Gabrielle comes back to Discovery Bay

What a decent mooring!  Would hold a Super-tanker, that...
Gabrielle in Nim Shue Wan bay, Discovery Bay, Hong Kong

Yesterday, we towed Gabrielle back to her permanent mooring in Discovery Bay. We'd taken her over the wall last year, and then it's been a while getting all the bits and pieces ready for her to be brought to her permanent mooring, back here in Discovery Bay.
David (new owner) joined us on the delivery.
Thanks to Jonno for organising the Sea Ray 24' (in turn thanks to owner Andrew), for us to tow her back from Royal Hong Kong to DB, about 12 miles.  It was a pretty rough crossing, though the photos don't really show it.  Winds from S at force 6, and choppy, confused wave patterns, a hangover of typhoon Matmo.
Still, she handled it well, and bounced along, throwing the seas and waves out of her way....
Here's some photos:

Jonno aboard Suzie M, kindly loaned to us by Andrew

Just for the record: Before launching, I had painted the yellow strip on the rudder
at the Design Water Line (DWL).  It sits right on the water line...
more luck than good management, I suspect, but pleasing nonetheless...

At the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, Noel dodging the rain

Snugging up to the tow-boat

Ooops-a-daisy, Noel hops onto Suzie M, Jonno and David in background

Rough crossing...

... so rough that a fish got bounced into the boat...

ICC building (118-storey) at the left, lost in the clouds...

One of the reasons we couldn't sail over: crossing a major shipping lane

Gabrielle-builder Forse and new owner David

Nice cover!  Noel has just clipped it on

Ahhh. peace at last.  Gabrielle lies nicely at her mooring

Later (10 September 2014): She's been sitting at the mooring now for nearly two months through all sorts of thunderstorms, and major rain bursts, and hardly takes any rain-water at all.  A tribute to Janice ("the boat-covers lady") and her skills at tight-fitting Sunsail fabric.

Re-launch and first sail

Wow, six months since the last post!...
Well, it's taken those 6 months... to find and fit a boom, to make the fittings for running and standing rigging and get the Mainsail made for Gabrielle.  Of course, not always on the job, as other things have taken their priority, like: visiting Australia, racing to -- and delivering back from -- the Philippines, Thailand regattas, trips to Xiamen and Shenzhen in China and organising Japan hiking...  In short,  it's not like we've been on the job every day....
So, anyhow, here we are with the second launching of Gabrielle, from the RHKYC, with a very nice classically-coloured Mainsail made by North's Sails (thanks to Stevo), and then our first little outing under sail by Noel and me which we did from the Club yesterday.
We hope to tow her over to her Discovery Bay mooring next week (or so...), for her new owner David to take delivery.

Looking pretty on the pontoon of RHKYC, 9 July.
Those cleats on foredeck are for the towing bridle.

The North Sails Mainsail.  Nice colour and shape, Stevo!
The jib will have to be added later by new owners.

Peter ("Forse") at the tiller: handmade laminated Ramin (bai mu).
She handled well. Note fixed point main-sheet (instead of Traveller
attached to the transom).  That's because of the set-up on the boom.

Noel checking out the bilges after our little sail.  He also took the chance
to mark out the waterline, with Duck Tape, for the anti-fouling that
will be painted on, as she'll live in the water on a mooring.