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Saturday 30th Nav - Departure day!

Finally! Departure day arrived. After the Yacht Delivery Solutions crew ran through all the final pre-departure checks – engines, nav gear, steering, the works – making sure everything was spot-on for the trip, we tossed the lines off just after 10 AM this morning, Saturday, November 30th.

Getting out of the Kwun Tong anchorage required a bit of careful maneuvering, but Pikorua handled beautifully, showing how nimble this Granocean 60 can be even in tight spots. As soon as we left the shelter, we were greeted by the usual Hong Kong harbour chaos! It took some careful timing and a sharp lookout to weave our way through the traffic – plenty of big container ships and fast ferries zipping about.



Thankfully, the view from the helm station is great, which was a huge help. Pikorua took the wakes from passing boats in her stride, feeling really stable right from the get-go, which was reassuring.

Once clear of the main shipping channels, the next game was dodging the local fishing fleet and their seemingly endless longlines streaming out behind them. You definitely have to keep your eyes peeled! It all came flooding back pretty quickly though – my previous experience navigating these waters really paid off today.

With the buzz of Hong Kong finally fading astern, Pikorua settled down nicely and found her groove for the passage south. We've dialled in a good cruising speed, running the twin Cummins QBS6 engines at an easy 1550 RPM. She's making a steady 8 knots through the water and using about 15 litres per hour on each side. She feels solid underfoot and handled the initial slight swell easily – definitely feels like she's going to be a great boat for long passages like this.

First stop is Kota Kinabalu in Borneo, which is just under 1,100 nautical miles across the South China Sea. If the weather plays nice and everything keeps running smoothly, we're hoping to pull in there sometime Friday or Saturday next week.

It feels absolutely fantastic to be properly underway and putting some miles under the keel.



Yacht Delivery Solutions provides professional sail and power boat delivery services throughout Asia and the South Pacific.










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Location: Hong Kong

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