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Li Younan still had something very important to do: the sea trial.

Before this, Li Younan and his team had already submitted the statutory applications, the relevant approval procedures had all gone through, and the sea trial was scheduled for a few days later.

Because this yacht of his had undergone complex modifications, and in some key sections was already quite different from the former research vessel, according to the law it had to go through a sea trial and obtain a seaworthiness certificate before it could be used legally.

This was the last step before his yacht officially set off on global voyages.

Although unlike aircraft, ships sailing at sea don’t need to apply for fixed routes, vessels engaged in seaworthy and special operations do have to file declarations.

What is a sea trial?

To put it plainly, it’s the full-performance test carried out, in accordance with regulations, on a refitted or newly built yacht before it’s allowed to sail legally.

Through testing and inspection, they confirm that all the indicators of this yacht meet the standards; only then can a seaworthiness certificate be issued.

And the seaworthiness certificate is roughly equivalent to the registration certificate of a car—only with this thing can you legally sail.

Of course, beyond the legal requirement, the sea trial was also very important to Li Younan personally.

On one hand, he could use it to check the safety of the propulsion and how well the onboard facilities worked and could be used; on the other hand, he could get a baseline on the performance data, doing a solid test of the No. 09 yacht’s speed, fuel consumption, range, and resistance to wind and waves, stability and so on.

In the earlier period, Li Younan had already obtained his Class I Yacht Operator Qualification Certificate for offshore waters.

This certificate was a must-have for him to become a captain.

With his skills as a bonus he already knew how to handle a boat, and this license was in fact quite easy by comparison—an ordinary person can usually finish the theory and practical courses in about ten days, and get the license in at most three months.

Li Younan had gone to take the exam while he was refitting the boat; frankly, getting this certificate didn’t pose the slightest difficulty, and yachts are pretty easy to operate to begin with.

To conduct a sea trial, you must have a licensed captain, an engineer, and a surveyor from the ship inspection agency on site to supervise.

For this sea trial, Li Younan hadn’t originally planned to bring Liu Li and Jing Chaoyi along.

After all, the yacht was still in the validation phase; the main purpose was to test the vessel’s sailing capabilities, not pleasure cruising. Even if he took them, the experience wouldn’t be much fun, so this time he only intended to bring the crew and the surveyor in charge of the trial.

But later, after thinking it over, he decided that as a yacht, its living facilities should also be tested once during the sea trial.

So he decided to bring the two girls along and run the trial in full configuration.

After the launching ceremony ended, Li Younan threw himself into the intense preparations for the sea trial.

He set Qingdao as the destination for this trial.

In fact, the seaworthiness requirements for this yacht originally only called for a voyage of 150 nautical miles, but after much consideration, Li Younan decided to sail from Shanghai to Qingdao for the trial.

The sea trial route from Shanghai to Qingdao is 450 nautical miles.

Because this route can cover a variety of nearshore operating conditions, it can comprehensively test the yacht’s performance.

When he filed this route, the Maritime Safety Administration was indeed a bit surprised.

After all, it was December, and gusts in some sea areas could reach Force 8 to 9.

To be honest, for a new vessel this is not a very friendly trial route.

But this time, Li Younan was determined to thoroughly test this boat, and he had great confidence in her—after all, he had been involved throughout the hull refit; whether it was the original structure or the equipment added later, thanks to his electrical skills, he knew them inside out.

As for the wind and waves in nearshore waters, Li Younan didn’t feel the least bit worried.

Still, it had to be tested properly in real conditions.

Three days later, on a clear morning, Li Younan’s first sea trial was about to begin.

Standing on the lower deck, he was giving his crew a briefing.

Back when he’d worked as an engineer at an internet company, he’d led project teams with two or three junior guys under him, and done similar things—but never once with the same high spirits and clear, unburdened mood as now.

He pictured himself like a King Luffy about to set off on a journey to the sea of stars.

The crew in front of him were all brimming with confidence, ready to go.

Li Younan would serve as captain personally.

Standing at the head of the line was Qin Yue, tall, well-built, and taciturn.

This first mate, who was well versed in the complex coastal and oceanic waters around China and extremely knowledgeable about meteorology, would often act as acting captain—because Younan was planning to have fun, and might occasionally go ashore for a stroll, so having a key figure who could coordinate the crew was important.

Standing next to Qin Yue was another core crewmember of the vessel—the chief engineer, Chen Tiefeng.

In a sense, even with just these two people, the ship could sail.

Behind these two key figures stood the cook and ship’s doctor, Lu Zhiqing.

A faint smile hung on Lu Zhiqing’s face; since leaving the community hospital, he hadn’t felt this relaxed even once until this moment.