After weeks of shopping and organising and getting stuff stored away, today it was finally time to get underway for a test sail on Zanshin. The wind was 10-15 knots and was pushing the mass of the boat against the dock, but with 5 people aboard and Mark Sims at the helm we managed to get the boat off with only minor mishaps and a slight grounding at the dock.
Bernd and Carmen had dressed up in what I considered to be polar gear but their precautions were certainly justified as I was freezing in the cold late November wind but was too proud to go below and put on the thermal underclothing that would have kept me warm. Despite being cold, we put Zanshin through a couple of paces, setting and shortening sails and I asked that we heave to see how she lay to the wind. We had speeds of 6-8 knots with not too much heel and I’m certain that this is going to be a mile-eating passagemaker despite being loaded to the gills with everything including the proverbial kitchen sink.
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