People ask us all the time — how do you fly a spinnaker on a Balance catamaran? In this video, Phil from Zoom Sails (who designed every sail for SV GoTFO) walks us through step-by-step: ⚓ Rigging with color-coded sheets & guys (Port sheet = red, Starboard sheet = green, Guys = black) ⚓ Hoist sequence — halyard + sock deployment ⚓ Trimming — sheets side-to-side, guys control foot height ⚓ Flying angles — best between the 120s°, can fly as high as 90° relative ⚓ The douse — comms, shackle release, sock down, halyard down We’ve flown “Big Purple” before, but this lesson was about balance and confidence. Even though Dennis wasn’t aboard, Phil was in Greece as we passed south — and I had to step in. My Love Bug 💜🐞 reflection? Sailing teaches us to own our triggers, protect each other when we’re flooded, and always return to the calm at the helm. 📧 Want our wind-angle PDF? Email us at gtfoplan@gmail.com. #GTFOplan #SVGTFO #ZoomSails #SpinnakerLesson Phil of ZoomSails.com CURRENT LOCATION: https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV-GTFO/ ABOUT OUR CATAMARAN: We love our new Balance 482 - it's a perfect size for a cruising couple to handle and is a great "balance" of performance and comfort. One of our favorite features is the excellent ventilation since we mostly live as "hookers" (aka at anchor) where the boat automatically turns into the wind so we stay cool and we don't need to battle mold. We also have starlink for easy off-grid life. Our 2400 watt solar panel array also means we rarely need to run an engine to charge our batteries. ABOUT US: We saved for a our future boat, sold everything that we owned, and shipped the rest in a container to Cape Town, South Africa. We then flew there and explored South Africa by way of a safari and touring Cape Town before moving aboard our boat. We then sailed to Saint Helena, Ascension Island, Fernando de Naronha (Brazil), Martinique, Sint Maarten (Dutch and French side), the US Virgin Islands (Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas), the British Virgin Islands (Anegada, Norman Island, Jost van Dyke, and Anegada), The Bahamas (Inagua, Crooked Island, Long Island, George Town, Staniel Cay, the Exumas, and Eleuthera). We then sailed back to the United States, making landfall in Cape Canaveral, Florida. From there our destinations are endless! Both Dennis and Ann grew up military brats with Army fathers. Dennis (the Colonel) served 30 years in the US Army and his retirement pension helped us retire in our 50s. Ann (the ship's Captain) wrote Test Automation in Python and Java. Dennis and Ann met on Match.com where Ann had in her profile "Do you want to sail the world with me?" Ann easily brought Dennis into sailing, and he loved the GTFOplan of retiring early and sailing the world. After many years of saving, living on one income but earning two, and cutting back on everything possible, they saved enough to buy a Balance 482. Follow them as they get real about boat life and all the hassles of buying a new boat because we all know N.E.W. means Not Everything Works. Kisses, Ann & Dennis Twitter: @GTFOplan Facebook: https://facebook.com/anndennis.snellikin.3 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gtfoplan/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/gtfoplan Email: gtfoplan@gmail.com

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Blu grotto Malta info: www.invictus-sicily.com

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Sailing through orca territory isn’t something we take lightly and while preparing this post for you guys, we heard another sailboat calling for help on the radio..How we stay informed and reduce the risk as much as possible: 📍We monitor:• GT Orcas App – To stay updated about interactions, sightings and risk mapping. • www.orcas.pt – MMSI verified fellow sailors for live-updates. • Telegram groups – Live updates from fellow sailors. • Orca Facebook groups - to stay updated. • We listen to channel 16 (as always) and when we here something related to a orca situation we start recording the conversation so we can go back and listen to it again ex. if we didn’t get the position, name of the vessel etc. ⚠️Our precautions:• We have chosen to only sail in daylight – Which sometimes means early mornings to do a long leg. If something were to happen, we rather want to handle it in full visibility than in the dark. • We have chosen to stay in shallow water - inside the 20m depth counter when possible, but still keeping a safe distance from breaking waves and shallow hazards. • We carry a duffel bag full of sand on deck– The most humane way to try and deter orcas, should they approach the rudder. • We maintain constant lookout – For tall dorsal fins, but also for coastal fishing gear when close to shore. • We talk through roles and action plans - so everyone onboard knows what to do in case of an emergency. 🚨Our procedure in case of an orca interaction: 1: Engine on, max speed, turn boat towards shallows and/or land. 2: One person in charge of throwing sand in the water to hopefully prevent the orcas from damaging the rudder. 3: One person in charge of flipping the swimmingladder down in the water and banging it with a hammer to make loud noises in the water to deter the orcas. 4: Other important things is to issue a Pan-Pan call on the vhf, continuous lookout and video documentation of the interaction. N.B that this is simply the way we’ve chosen to handle the situation, not a detailed A–Z guide on how you should proceed. Always make sure to research the specific area you’re sailing in. Stay safe. #orca #sailing #shortoftheday #circumnavigation

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(wait for my reaction at the end) RAW. PORK. ON A BUN. Germans eat raw pork? Yep — it’s called Mettbrötchen, and it’s a real thing. Mettbrötchen — a traditional German snack made of raw minced pork,

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🌎✨ "I told Renee, 'If we can make it to the Panama Canal, we can make it around the world.' It was touch and go, but we got through it, and our mettle was tested —nobody knows what they're capable of until they put themselves in that situation ⛵💪 Don't let your journey end before it even begins! Join us for our 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 - 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝘁𝗵 @𝟱𝗽𝗺 𝗘𝗦𝗧 to find out more about the "things we didn't know, we needed to know" and what it took to ultimately be successful out here on the water 🌊 #BluewaterCruising #SailingJourney #PushYourLimits #LiveYourDreams #Relationships

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