just how it is. The showers on the other hand are great. The women’s one is a good size, also kept really clean and the hot water lasts and lasts. So far it has never run out…

There is a super market really close by and the centre is also within walking distance – with its many shops, cafes and restaurants as well as a great weekend market selling all kinds of produce from the local farmers. The boat yard is on the periphery of an industrial estate that contain a few handy mechanical companies – we had someone fix the hydraulics on our auto-helm – he took 24 hours, charged us 40 euros and did a great job. The yard also stocks many items – like sanding paper, paints, brushes, and other small items, though they are not a chandlers.  Their prices however are fairly reasonable for what they do have. If you have any woodwork that need doing they can help and seemingly do a very good job – they build boats here in wood and have a large selection of machinery to do most jobs. There is also, as mentioned, a man that forms and welds stainless steel. We needed to replace our emergency tiller – which was completely falling apart, and he did a great job. So we also now have a new stainless steel based emergency tiller that should last beyond our life times.

But I think most people choose this yard because of its price. It is by far the cheapest ( as I write this) boat yard around. Albufeira and many others charge at least double the amount for taking your boat in and out of the water and for the stay on the dry.

Here is a view on how the boats are moved -

simply on wooden planks, just as we have always done, though there is a modern twist here – it is pulled by a tractor.