The Proposal
Oh, I’ve got a cool story for you! So, the big shot over at the sailing school, Just Sailing, had this brilliant idea. He said, “Let’s expand our fleet and try something new!” And guess what? They bought this super slick racing yacht called Jua Kali, a Grand Soleil 43. You won’t believe it – they even started a whole new organization called Race your Dreams just for this to operate. This will compliment their existing Champagne Cruising options of Maud Ellen the Bavaria 45 Cruiser & Armila a Beneteau Cyclades 39.9.
From the get-go, they were like, “We’re gonna go on this super cool adventure with Jua Kali, man!” So they had to take the boat all the way from Southampton, UK to Porto di Lavagna, Italy. And guess what? They asked me to come along as part of the crew! Talk about an awesome opportunity, right? We were gonna swap out most of the crew in Gibraltar, which meant I could go back to work. Bummer…
Stuck and Stranded on the Dry-dock
I hopped on a train from my cozy little home village, Portsmouth, and made my way to Itchen Marine Towage in Southampton. But guess what? Jua Kali, the boat I was thrilled to be sailing on, was just chillin’ on land with no mast, like it had no plans of ever hitting the water. Apparently, the mast was still getting fixed up by Rigit UK, and there were a ton of other things that needed to be done before we could set sail. So, we ended up crashing in a holiday apartment for a few days, doing odd jobs, exploring the Old City of Southampton, and hitting up the local spots for some grub and drinks. Such is life, right?
This was the very first time that this crew got together. None of us had sailed or lived with each other before, but little did we know, we were about to become a tight-knit bunch of friends and sailors. We were to become a happy dysfunctional family.
The days flew by, we got all the electrical stuff done, installed the life raft on the deck, and we even managed to squeeze one more into the lazarette just in case. Sails are sorted and we found the missing battens. Attached the bathing platform, oh, and don’t even get me started on the new thru hulls and sea cocks that were put in. With the yacht back in the water and the mast up, Jau Kali got moored at Itchen Marina. Which, to be honest, doesn’t have the best facilities around. But hey, we can deal with it.
We moved onboard and started prepping for some trial runs in the River Itchen and Southampton Waters. And let me tell you, it wasn’t a walk in the park. This lady doesn’t come with all the fancy gadgets like a furling head sail or furling main. She has a manual reefing system with rams horns, no autopilot, or chart plotter. No, we’re going old school here, with lots of shouting, sheet and halyard pulling and 24/7 watches!
Once the boat was more or less ready, we sailed our way to the Royal Clarence Waterside & Marina. What a great day it was, cruising from Southampton Waters into the Solent and eventually reaching Portsmouth Harbor. Sailing into my old birth city was just incredible. That port has so much history, it’s mind-blowing.
Diah, bless her soul, took charge of victualling for the passage. She had the food plan all sorted, so we hit up the local Asda Gosport Superstore in full force and got everything we needed. Once we packed and stored all our goodies, we treated ourselves to some personal hygiene in some top-notch facilities. Seriously, it was the best I’ve ever seen. And of course, we couldn’t resist having our last supper at the Bakers Bar & Kitchen.
Now it’s time to get some rest before the real adventure starts tomorrow morning…
Viva la Vida, Explore... 