Annie's glass is always half full

Commissioning is the process of getting the boat from launch to cruise-ready condition!  One major component is the testing of all the systems, whether they are related to electronics, electrics, sailing, navigation, motors, the dinghy, cooking, or just general living.  A second major component is learning how to use the boat.  This includes sailing, anchoring, docking and maneuvering.  While we have reasonable sailing skills already, some need brushing up, and learning this much bigger boat is quite a challenge.  The spinnakers (yes, two of them!) are especially beautiful, and we look forward to seeing more of them – once we get comfortable with the boat in general!  Anchoring has been easy to learn, with the electric windlass and the terrific Spade anchor.  It has locked in every time we have anchored, and in some pretty “interesting” winds. 

Speaking of which, the weather in the Med is very much as advertised.  It’s either dead flat calm, with high humidity and very hot temperatures (35 C or more!) or 25 knots from the land, with the wind being dry and sandy, and temperatures in the mid-twenties. 

Our commissioning cruise took us to a small bay south of Canet called Collioure.  It’s quite a famous town (very touristy of course), known for the many artists who came there to paint because of the light.  It is known as the seat of Fauvism of which Henri Matisse was the most famous.  The town itself is partially newly built, but mainly centered on the remains of the Old Town, which, together with the fortress there, was built in the 12^th century by the Knights Templar.  There are many great restaurants, and lots of interesting pottery and art shops.  The beach at the edge of the town is packed solid every day, and partying goes on till the wee hours.   

We then explored a couple of other bays – Anse de Paulilles, right under Cap Bear, and Cala Garvet, just into Spain, before returning to Canet and some more work on the boat.

 When our first lot of commissioning work was complete, we had a quick weekend trip back to Collioure with David Renouf (our Catana broker from San Diego who spent the month of July in Canet launching and commissioning new boats with several of his clients) and his wife Linda.  A very relaxing interlude, until David decided it was time for spinnaker lessons on the way back to Canet!  Even in light winds, the power of these sails is astonishing.  Without the development of very effective snuffers, they would likely be beyond our capability.  Fortunately, good gear is readily available and we look forward to many years of service from these two gorgeous sails.

As is standard with commissioning programs, we then returned to Canet for further adjustments and, at the same time, to board our first guests, John McEwen and Rosalie Elliott. John and Ro were with us when we made the decision to buy a Catana, so it was only fitting that they should be our first out of town guests.  We had a lovely few days with them in Collioure and Anse de Paulilles and a great walk into Banyuls-sur-Mer.  This latter town is famous for Banyuls, which is a sweet aperitif like Pineau des Charentes.

Now (mid-August) we’re back in Canet to have some additions made to TT.  We will add side and rear curtains to keep the very hot sun out of the cockpit in the afternoon and a heating system for the cooler winter months. Of course, this has also presented Ann with a not-to-be-missed opportunity to re-pack the boat (again!!), and get ourselves even more into cruising mode.

Our plan now is to head to the Balearics in early September, and from there we head east to Tunisia and/or Turkey for the winter.

If you are enjoying following along with us, feel free to drop us an email.  We are always interested in who is out there listening and welcome suggestions to make this site more interesting and entertaining.  For now…au ‘voir.

Garry ready to leap into action

Entrance to Collioure

Couilloure harbour at twilight

Sailing school in Collioure

David and Linda in TTs salon

John and Garry studying the course

John on a break

John working the bow

Rosalie studying the course