We’ve negotiated the tortuous course from our storage position on the hard at Berthon’s (Lymington, UK) to the travel lift bay. Although the yard crew was never in doubt, we are amazed at how easily they maneuvered our somewhat lengthy hull through a very crowded storage area.

It is hard to describe how good it feels to see Wind Horse back in her element, and to be absorbed in things marine as opposed to politics and finance.

In the water maneuvering space is at a minimum here, and we were not sure if we’d remember the keys to handling Wind Horse after five months away. But once the engines came to life it only took a few seconds and backing, rotating, and walking sideways onto the dock came back and we and our neighbors bare no new scars.

We prepared for English weather by spending a few days in North Carolina, during which it rained constantly, and was, of course, miserably cold. This proved to be an error in conditioning as have had nonstop high pressure which provides sunny blue skies.

We want to comment briefly on the pleasant and efficient experience having a few chores done at Berthon’s. The recoating of our props with “Prop Shield” is a good example. This required the props to be polished, heated with a torch, and then the Prop Shield warmed and wiped on. The tech who did the work had several long walks to scope out the project, gather tools and supplies, and then execute the job. Easily a day and a half job in most yards. We were pleased to find us assessed a total of five hours (we could not have done it faster ourselves). We also had the boat pressure washed (the joys of bare aluminum!), hatches and windows washed, and stainless polished (first time in two years). Between the low hourly rate for “valet services” and the efficient use of time, this could become habit forming. We should note that this is the first time we have ever paid to have one of our boats prepped before arrival.

We’ve got some business to attend to, and a half day of commissioning, and then we are into cruise mode.