The Atlantic blog: Day 1

31/10 Position: 43°19´05"N 16°00´05"E

After almost three weeks in Marina Kremik, we take the last crew picture and say goodbye to our Croatian comrades, I think they will miss us. First stop is the fuel station where we fill up with 420 liters of diesel and drop the fuel cap in the water, Manfred had to take a little bath.

We started today and were initially a little disappointed that it did not blow more than 4 knots, 2 seconds. We still wanted to test the boat so we set sail. The sails went up nicely with the electric winch, brand new fresh pads and blocks make it feel like the sail sets itself. What is happening, we make 5 knots!!! This is something that few sailors have experienced, sailing a boat that sails faster than the speed of the wind! This is good news, we can maintain a good cruising speed throughout the Mediterranean without being dependent on much wind. This will save us both time and diesel. Will be exciting to see what we can do for speed with a little more wind!

During the passage, Micke and I offered hamburgers. 8 burgers were fried and accessories were chopped without difficulty as both of us got a seat at the workbench, it did not take more than a few minutes to throw together a great dinner!

We notice that we have not managed to get everything. Manfred needed pegs to hang his towel after diving for the fuel cap, we need more cutting boards and an audio cable for the stereo. These are things that are difficult to predict that you need before you have been out and tested the boat. We head south and aim for Dubrovnik before heading over to Italy.

I made a little clip of how happy Fredrik was when we left the marina. Take and click on him.

Mathias

(Photo by: Mathias Edberg)