Sailing Adriana · Life Aboard

A Monday well spent – Breskens Marina

Monday. Sunshine. No excuses. Sometimes the universe aligns and hands you a perfect working day aboard — blue skies, no rain, and a to-do list long enough to feel genuinely accomplished by the time the sun dips. This was one of those days.

☀️

The forecast said sun, and for once the forecast was not lying. We made the most of every single minute of it.

On the water

Lasso & Harbour Manoeuvres

We started the morning with something that felt equal parts useful and slightly nerve-wracking: practising the lasso technique for mooring lines, followed by a run through harbour manoeuvres. There is something wonderfully humbling about realising that the boat does exactly what physics tells it to, and not necessarily what you’d prefer. But that’s the point of practising now, in calm conditions, rather than discovering the gaps when there’s a dock and an audience.

The manoeuvres went better than expected. Piet had the engine handling sorted; the test was the choreography between us — who does what, when, without having to shout across the cockpit. We’re getting there.

“Practising in calm conditions is not a luxury. It’s the whole point.”

Rigging

Up Goes the Bimini

With the sun fully committed to the day, it was time to test the bimini — up and then down again, getting the routine smooth. A bimini is one of those essentials that seems straightforward until you’re actually doing it and realise there are about four too many attachment points and not quite enough hands. We figured it out. The shade it threw across the cockpit was immediate and extremely welcome.

Taking it down again is also worth practising. The fold, the pack, the tidy stow. Getting that muscle memory in place now means we won’t be wrestling with canvas in the dark somewhere off the coast of Brittany.

The satisfying part

Scrubbing, Covers & a Full Clean

Then came the part that looks unglamorous in photos but feels absolutely wonderful when it’s done: a proper clean. Deck scrubbed. Windows done. Various covers discovered — some expected, some that had been hiding in lockers long enough to have acquired their own ecosystem. The boat, top to bottom, inside and out, got the treatment.

🧹 Deck Scrub Full sweep, fore and aft. Looking sharp.	🪟 Windows Salt haze gone. The view improved immediately.
🛡️ Covers Discovered, assessed, assigned proper homes.	✨ Polish & Tidy Above and below decks. No corner spared.

There is a particular satisfaction in cleaning a boat on a sunny day. The brightness exposes every smear and watermark, which means you actually get them. On a cloudy day you convince yourself something is clean. In full sun, there are no illusions — and no excuses either.

Adriana gleaming in the Monday sun — before and after very much worth comparing

Mid-day pause

Lunch in the Sunshine

We ate outside. That’s it. That’s the detail that made it. A proper lunch in the cockpit with the sun on our faces, boats ticking quietly in their berths around us, not a cloud in the sky. On a day like this, a sandwich tastes like something from a good restaurant. We didn’t rush it.

Small victory

The Onboard Shower: Verdict In

The onboard shower has been tested and declared: excellent. Hot water, more then decent pressure, drains properly. Not the kind of shower you’d write home about on land — but on a boat, in a marina, after a day of scrubbing decks and climbing around the cockpit? Absolutely excellent. Fully approved. We will be using it.

A sunny Monday, a boat that is visibly cleaner and better-understood than it was the day before, new skills practised, systems tested, and a plate of linguine to close it all out. Not a bad way to spend a working day aboard Adriana.

Until next time —

Ilse & Piet · Sailing Adriana