Handover
DecaDance's Web Diary
Chris White and Jeanna Coleman
Fri 1 Oct 2010 18:54
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GPS Position: 50:51.2N 001:18.7W -
Hamble Point Marina
Weather: Bloomin' 'Orrible At last! It's finally happened,
today DecaDance was finally handed over to us.
We arrived in The Hamble yesterday, a
beautiful sunny day and DecaDance looked stunning. We bought Richard from
Marco Marine and his wife Tina a drink in the Ketch Rigger and got talking
to a lovely couple, Paul and Helen, who invited us to dinner aboard their
yacht Helen Mary Gee. After a hearty stew, red wine and stories of them
sinking one yacht (yikes) and another being wrecked by bad weather at the new
Olympics marina, (double yikes) we bade our goodbyes and spent our first
night aboard DecaDance.
We woke this morning to
the wind blowing a hooley and persistent precipitation. Not the best
of days for handover so after running through all the systems down below, we
donned our oilies and wandered into the very picturesque village of The Hamble
for local ham and duck eggs, and pots and pots of tea at The
Bugle. After stocking up on essentials (loo-rolls and wine) at the local
Co-op we trudged back to the marina in the still pouring rain. Julian
then ran us through all the systems on deck before going for a bit of a motor
down the river to test the engine and have a bit of a play with the bow
thruster. Chris was in his element (you know how it is with boys
and new toys) and I left him to it as I have to admit, after only 10 days
of sailing experience on thirty-odd foot boats, I'm more than a little daunted
by all 48 foot (and four inches) of DecaDance.
Julian was going to point out the fuel
pontoon to us but then realised we have a full tank and will be leaving in the
morning - which was very fortunate as the whole pontoon had just sunk taking a
RIB and a forty foot power boat with it! We don't know what happened yet,
but the roof of the fuel hut was just poking out of the water with an upturned
hull next to it.
After our maiden voyage we raided the Force4 chandlers for
an ensign and other bits and bobs and now Chris is at the chart table planning
our departure tomorrow. We've got a chap called Andy joining us in the
morning to lend a hand for the journey to Salcombe (which I'm really relieved
at) and the weather is forecast to improve so fingers crossed our first leg to
Weymouth will be a pleasant journey.
Neither of us can quite believe that this finally
happening, it's nice to see Chris grinning like a Cheshire Cat and long may it
continue.
Before we log off, we'd like to give a huge thanks to
Richard and Julian at Marco Marine who have been absolutely brilliant, (not to
mention patient!), we wish you continued success. Also to our neighbour
Nigel on sister-ship Oboe D'Amore, (apart from the fact that it's his fault
we've bought such a big, expensive boat), thanks a billion for all your help and
advice (and bimini) and we wish you every future happiness. Another
massive thanks to Geoff from Devon Sailing who has saved us a fortune and put us
in touch with everyone we need to kit out DecaDance over the next three weeks -
make sure you look after our house you Old B*gger! And, at the risk of
sounding like an Oscar winner, a final thanks to Paul and Helen who, on the
first evening of our new life, showed us the hospitality and friendship of the
liveaboard community - may it be an indication what's to come.
Lots of love Jeanna and Chris
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