The new one

How often have I experienced this? A new phase begins. A little bigger, a little more comfortable - with the same problems we've been struggling with for five years now, but freedom doesn't come for free. For us, our home is changing once again. The last few days have been characterized by filling out applications and forms. Acceptance, purchase contract, international boat license, insurance and all the things that are needed to make a change of ownership verifiable. So that we don't have to get used to things quite so drastically, we have named the new one Katinka enjoy. Her previous name was Enjoy, and because the old Katinka is still very dear to us, we wanted to keep the name. We think it's a funny combination of words. Besides, we're both getting on in years, and it's not quite so easy to keep names. The only thing that worries me a bit is the length of the name, when I have to rattle off the international radio alphabet with Kilo, Alfa and Tango. But now I'm also looking forward to the letters Juliett, Oskar and Yankee. Well, in the 25 years we've been sailing our own yacht, we can count the number of letters we've used on one hand, so the emphasis is on “a bit”.

Both Katinkas in Papeete, Tahiti

It's time to close this deal. The previous owner is getting more nervous by the day, and I think he'll be glad when he gets his things off the boat. It's not down to us, or maybe it's because we got involved, but it's not easy to get a boat ready for delivery with an eleven-month-old toddler. However you organize it, there is still a bit of stress involved. After the previous owner thought he needed to go sailing again after his last outing, he had to try out the brand-new replacement anchor and, salty as it was, put it back in the protective cover. While sailing, he then tore off the first reef and destroyed the lazy bag. The sailmaker mended both. After several hours, we fished the reefing line out of the boom and rethreaded it. Now I just hope that he doesn't break anything else before the final handover. He's a lovely guy, but he has no idea about sailing boats, and the experiences he gains are often painful for him. But now he'll soon be over it.

The new one

During the inspection of the genoa, I had already noticed that the state of use, which the expert found to be good, was lousy to unusable. The leech is so frayed that the leech line flies around your ears. So the genoa of our old Katinka has to do for now. So I thought we'd quickly change the sails in the afternoon. But I could have guessed from the start that it wouldn't be that easy. The upper swivel of the furling system was begging for attention. Obviously it hadn't been looked after for a long time, which it rewarded with a refusal to turn when furling. This caused the halyard to wrap around the profile. The sail then went up and down again. A whole two hours later, the genoa could finally be furled. I think we're in for a surprise or two. Nevertheless, we're very happy, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the first frozen pizza from our own oven tastes. If someone had told me five years ago that I would be looking forward to a pizza that had been frozen and had nothing to do with a pizza, I would have chased them off the farm as a culinary philistine. How times have changed. At the supermarket, we now go through the frozen food aisles to see what good things are in there. Shrimps are now also high on our list. And the first sundowner, crushed with ice cubes from the freezer using the crushed ice machine we've had with us for five years, which hasn't been used once yet due to a lack of ice cubes, will also be a treat.

Bow Lagoon 421, Tahiti

We are in the starting blocks and, after completing all the paperwork last week, the move is scheduled for next week. We are going to clear out the Katinka and turn it back into a light racer. Likewise, we have two weeks to do this before I leave for New Zealand with our old Katinka. There is still a lot of paperwork to fill out. I'll do that on the side, preferably at night. At least the hull cleaning has already been organized. They won't let you into New Zealand without a clean fuselage. A tourist visa that can be applied for online is sufficient for the planned short stay. So I just need a bit of luck with the weather and then everything should work out. Let's see who I meet in New Zealand. However, I'll only be there for a short time and will fly back to Papeete as soon as I can. After all, Christmas is just around the corner. This will be the last Christmas before we leave French Polynesia in the spring. But there's still a lot of water flowing down the Neckar until then, and I'm sure we'll still have plenty to experience on the Society Islands. Until next time: fair winds and keep a stiff upper lip.