September 19, 2023
34°2.507’S, 23°2.664’E
The weeks since our last update includes a few noteworthy milestones:
• Our first Ocean sail outside the infamous Knysna Heads aboard Sláinte
• Check out the first 5 min of sailing Nahoa’s channel for insight to the Knysna entrance- very helpful to understand when we talk about “the Heads” https://youtu.be/sOMaVwb1C9I?si=gMmsNjAdDwyiYUay
• And shout out to our friends on Mira at the 2:20 mark for their departure full send
• Our first re-entry of the Knysna Heads, and with Lisa at the helm (under the expert tutelage of Captain Brett)
• Our first day of docking our beamy 24’8” fat bottom girl (rinse, wash, repeat multiple times with both of us at the helm)
• Test rigging and fly of the storm sail in the calm before heavy weather (timely as another low that just rolled thru was a real pisser)
• Our first sighting of a wild Baboon (happy we didn’t run across him on our little day hike in Robberg / Plett Bay)
Additionally, the week included knocking out much of our punch list of factory to do’s (kudos to Hamish for his steady guidance of multiple teams and patient instruction with us). All while living aboard (albeit still dockside) and increasing our familiarity with the boat systems.
Up next, pending a good weather window, will be a multi-day coastal shakedown on a variety of points of direction to test drive the sails and dial in the setup.
We continue to work towards a departure from Knysna in late October and sailing to Cape Town. From there we’ll complete our provisioning and gear up to cross the Atlantic in November. Destination – Grenada and the Caribbean islands
