Today was quite a momentous day in our sailing journey, in lots of different ways. For starters, we managed to get out of our marina berth and out into the ocean, without scratching anyones boat, ours included... This wasn't an insignificant feat either, we had a pretty serious current in the marina due to the ebbing tide, and while we did our best to time it at the "slack tide" - we didn't. Or at least in this marina, the current felt as strong as its ever been. It sucked us out our berth and brought us a bit close for comfort to the opposite side, where other boats and their protruding anchors were waiting, to tear strips into our fibreglass... Well, thankfully that didn't happen, but the feeling of losing a bit of control, and then regaining it, was a pretty good learning experience - one I hope to avoid in the future...
Once out in the bay, the winds were light. We raised the mainsail, just for practice really, it didn't help much. The winch was groaning a bit louder than I remember, when the sail was near the top of the mast. I couldn't see any issues with the halyard (the rope, or line that raises the sail), not were any of the other lines obviously snagged. I will check this again next time I am out, but after a while we decided to jsut drop the mainsail, and motor.
Dropping the mainsail had a slight incident, the halyard got a knot in it, and got stuck in the jammer with the sail half way down. A bit of hurried prising with a flat screwdriver (promptly and ably presented by her Admiral in Chief, Michelle) worked a treat.
So mini crisis averted, off we go.
We arrived at a beautiful anchorage, with a few familiar family boats, all getting ready to head off to Fiji. I must admit feeling a little envious that they are at this stage of their preparation, hopefully we will not be too far behind.
We met an awesome family (Instagram: @catofninetales) who have a really interesting story, which you can read about on their page, please give them a follow. A lot of people we know have told us how brave we are, to have made this life decision, well, we are no where near as brave as the Horton's!
So we practiced, anchoring, had had lunch. We had to leave without staying long though, as we had to be back in the marina. My Dad is arriving tomorrow to see the boat for the first time, which we are all really excited about.
We went through a little rain on the way back, nothing too serious, as the radar showed it to be pretty isolated. We were also visited by another family - dolphins! What a treat for the kids and adults, they came right up to the boat, swimming under our starboard hull at the bow. We have some great footage, that we will upload when we get some better internet.
Mich and I are pretty exhausted right now, the adreanalin had been pumping for us both early on in the day. but we are both feeling proud of our little wins we had, Michelle was an absolute trooper, handling lines, the anchor (in the rain), as well as running the household on unfamiliar and tricky appliances and managing the kids. How proud I am of her, for really taking to these tasks, and the lifestyle, with such vigour and courage. Not to mention swapping branded outfits from Cue and shoes from Mi Piaci for Mitre 10 Tradey beanies. She still looks great of course - better in my eyes... ;)
It is with views like these, looking out from the anchorage, I realised again how fortunate and blessed we are, to be experiencing this together.
