We launched “her ladyship’ from pilot bay at Mt Manganui and had a great inner harbour paddle to a beach settlement called Omokoroa. Nice place with an plenty of shade for a brief lunch break and a shop for an ice cream. The return trip was about 20km – Barb and I can make this boat move well. We were in the company of phil and linda ( trip leaders) and it was a good chance to see how we and our boat will perform when we get into expeditions with ( faster) others. verdict is that we will be just fine – ” her ladyship ” is fast lady. The return was a bit lumpy as the tide started to run and we had to take the final crossing of the main shipping channel carfully as the tide races out through the narrow entrance to the harbour.