Away from the dock!

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Yesterday we took our first trial run on Caribee. Although we had done a test run before buying her, at that moment we were not controlling the boat, we were just passengers. This time she is our boat.

We started the motor a day or so ago. It started right away, ran beautifully- it's ready to go.

It was a fantastic afternoon. We put on the genoa at the dock because there was no wind. The sail is in good shape, we are pleased. Although it is a very big sail it is also light, so I am convinced that with a few more muscles I'll be able to pull it in even under load of heavier winds. I'll have to work on those muscles 😊 After securing everything on the boat and making sure all windows below the deck were properly closed, we pushed off from the dock for the first time alone.

We ran the motor pretty hard- we had just had the tank inspected and the diesel cleaned so we pushed whatever bad fuel might be left in the lines through the filter. No complaints from the motor at all, no leaks, no shaking. the 50 hp combined with a large fixed three blade prop had us zimming along with a wake behind us I have personally never seen from a sailboat before. We did 8.5 knots without even having the motor full out, crazy. When we were satisfied we looked for a little wind.... and that's all there was. We took out the genoa anyway, and for a little while managed 4.5 knots before the wind died pretty much completely. We were very happy to be able to sail with such little wind and only one sail out. The sail has a good shape and in such light wind I had no trouble pulling it in at all. The boat responds very well, the autopilot works well, all the instruments are fine. It was amazing to be out on the water ,out on the boat instead of in the yard or at dock just working on her. It feels more real now, our spirits are lifted. We saw an amazing sunset then returned to dock the boat. The engine/ prop combination is far more powerful than Mako, more like Mako was the first year we got her when we had the original beast of a motor and the antique trawler prop! It will take a bit of getting used to. The huge pilons on the docks are foreign for us, it is strange to try to tie up that way. And we will have to invest in some winter gloves etc, it was cold coming in and yesterday was a warm day for this time of year. But all in all everything was fantastic, we are super happy and we will do another little run with all sails out probably tomorrow.

One step closer! If the weather stays as forecast, we could be leaving next Saturday or Sunday. Here are some pictures of our first run out

Lori

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Comments

[Sarah]

Living the dream
So glad we all met in Deltaville. You make a terrific couple! Our thoughts and best wishes will always be with you until we see you again. Thanks for the pictures and reports!

[Caribee Sailing]

thank you so much! We are all ready to go, but still waiting for safe weather to go around. Fingers crossed our window will come soon!! :) Thanks again for your help with giving us a wonderful place to rest and regain our strength!