N 51° 32.728′   E 003° 48.341′ | Red Buoy Number VM22

After a day of craning, setting up the mast, sprayhood and preparing the main drop system, MILVA went on her first cruise in the Veerse Meer. Two sweet Belgian ladies in the harbour, with a lifetime experience in sailing doing an afternoon tea time in the sun, commented our departure with ‘next time you should prepare that just a bit better’.

At wind speed of 17 knots in peaks, lots of motor boats and sail yachts around (due to the public holiday in Belgium) in the narrow channel just in front of Delta Marina in Kortgene, it was a quite demanding first time cruise and ended up in drifting to shore due to an unnecessary giving way to a motorboat. It is to blame La capitana who let MILVA pass red buoy VM22 starboard side trying to tack at almost no speed and wind gusts. The tack didn’t work, so MILVA slowly drifted on shore and slightly got stuck with its 1.15m keel in the ground. Two sailors in a dinghie offered their help, people onshore trying to give advice, but in the end Lala-lala-Lola managed to get the engine running backwards and La capitana could push the boat with the rudder standing at the bow and donating her (for sailing apparently unsuitable) green Rayban sunglasses to the Veerse Meer. Another reason to finally get the fancy polarized Polaroid sunglasses!