Our very first solo sail!

After coming back from our wonderful weekend in Leucate, the weather was so nice that we decided to sail the boat.

It was our very first solo sail, just the two of us.

We took the boat out without any issues.

Nico mastered maneuvering out of our marina slip. We successfully avoided the sandbank at the harbor entrance.

This time, we went all manual because Nico wanted to test the sails. He’s been trying to fix the mainsail and made some adjustments to the halyard, but the bearings still need to be replaced.

I was steering while he worked to hoist the sails.

We started with the genoa, and everything went smoothly.

I’m learning to luff and bear away for the first time.
I still struggle to feel or determine where the wind is coming from.
It’s tricky to luff and then hold a steady course to maintain speed.
Nico shouts directions using everyday words instead of proper nautical terms, which is frustrating since I’ve started reading maritime guides to learn the right vocabulary.

 

Next, we hoisted the mainsail, which was a bit more complicated for Nico because it got stuck. I... Nico was struggling with a stuck mainsail, and I wasn’t catching the wind properly, so we had to adjust our course.

With both sails up, we were cruising at 5 to 7.5 knots.

But it got very cold, so after two hours, I begged Nico to head back to Narbonne Plage.

Docking the boat at our slip was easy for Nico, but mooring was another story. Still, we managed it since we had plenty of time.

Nico was pumped after our first sail!!