LAUNCH DAY
6th July 2022
The reason we spent as long as we did in Port Saint Louis was because we were waiting to receive our Australian boat registration. The week prior we had received the very pleasing news that we had been granted Provisional Registration which meant we could now head off. We had a copy of the Registration document and now were waiting for the original to be couriered from Australia. The document was expected to arrive on Tuesday 5th July so we planned our escape for Wednesday the 6th.
We booked in with the office for a lift time and now started worrying if our mainsail would be returned in time. We were informed on Friday that the sail was finished but couldn't be fitted until Tuesday. Nothing like cutting things fine! We enjoyed a lovely weekend with some great weather ie. no wind and waited for Tuesday. Monday the howling winds that are so very common for the area returned and we worried if the sail would even be able to be fitted on the Tuesday with the expected winds. Fortunately, the boys fitted the sail back on but were unable to fit the reefing lines which required the main sail to be raised. To raise the main sail in strong winds and with a boat resting on the keels on the ground is not the done thing so it was decided the boys would return Wednesday to fix the reefing lines.
Wednesday morning rolled around with 17knot winds and with gusts higher then that. The stress was showing on the captains face as the idea of launching an unknown boat in strong winds had him and myself questioning whether we should wait and book another day. After enquiring in the office for the next available appointment and finding out that was not until the following Tuesday we just had to say "F&*$k it and go for it.
Meanwhile the sail boys returned and talked Tony through completing the reefing lines when the conditions allowed. Then we sat and waited for 11am to roll around and for the tractor to arrive and lift Phantomas to be put in the water.
The launch was all good, the yard boys do this day in day out so they are experts. After Tony checked he hadn't left the "bung" out they left us to sort ourselves out then went off for lunch. The wind was still howling and with boats moored all along the docks the idea of how to get off the dock safely occupied the lunch break. Michael & Julia dropped back to say goodbye and distract us from the job ahead. Before we knew it the yard boys were back and with a few short instructions in a mix of "Frenglish" and hand signals we were off and waving goodbye.
We couldn't keep the smiles off our faces and for those that we spoke to that afternoon they can attest to the fact, we were beaming!! We had put the headsail up and the wind was around 17-20 knots but the boat was feeling so safe and steady and we just thought "We're finally doing this"
We were heading towards Marseille to anchor near two islands in the bay.
The reason we spent as long as we did in Port Saint Louis was because we were waiting to receive our Australian boat registration. The week prior we had received the very pleasing news that we had been granted Provisional Registration which meant we could now head off. We had a copy of the Registration document and now were waiting for the original to be couriered from Australia. The document was expected to arrive on Tuesday 5th July so we planned our escape for Wednesday the 6th.
We booked in with the office for a lift time and now started worrying if our mainsail would be returned in time. We were informed on Friday that the sail was finished but couldn't be fitted until Tuesday. Nothing like cutting things fine! We enjoyed a lovely weekend with some great weather ie. no wind and waited for Tuesday. Monday the howling winds that are so very common for the area returned and we worried if the sail would even be able to be fitted on the Tuesday with the expected winds. Fortunately, the boys fitted the sail back on but were unable to fit the reefing lines which required the main sail to be raised. To raise the main sail in strong winds and with a boat resting on the keels on the ground is not the done thing so it was decided the boys would return Wednesday to fix the reefing lines.
Wednesday morning rolled around with 17knot winds and with gusts higher then that. The stress was showing on the captains face as the idea of launching an unknown boat in strong winds had him and myself questioning whether we should wait and book another day. After enquiring in the office for the next available appointment and finding out that was not until the following Tuesday we just had to say "F&*$k it and go for it.
Meanwhile the sail boys returned and talked Tony through completing the reefing lines when the conditions allowed. Then we sat and waited for 11am to roll around and for the tractor to arrive and lift Phantomas to be put in the water.
The launch was all good, the yard boys do this day in day out so they are experts. After Tony checked he hadn't left the "bung" out they left us to sort ourselves out then went off for lunch. The wind was still howling and with boats moored all along the docks the idea of how to get off the dock safely occupied the lunch break. Michael & Julia dropped back to say goodbye and distract us from the job ahead. Before we knew it the yard boys were back and with a few short instructions in a mix of "Frenglish" and hand signals we were off and waving goodbye.
We couldn't keep the smiles off our faces and for those that we spoke to that afternoon they can attest to the fact, we were beaming!! We had put the headsail up and the wind was around 17-20 knots but the boat was feeling so safe and steady and we just thought "We're finally doing this"
We were heading towards Marseille to anchor near two islands in the bay.