The curtain falls on the 2023 season. Looking forward to 2024!

We spent every weekend in October day sailing from RSrnYC in the Solent, testing the kit and learning some more about how it all works. We are by no means fluent yet, but we're getting there. At the very least we know where all the instruction manuals are now and almost how to get at everything!

We also completed the formal registration of the boat which meant we could apply for our Blue Ensign Permit and once this had arrived we could order a new flag and dress Atom accordingly. She looks very smart wearing blue! The blue ensign was hoisted just in time for RSrnYC's Trafalgar night celebration which was accompanied by the most spectacular full moon...and much merriment that needs no further discussion!

We had booked our lift for Thursday 2/11 and David stayed down to Hamble after our final weekend sailing to take the sails off and clear the boat in preparation. David and Jonathan delivered the sails to Elvstrom at HYS Monday afternoon but it also became clear that Storm Ciaran was going to arrive on the Thursday and the worst of the wind would coincide with our lift. Hamble Point confidently said "if you can get the boat into the lifting dock, we will lift her" but caution prevailed and we rebooked the lift for the following Monday and lashed Atom down with triple lines in anticipation of what was to come.

The impending storm wasn't enough to deter "Flash" from Performance Rigging from running up the mast for a final rig check. We were onboard when Ciaran arrived and as it turned out, although we had 40+ kts over the deck for a while in the early hours of Thursday, and it did get a bit bumpy on the highest tide when the wind swung east of south and blew stright up the Hamble, the following day was "no worse than a windy day at Hamble Point" and they did lift uninterrupted all day. But discretion is the better part of valour and with no time pressure we were glad we had delayed. We went back to Hamble early on Monday 6/11 and with help from Jonathan, backed the boat into the lifting dock and they pulled her out and chocked her up over the next few hours. There was some amazing machinery on display. It's slightly scary seeing your boat driving off through the yard being driven by a chap walking beside her with the equivalent of an ipad!

Atom is tucked up in a nice corner of Hamble Point Marina yard, right next to Transworld Yachts the UK Hallberg-Rassy dealer, who have her for the winter, but with no water we won't be staying on board, notwithstanding putting our cockpit caravan awning on!

On Monday night we headed back to London and over dinner considered the previous two months, and indeed the previous two years. Our conclusion...it is pretty awesome that it has all come together and we have been able to sail a properly equipped boat over 1100Nm back to the UK. We are very sad to see the sun set on 2023 but now we can go sailing! Atom is a fantastic boat, we feel completely confident in her. We are hugely grateful to Jonathan and the team at TWY in Hamble who have lived this project and dream with us...and indeed continue to do so on a daily basis. With their help we have built and equipped Atom to go around the world and we can now go anywhere and everywhere. We plan to do exactly that... as long as it is warm! We have much to do over the winter. As well a a big general tidying up job list, Atom will get some more solar panels, sat comms, a proper folding prop and we will start our prep for 2024 including a Yachtmaster Ocean course (time to dig out Tom's sextant!), some serious first aid training and a diving qualification. As I write, the charts are spread all over the table in London with a draft route plotted across the Biscay to A Coruna, on down the coast of Portugal to Lisbon, Lagos and then to Gibraltar and Sotogrande. 2024 promises adventures anew!