Finally, after seven months of hard work (and zillions of €€€€s spent), on Easter Saturday 2011, Mekicevica was ready to go on the water.
The first attempt two weeks earlier was aborted due to an incident while attempting to step the mast (see post on Winter Chores). The launching process was far trickier than expected and we would have ended in dire straits hadn’t it been for the rescue by an officer of the Dutch Water Police and a catamaran sailor waiting to launch their boats. The fact that the slip we used is badly designed and a death trap is only partly an excuse.
Hint: Using a rope to extend the connection between the trailer and the car seems to work for recovery. But never, ever try to use this method for launching. Contact me for a more detailed description of the pickle you end up in if you try this.
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| Mekicevica ready to launch. Things went seriously wrong minutes after this picture was taken. I have no idea who is the prat on the right. |
Eventually, mid-afternoon of the 23rd of April 2011, with heart racing, dry mouth, and knees shaking I find myself holding the tiller of Mekicevica and motoring towards a visitors berth at Bruinisse Yacht Harbour.
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Mekicevica looking really happy to have her keel in the water again. |
Having passed the launching hurdle, we still needed to get the sails ready, load the boat, and solve a fuel leak problem (I forgot to tighten the carburettor drain after the winter storage).
It was about 5pm when we left from Bruinisse for the first short “passage”: a trip round the Mosselenbank on the Grevelingen, in Zeeland.
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| The route of the short "maiden voyage". |
Another problem arose immediately while hoisting the main: The halyard exit block dropped off, and I just had to hope that in such a short trip the halyard would not be cut by the aluminium edge that was left behind.
Finally the magic moment I had been dreaming of for a long time: motor off, a gentle breeze fills the genoa, we are sailing! Bliss!
It was just a small tour in light air to allow boat and crew to get to know each other, but very, very pleasant… until the time to roll the genoa. We had assembled the roller-furling wrongly, and it was stuck. So, I have to sit at the bow and re-thread the furling line by hand. It could have been a sticky situation in more challenging weather.
But all ended well back in harbour for a celebratory dinner with champagne, and first night aboard. 
