Although Drijfsijs was delivered on 18 June we had to wait nearly a week for some good weather to use it for the first time. This evening the sun arrived and after work we headed to the southernmost point of Tromsø island (Sydspissen) with the boat and supplies for a barbeque on the nearby island of Store Grindøy.
It took Hanneke and I about half an hour to get the boat ready, but once in the water we had to wait another 15 minutes for the engine to warm up because it was the first time it had ever been used. When it was ready we pootled along to a jetty at Telegraph Bukta and picked up Nicolas who was joining us for the barbeque. This was a bit tricky as the steps of the jetty end a couple of feet above the water at low tide!
From the jetty we went to a sandy beach near the south west tip of Store Grindøy, where it was possible to jump over the bow of the boat onto the sand without getting our feet wet. We had a nice barbeque on the beach and afterwards went for a short walk. The interior of the island is off limits during the summer because a lot of birds make their nests on the ground, but the beaches are open. Naturally some birds choose to nest on the beaches and we saw a few nests with seagull eggs. Some people in Tromsø collect seagull eggs to eat but I wasn't tempted.
After our BBQ we returned to Sydspissen via the jetty at Telegraph Bukta. It was quite easy to pull the boat back up the beach using the launching wheels and soon we were on our way home. It was a good maiden voyage!