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Free Spirit - Day 1 Thursday 17th October



 
Subject: Day 1 Thursday 17th October

We finally left Port Grimaud on Thursday 17th Octoober, a day later than planned, but considering that we could not get on the boat because of work still being done, until 5.00pm on Tuesday, it was quite an achievement to get away when we did.
The final weeks before departure have been a total nightmare with every conceivable thing that could go wrong on the boat doing just that leading to sleepless nights and anxiety that we would not, after all the months of planning and preparation, be able to go!  I suppose the worst worry was the generator.  For weeks we had been struggling to get a new part fitted and when that finally happened it still did not work.  It's all very involved and complicated but the bottom line was that we had to get a new "back end" shipped from the US which was finally fitted 2 days before we were due to leave.  So looking on the bright side Free Spirit would be ready to go with: newly fitted satelite navigation system, new radar, new water maker, new solar panels,new satelite phone with email connection, new water turbine, a clean bottom, a polished hull and fully stocked with food and provisions for weeks at sea!  But...not quite...having worked hard to turn chaos in to order...just as we were ready to go we discovered that the water tanks were completely empty.  How could that be?  A pump was found to be the problem, so the tanks were refilled and at 1045 on a beautiful provencal day we set sail for Gran Canaria.  The winds were strong and there was quite a swell and three of the 5 of us were sea sick.  Tomato and red pepper soup was maybe not the best choice for dinner that evening! (CH)

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