On Friday afternoon I went over to Sitges to do final tests of the new engine together with the mechanics of N�utica Emilio. Wow, what a difference! The silent, vibrationless 30-horsepower engine gave Iris an easy 8 knot over a smooth sea.
The idea was to bring Iris back home to Port Ginesta on Saturday but that turned out to be a rainy day and we decided to postpone the first trip with the new engine for one day. Finally yesterday Moona and I took Iris back to her hailing port. There was a strong wind blowing directly in our face, and a moderate sea with 2m waves. With the old engine I would have desisted doing the trip because it would have been too hard for the old Volvo 2002. But the new D1-30 had no problems riding the waves. The log indicated 6.5 knots, 1.5 of which probably corresponded to the counter current. We did the 5 Nm in just about an hour.