Yessss...shake down time for us in the sense of a shake down cruise on Orion! We made the decision to go at our favorite hang out in Salinas...Sal Pa Dentro Waterfront Bar. Their slogan is "No Shirt...No Shoes...No Problem!" We like that, but opted to have shirts on, hahahaha. We left the marina on Monday and motored (!) all the way to Coffin Island, because there was not enough wind for us to sail...ah well...like my sweetie said: "If you want no wind install a wind generator"! So far this has proven to be true...here goes the trial out of our new main sail ;)...but no worries, we shall have plenty of wind again soon.
Our shake down cruise is going quite well so far, apart from the wind issue that is. Fridge/freezer are working like a charm on the solar and wind generator...the only problem is that the batteries are not recharging enough, which is due to...you guessed it...the low wind conditions we are experiencing at the moment. So today, Wednesday, the captain will fire up the Diesel for an hour to give all batteries a real good full charge again...of course we will run the fridge/freezer at the same time via the motor also...this should give our batteries time to relax without load :) Let's see what happens!
In the meantime we are enjoying life anchored at Coffin Island...snorkeling, relaxing, and all that good stuff!
When we were at the marina my sweetie cleaned and shined our BBQ grill...as you can see with top results, and this shake down cruise is the perfect opportunity to try it out...no problems at all...the pounded chicken breast seasoned with a mix of chipotle paprika and topped with Muenster was just yummie yummie :) Thanks to the BBQ Chef!
This morning I made a fritata, using fresh ingredients as well as left-over chicken...life is good on Orion :)
To top it all...mother nature is producing some spectacular sunsets :)
We will most probably head back to the marina in a day or two, as we are watching 98L...a bad weather system, which may come our way...hopefully it will turn off to the north!
Let's see if we can do some sailing on the way back...chances are good :)
