A cautionary tale for sailors envisaging using Yasmine Hammamet, Tunisia for haul out and/or storage.
Just prior to Covid 2019, we booked our Elan 434 RUSALKA, into the Rodriguez yard in Hammamet. We were enticed by cheap rates for storage and a lack of adverse commentary from other yachties. Not long after we arrived people who were regulars told us we should cancel our booking and take our boat to Monastir. All too late!
We returned to Australia believing our boat was safe and we would only be away a few months. Covid restrictions quickly followed and we were denied permission to leave Australia until March 2022. We arrived back and found the screen protector on our chartplotter had “blown off in the wind” and the screen had been exposed to two years of direct sunlight and rain. Our power had been unplugged and all five gel batteries were dead and needed replacing.
We decided we would cut our losses, get the boat serviced and anti fouled and put back in the water.
I asked the manager what the cost would be to wash, and anti foul the boat and service the main engine and generator. The response was, “don’t worry, you have been a very good client and paid for three years so we will look after you”. And look after us they did. The bill for washing and polishing the hull and decks, servicing the engine and one coat of anti foul was 15,500 dinar or approximately 7,500 Australian dollars.
The account was written in French and the office card reader was not working so we were told to get cash plus bank transfer. We paid thinking that would be the last we saw of the shipyard and we’d count this as a lesson learnt.
If only it was that easy.
Some how water had made its way through the exhaust, through and open valve in the engine and into the cylinders, thus seizing the engine. We were told there must have been a fault with our brand new exhaust elbow.
So the boat yard once again offered to help out with an engine rebuild. Over 9,000 dinar for parts and 2,500 dinar for labour. A little over 5,500 Aust dollars.
The parts took nearly two months to arrive and we were told a different story every day as to why the parts weren’t there. As we’re about to leave we were hit with a 5,300 dinar, 2,500 Aust dollar bill for putting the motor back in the boat and the cost of water and power we used while at the yard waiting for the parts. This despite the fact we had previously paid the yard fees of over 10,000 dinar, 5,000 Aust dollars to have the boat there up until October 2022. At any time I queried an account, the manager would be unavailable or belligerent. We paid the yard 18,000 Aust dollars for this experience, a large portion of that was demanded in cash. On top of that we had to source three batteries to get the boat working.
We were always polite and always accepted the explanations that were given to us and I think our naivety cost us dearly.
If you are planning to visit Tunisia, let our experience guide you in your decisions.