1st Test Sail

Joshua and I went out on a French breakfast mission bright and early and we were not disappointed with our chocolate and almond croissants.  When we arrived back at the marina we found Michael strung two thirds up Gerty’s mast in his climbing gear!  Pete had winched him up there to apply special tape to the shrouds.

Ten minutes later, we were all ready for our first sail.  To my surprised, I was at the helm and we were off!  No really, it all happened that fast!  Michael used the bow thruster with ease, Pete set the dock lines just so, and I motored first to aft portside and then forward with a turn to starboard, and with one more swift turn to port, we were in the somewhat congested boat channel navigating past the sea walls out into the English Chanel.

We practiced tacking and jibing. We tested the boom break.  We tested the stay sail and the jib.  We tested the autopilot and all the navigation equipment. I think we used every line on the boat! Nope, that’s not true. We did not reef. We will do that tomorrow.

After the most amazing lunch of fresh goat cheese on some French cracker/toast stuff, we sailed over to the Allure factory to pick up our dinghy.  This is a dismal looking shipping area, but interesting none the less.

The craziest thing about this day is that it was after 4 pm before any of us realized the time!  We just got back from dinner and it’s 11:39pm!