La Rochelle – oct.2019

Where do I start ? It is hard to describe how it feels, after waiting, dreaming, planning two years, knowing that the special moment has finally come. Chegou a hora, zoals ze in Brazilië zeggen. 

But first I had to leave Viviane behind in São Paulo, travel to Belgium on my own with more than 100kg of luggage, then organize the sailing equipment stuff (more than 1ton of it had to be moved from Belgium to La Rochelle).

In order to get that done, I had to load up our FP-dealer’s truck and our rented mobilhome, … And my son and I hit the road for La Rochelle, where our “O2” was expected to leave the Fountaine Pajot factory only a few days later.

Maybe it didn’t start all that well.  Apparently something went wrong with the communication regarding the final option list. So our boat came with options we hadn’t  ordered, and some of the options we really wanted were not there. But with some help and understanding from all sides, we found an acceptable compromise.

Once in La Rochelle, O2 was already waiting on the quay. In the next few days, the MacGlide antifouling had to be put on (see the equipment page for more about this), the swimming platform had to be replaced, and of course the mast and rigging… 

The moment the massive lift is coming to put her in the water is very exciting too. She looked big, but hanging in the slings, this 13 ton boat looked suddenly small. Once in the dock, they check all bilges. Or as a worker unrespect fully put it: “At least she keeps floating”.

Another 3 days waiting for our boat to be prepared, and Friday 11^th of October, she was handed over. It was also the start of a hectic 3 weeks: From experience, I consider no better place than Europe to get things done on a boat. And in La Rochelle you have many very professional companies. Only problem is, that they are all very fully booked and communication or administration is not always their best quality. But overall, I have to say that I appreciated really very much the help, the craftsmanship and the camaraderie. 

For those interested in what exactly has been done by whom during these first few weeks, here is a summary:

OK, some things didn’t work out exactly like planned, but overall, not a bad word about any of these companies. I would recommend them all.

During 3 weeks, I worked 15-16 hours a day, 7 days a week, to get all of these things done. Although a lot is still on my to-do-list, I am proud of the result. If I hadn’t been on such a tight schedule,  I would have taken way more time to do all these works. But we are exporting our boat from the EEC, so we have a strict time limit. And mid-December, I expect Viviane in Lisbon to join me again.

While working, I kept checking the weather forecasts: I knew it, getting out of the Bay of Biscay in autumn can be quite challenging. Some of the locals told me that for weeks already, it hadn’t been possible because of all the lows making their way into the bay. It would be very unwise to leave the security of the marina. When I went to the harbor master to tell that I would have to stay a bit longer, they of course understood, but finding a spot for me was clearly another problem. For weeks, nobody left, and every day new boats arrived from the different shipyards around La Rochelle. And this is ‘Low season’ !