We had our instruments installed, we now knew how deep we were. Time to test everything out.
We went out in about 10 - 15 knots of breeze to have a proper sail.
It was a "trip to nowhere", an out and back experience. A Texan friend of our (Myles) came with us as he is currently waiting for his boat to be repaired in the nearby yard.
We left late in the afternoon as we had some chores to do in the AM. We raised anchor, sailed out past Twizzle (a 183 ft super yacht owned by what must be a very wealthy family).We raised the main. Thanks to the Antal Cars and the size of the sail, it could be pulled up by hand and then only needed tensioning with the winch.
Out came the headsail next. The centre board was lowered and away we went. As I was busy at the mast prepping the sails, Sally was at the helm. We both found her very well balanced and easy to steer.
She should handle a wind vane very well if this is any indication of things to come. Engine off, a nice reach, full sails. Man, it was nice to be on the water again.
It felt so long since we sat in near silence only to hear the swish of water under the hull.
As we turned in towards Prickly Bay, the sun starting to set on the horizon, I gave a thought to how nice it would be to just stay out there and sail through the night. There is something terrific about sailing at night sitting on watch, thinking, philosophising. This is the boat to do that on!
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