Arriving back from the washrooms this morning, I discovered John at the end of the boat rapidly disappearing behind the dinghy he was busily inflating. Dinghy trial today, I thought. We have yet to use the dinghy in anger, but went on a trial run last year. Trial being the appropriate word, when it had come to my go. Today was obviously the day for a repeat performance. We had breakfast first. In the time it took me to wash up and brush my teeth John had assembled the electric outboard and was sitting waiting for me in the dinghy. This time he had assembled the seat, which made it all very civilized. I clambered aboard and he took me for a spin. A relatively quiet one, just a few Clanger noises as John revved occasionally. There was none of the jolting drama of our first trial and we made a very pleasant circuit of the marina basin. It is surprisingly large. We made our way back to Lyra and it was my turn. The seat was a bit of an obstacle when it came to changing places without tipping over and I had an uncomfortable moment with one of the rowlocks, but we managed it. Off I set, steering more or less where I wanted to go. John commented on the silent running at this speed, so I speeded up to full throttle fridge roar. We still did not disturb the slumbering seagulls on the jetty. Mine was a shorter tour of just part of the basin, as yachts were beginning to set out and I was not keen to test my prowess too far. Back to base, and I managed to dock on the second attempt. Climbing back out past the seat and up onto Lyra’s stern was a challenge, but again all passed off without a splash. John passed me up the electric outboard a piece at a time and we congratulated ourselves on a successful sea trial. Tomorrow it will be the real thing. We plan to take Lyra out into the lagoon and anchor there.