We have been doing a quick run last night. An average I believe somewhere near 7 knots in a 12-15 knot breeze. Comfort is a bit lost. But then we should have gotten ourselves a mule instead of a full blood. You get there too but it is half the fun.

Isabelle is forbidding me to pull in the reins so we let SeaWalk in a full gallop. It meant I didn’t sleep too good last night. It is not the rolling and pitching, I am used to that by now. It is the worry of the boat handled by someone else. Trust is a hard thing to give. Although Yannick is doing an outstanding job and is really into it.

It’s been great sailing again after 48 hours of running the engine. I’m still amazed by how economic the engine is at 1700 rpm. We still have plenty diesel to spare. But SeaWalk is much quicker with her sails than with the engine. And it is much more quite.

Everyday there are chores to do. Some bigger than others. Yesterday I had the re-glue the lower part of the centre port window. Apparently the release of the stress on the deck after fixing the collapsed mast step early 2008 eventually loosened some of the glue. It took me 2 hours and a lot of sweat in a warm saloon but now she’s good as new.

So for the moment we are just going to enjoy SeaWalk sailing along at 7 knots. She must have lost weight along the way or we are getting better in finding the right sail set-up for a specific breeze. So we let her run. We have to make the most out of this beautiful breeze even though it is laden with Squalls / rain clouds. Dodging them is beginning to be standard practice. Hope the breeze will last a bit longer.