Start of Viente's Voyage
24 June 2008 | Braye Harbour, Alderney
ENE 8kt, visibility good, 1018 & steady
Sunday's SW 30kts mercifully dropped to 10-15kt and veered West overnight, so we departed Hamble Point at 0300 Monday June 23. Motorsailed (with help from a 4 kt ebb) to the Bridge (Needles IOW); then set all plain sail and gave the steering to 'Nigel'. Let me introduce our ace crew member; Nigel (generic name for "co-pilots" in my airline days) steers a perfect course relative to the wind 24hrs a day without complaint, needs no food or drink; a simple mechanical vane steering gear with it's own rudder; no electronics to go wrong - perfect performance on the first voyage.
At 1620 we anchored in Braye Harbour, enjoying a quiet evening, beautiful sunset and eight hours solid kip! Plan to stay here a few days for R&R after a rather hectic six weeks of fitting out. All's well on board.