We first had to maneuver the cat out of the slip which was a challenge this morning since they had parked a great big trawler right across our stern. The twin engines on the cat performed flawlessly and we side-stepped out of the slip with no more than a few feet on either end. (Try that in a monohull). We headed out into the bay, put up the sails, and just tacked up the bay to the Deer Point 144 marker.
Our instructor relaxed in the cockpit and let the two of us do all the sailing and tacking by ourselves as if we were on the boat alone. At the end of the morning he pronounced us ready to sail the cat by ourselves. It was a gorgeous morning with puffy clouds and deep blue water and warm breezes. It was the perfect end to the perfect week for us. There were moments of frustration during the week, but in the end it was perfectly designed to accomplish what we intended to accomplish - to learn if we could live full time on a catamaran. The answer? In the end we decided that we could easily toss our kids the key to the house and say "Seeya". There was just not a thing more we needed to be happy than what we had on the boat at that moment, and that was a bit of an epiphany.
Some more miscellaneous thoughts from the week: Full-time liveaboards are undoubtedly the most interesting people on the face of the planet. If you ever make it to the Keys and you see a dive salvage operation on a ketch sailboat of indeterminate origin run by Captain Fish (the man) and Captain Jack (the dog), say hello for us.
Night watches are going to be one of my favorite times.
I can't imagine doing this with anyone besides my best friend :)
Laying on the trampoline hanging over the edge:
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