It turned out to be a slick operation, taking delivery of our new Sunbeam 42.1 and transferring all the gear from our old one, a Sunbeam 44. It was not, however, without a lot of hard work, reminiscences and many mixed emotions!
We had driven to Matsee, near Salzburg for the factory handover on July 29th. We were amazed at the speed of the transformation of our new boat from raw hull and separate deck that we had seen on June 19th, to a fully furnished and functioning boat interior that we inspected on July 29th. It was a happy day and we both felt the reality of the project we had spent the last few months planning. As we took our car back to UK, the new boat was transported to Slovenia for rigging and launching.
We rejoined her in Izola, Slovenia, on August 8th for the maiden sail with Sunbeam sales director, Gunter Ambrosi. We had sunny and light wind conditions for the 20 mile trip during which time we were trying and testing all the sailing gear.
We were fortunate to be able to tie up the new alongside the old boat in San Giorgio, Italy, as it made for easy gear moving. Notwithstanding that, it took 3 days to empty every locker, cupboard, nook and cranny and relocate everything to an accessible place on the new boat.
We soon had Deja Vu looking lovely!
During our time in San Giorgio we had the pleasure of meeting Bernhard and Gabby, a very friendly German couple sailing on Vivace, another Sunbeam 44. We enjoyed our evenings together and hope we will see them again one day.
August 13th and time had come to bid our final farewell to Déjà Vu II. She had looked after us well! We were ready to set off and start a new wave of adventures in our new Déjà Vu.
Deja Vu 
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