We picked up our brandnew Bali 5.4 Catamaran at the factory in CanetenRousillon, France and set off on our maiden voyage around midnight on October 20th, 2019. We were delayed slightly, waiting for a weather system to move through and for the sea state to improve after the storm. Our first stop will be Cartegena in Spain, about 400 nautical Miles. It is an easy 48hour sail, or so we thought.

While our Windy App information of predicted wind direction was correct, the wind strength was way above the predicted 15 to 20 knots. The wind picked up substantially throughout the night into the morning. By midmorning we had sustained wind of 35+ knots and saw wind gusts of up to 45 knots with torrential rain. Fortunately, we had wind from behind, but the sea state was very confused with huge 10ft rollers.

By this point we had a very reefed main and small jib out. As the morning progressed, gale force winds forced us to totally drop the sails as we surfed down the waves at 12+ knots under bare poles. We had an engine just ticking over to hold station and maintain steering. Thankfully we were well set up and ran before the weather without a hitch. It felt like we were on a very wild rollercoaster ride and we experienced torrential rain and icy temperatures!

#catamaran #Balicatamarans # Bali5.4 #sailing #cruising

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