77. Today I Am in Olbia, Sardinia, to Check the Work…

77. Today I am in Olbia, Sardinia, to check the work on the new mega-zodiac I have commissioned.

I designed the new mega-zodiac three years ago with the assistance of the person who helped me design my first zodiac – a fast 17-meter torpedo that has the appearance of a “Bat-zodiac”.

I commissioned this new “Bat-zodiac” to be built in the SNO shipyard in Olbia. During the negotiations I had a clause inserted into the contract so that, in the event of a delay in delivery, the SNO would have to pay me a fine for every day overdue!

The expected date for delivery of the Bat-zodiac was set as July of 2010. In fact, the delivery took place in July 2011, 365 days overdue. Moreover, the Bat-zodiac was not even finished, but it was navigable. I was so excited to begin my adventures with my new project at the time of delivery that I forgave everything and everyone!

Beautiful… fantastic… unique… with a thousand small problems to solve…
Many changes were required for proper navigation. I gave a naval engineer the task of overlooking and completing the work and now I finally have my Bat-zodiac completely finished! Some minor repairs were necessary as a result of minor accidents that I had because of my inexperience.

I assure you that it is not easy to moor a 22 meters boat with a total lack of experience of sailing hydro-jets – completely different from the traditional sailing boat with a propeller!

But lets go back to my story. The enthusiasm and desire to tell you about my passion for the sea and navigation caught me.

I land my helicopter on a large square that divides the sheds from the pier. I expect to find my boat in the water as promised by the Director of the yard. Putting the boat in the water is taking a long time and I cannot wait to blast through the water and put my finally finished Bat-zodiac through its paces.

To my surprise, the gentlemen of the SNO yard have decided not to put the boat into the water until I pay for the balance of the work they have had done. How can they do such a thing? I think that among my readers there are some lawyer friends…

I forgave the SNO yard the 365-day penalty due to me under the contract and now they require me to pay them a few thousand dollars so I can have the boat I should have had twenty months ago!

My dear friends, I suggest you always rent boats. Do not approach a shipyard if they are not qualified to build a prototype!

This is my adventure for today. I was greatly surprised and greatly disappointed!

I love spending my holidays on a boat. What do you prefer the sea, the mountains or the countryside?

Un abbraccio a tutti…

I LOVE YOU