March 2017 we finally got the chance to sail for the first time on our first yacht. A 590 NM shakedown sail from Lisbon to Gibraltar and back on a tight sche...

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Finally, the date for the shakedown sail arrived

but just like little kids before Christmas

we couldn't sleep, we got in the car and headed

to the marina to finish prepping the boat.

The weather was far from perfect but we had

to go so we set sail into the Atlantic.

Towards the end of the day, the weather improved

allowing us to enjoy our first sunset at sea.

Although we had calm seas the following day

being below deck in the galley trying to

heat up food for the first time was not an easy

task.

Everything in the kitchen is moving, with

you or at the same time as you.

Soon enough Gibraltar was on the horizon.

We could only stay for one day but we couldn’t

miss the chance of walking across the

airport runway before we leave.

The return trip was marked by choppy seas

but as we were passing the coast of Spain

we were surprised by a group of windsurfers

that crossed our stern at an incredible speed.

As we sailed along the Portuguese coast we

were treated with amazing landscapes and relaxing moments.

When we were just 20 nautical miles off the

coast of Alentejo we received our first unexpected

guest which we called Harry the Hawk, later

on, we thought it might have been a Kite but

a friend confirmed was a juvenile Krestel.

Awhile after our guest left the wind started

picking up but we were definitely enjoying

the sail comfortably despite the heeling we

got to true wind speeds of 41-42 knots but

of course a shakedown sail couldn’t end

without something broken on the actual sail,

so the Bimini strap broke and that was no

fun trying to bag it with this amount of wind.

It feels like in less than no time our little

adventure came to an end and we arrived Lisbon

to haul out The Dream until our return in

the summer.

Just the experience of hauling out our yacht

is breathtaking since it's on the limit of

fitting on this dock and it's a bit sad seeing

it return to her spot in the boatyard.

There was only time for a quick patch up work

on the Bimini buckle before we returned to Macau.