11.21.2021 Our First Sail

Captain Andy came aboard mid-morning and we were able to start our boat prep prior to departing from Port Louis Marina.

First thing we did was to re-secure our life raft to the stern. Next, he taught us an acronym for our daily engine checks, WOBBLE – water filter, oil, belt(s), bilge, liquids, exhaust. Lastly, we started the process of removing our dock lines from our slip so that we could depart the marina. We had 4 lines at the stern and 2 lines at the bow (front). As we left the slip, we stopped at the fuel dock to top-off our starboard (right) and port (left) engines with diesel, as well as stock up on gasoline Jerry cans for our dinghy. Once we got distance from the marina, we brought up the mainsail and were officially on our first sail! We casually sailed around the area, averaging 3-5 knots of speed. We then spent about 1-2 hours practicing mooring ball drills in St. George’s mooring field. Mooring balls are essentially permanent anchors that you attach the bow of the boat in a bridle fashion. We ended up mooring in St. George’s and then took Ollie for his first dinghy ride ashore for dinner at Coconut Beach restaurant.