Here is a welcome sight after eight long months – Wind Horse hanging in the Travel Lift slings at Berthons in the UK, ready to launch. Notice anything different?

How about those props?

We’ve changed to the same style as we are using on the FPB  64s. These are three bladed instead of four, with a little more diameter and pitch. Initial trials indicate they are smooth running, and we have lowered our cruising speed to the area of 1600/1700 RPM. We’ll post more data as we get experience.

Berthon’s have done nice job installing the induction cooktop. We are using the sea rail from our old propane stove (and boy are we glad to be rid of the propane!).

There is a compact but sufficient combination microwave/convection oven as well. We gave both of these appliances a brief test last fall.

We have replaced our (supposedly) stainless steel smoke stack with one welded up in aluminum. You can see the rust stains from the previous version.

Our new foremast works well with the lights and no longer is such a visual obstruction when on watch. Note the awnings. blue sky, and calm water. Hard to believe this is the UK.

We are till getting over our jet lag, but have managed to recommission Wind Horse in two days. The biggest project are the awnings. Otherwise, getting ready to cruise after eight months of storage involves checking each of the systems all of which we are pleased to report are operational. The one glitch in an otherwise perfect scorecard is the charcoal filter housing on the watermaker. We accidentally left it filled with fresh water and it burst during one of the freezes.

For a close we will leave you with this indication of the weather at present – atmosphere clear enough for a nice moon photo (shot  with a Canon 7D with a 500mm F4 lens +1.4 extender).