First sail!

We finished up whatever we could while the boat was in dry dock. But now it’s time to leave—there’s no more space in dry dock, and no extensions are possible.

We haven’t finished polishing the gelcoat repairs, so we’ll have to do that on the water.

Everything is pretty hectic. You don’t have time to enjoy anything—there’s always something to do before the launch.

They came to crane the boat at 11 a.m. We followed as it was towed to the harbor for launch.

Our hearts were pounding. Once the boat hit the water, we’d be responsible for sailing it back to Narbonne Plage harbor. This time, we’re almost solo. The boat’s seller isn’t sailing with us—he’ll just assist with the launch and arrival.

The boat is in the water now, and we need to check for leaks since we replaced all 10 through-hull fittings. It takes some time before we finally set off. 

Gruissan is a pretty big harbor, so as soon as we leave, there’s no time for photos or videos—we have to focus. Especially since it was a wavy way out to the open sea.

The boat isn’t fully insured yet; it only has the minimum coverage. I’ll make a post about that later because it was a full adventure on its own.

The men let me take the helm once we were almost out of Gruissan harbor. We set the course, and I tried to steer manually, which wasn’t easy since I’m not used to it.
Eventually, I switched to autopilot. :) The men were inside the boat, still checking for potential leaks from the through-hull fittings.

It was a long sail with heavy swell at times. It took us two hours to reach Narbonne Plage.

We didn’t unfurl the mainsail because it’s a bit stuck, and we didn’t want to force it. Instead, we tried the genoa once we changed course to enter Narbonne Plage harbor.

Entering Narbonne Plage wasn’t easy. The entrance is narrow, there was heavy swell, and worst of all, there’s sand right at the mouth. Naturally, we hit it twice. Narbonne Plage is known for this.

Nico took back the helm and managed to dock the boat successfully, though he slightly bumped one of the poles.

We were relieved. I still don’t know how to moor properly—I can’t quite remember how to tie knots—so it’s a bit stressful. Luckily, the seller and Nico’s mom were there to help. 

This tuesday, 4 March, was our first night at the harbor!