On Friday, MJ and I spread our wings and left the dock. We only motored a few hundred meters, docking at a new spot, but for us it felt like a significant event – we did it ourselves and suffered no damages. It kind of faded from our view though, when we were hit by the water system issue that MJ mentioned a few days ago (the reason we switched spots in the first place was to better be nearer a water tap). And now it turns out that the water system error was actually operator error – the water system, all 520 L (137 US gallons) worth, is fine.
On Saturday, we launched Hokukea-iki, the dinghy. I took her for a very brief row around Hokukea, then we tackled learning how to use the davits, having to jury-rig a lifting bridle for the stern. Lifting the dinghy with the davits was so much nicer than messing with spare halyards on the mast then wrestling to get a dingly over the lifelines to the foredeck. We were very happy with the high build-quality of the
True Kit dinghy, but not so much with the hand-pump it came with. The body of the pump is ok, but the tubing sucks. Too short and too stiff, with a poor connection to the pump body (the connection to the dinghy valve was excellent). Next step for Hokukea-iki is to put the ePropulsion electric outboard on it, and adjust.
Getting bored with hanging around Hallberg-Rassy Varv (Shipyard), we decided to slip the dock lines Sunday, and take a short excursion to a nearby anchorage by the island of Härmanö (Google Maps). We spent a few hours on a mooring ball (one of the ones set up by the Swedish Cruising Association). And the Hook & Moor boat hook made snagging the mooring easy. We enjoyed lunch and an afternoon of sun and breeze, before heading back to HR. It was very nice.
