Sailing Saoirse - our new DAVIT SYSTEM & we SAIL for the first time since LOCKDOWN

We finally have our davit system and we get to sail for the first time since lockdown!! It’s been an exciting week, after only a couple of days of planning, Steel Unique, here in Langebaan have made our davit system and she fits like a glove. With a temporary block and tackle set up, we are now able to hoist up our duck which is now also covered with our 5th solar panel. So we pretty much also completed our solar setup too.🌝⚡ When we can get into Cape Town again we will buy the necessary blocks and jammer and get the final touches complete - but for now, it works and we can hoist the duck up out of the water. With Chris back here and a little more work in the engine compartments and some more steering adjustment we were also able to do our first sea trial. As part of our sea trial we headed across the lagoon to take a look at Saldanha Yacht Club which we have decided will be our new home for the next few months, before we head off on our adventures across the Atlantic. It’s a lovely homely club where we will be mooring on an mooring ball. This will give us plenty of practice with picking up mooring balls and also experience life at anchor and having to use our dingy to get too and from land. So now we will also get to really start living off the grid and having to depend totally on our solar system. I see a huge learning experience headed our way in the next few weeks as we are all very used to having untapped power - galley appliances, chargers, lights and all things electrical will be looked at quite differently. With the steering now sorted out we will also be doing a lot of sailing and starting to get to know our girl properly, if our great sea trial is anything to go by, she is steady and stable and sails beautifully. Our sea trial also marked the start of sailing for Cleo. It started out VERY badly, poor sausage went from being very uneasy, to paralysed, laying as flat as possible across the saloon seat and then ventured down into Teagan’s cabin where she was sick. With lots of loving cuddles and a short break in flat water at the Saldanha Yacht Club, the trip back to Mykonos was much better. She was pretty exhausted and just slept the entire way. She was super happy to climb off onto the dock the moment we got back. Things should improve with each sail - hopefully!