Current position:
50 47 51N
01 06 89W
Haslar Marina
D Day and we were awake at 7am. Revved up, excited, and ready to go. This was it. We were off. All the years of talking and dreaming, the wondering if we could really live the dream, the planning, stress, frustration, mixed in with feelings of anxiety and nervousness now hit us and as I walked back along the pontoon, looked at Stiletto in all her glory, I suddenly became very emotional. We were determined we were not going to rush things - that's when you make mistakes - but we were aiming for a 10.30 ish departure. We decided against a full blown breakfast but would have brunch when we arrived in Cowes instead. It was a beautiful morning. Clear blue sky and sunshine but no wind.
Our friend and "house" neighbour Jon arrived to see us off, followed by our friend "Dubsy" - who was our official photographer. Geoff, our "pontoon" neighbour, arrived with an exquisite bottle of red wine as a parting gift that he said we should open and drink at our first anchorage. We were so very touched.
Life jackets on, engine and instrumentation checks done and we slipped our lines at precisely 10.30am. Jon and Dubsy waving us off and taking plenty of photos. At the end of C pontoon were Julian and Karen of yacht Tatsu - a 35ft Halberg Rassey - who we had only very recently met and to our surprise were in the throes of preparing their boat and are planning on doing exactly the same as us - probably within a few days of us leaving ! They waved us off and first stop was the fuel pontoon where we filled our tank ( £126 worth) and then headed out of the harbour. We were on our way. At last.
Song for this post: It's hard to say goodbye by Celine Dion and Paul Anka
Thought for this post: I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and sky - for the fun that my boat gives me, is worth more than gold can buy.
Highlight of this post: Sad to say goodbye but excited at the adventures ahead