Astrid and Bertrand are a young couple in love with wooden sailing boats. Bertrand, a marine carpenter, is obsessed with Pilot cutters from the beginning of the 20th century. He passes on this passion to his wife to the point of deciding to buy one.
30 years of dry restoration
In 2017, in search of their future boat, they find only two units for sale. The first one close to their home is so rotten that it's good to end up in a fireplace. The second will be the right one. This is Belle Aventure, a pilot from Cherbourg built in 1913. Astrid and Bertrand discover it dry in Marseillan. For 30 years, its owner has been carefully renovating it. But also for 30 years, the yacht has been dry. A situation not really ideal for a wooden sailboat.
A sailboat more than 100 years old
Astrid and Bertrand bought the boat for 10,000 euros and had it shipped by road to Morlaix, to the shipyard where Bertrand works. Sheltered from the rain, right on the riverside of Morlaix, Belle Aventure starts a new life.
Built in 1913 near Nantes in a shipyard in the Loire, this pilot works in Cherbourg. It will then be requisitioned by the Germans during the war and used with the engine, dismasted. It ended up sinking in the Cherbourg roadstead! A doctor discovered the wreck and decided to refloat it to rebuild it. Belle Aventure then changed owners several times before arriving in Marseillan for yet another renovation.
A family navigation program
This time Astrid and Bertrand intend to sail with the boat. To leave to live on board with their son who has been born in the meantime. With its 9.80 m hull (11.35 m overall including the bowsprit), Belle Aventure is rigged as a Bermuda cutter. Its very slender mast is designed for racing by a previous owner. The mainsail is huge. Astrid and Bertrand decide to ease the whole thing. They shorten and move back the mast a little to reduce the surface area of the mainsail in relation to the jibs. On deck 2 winches help the manoeuvre even if the hoists and wooden cleats are still present. The objective of travelling with the boat means that it has to be a little more relaxed so as not to have a too sporty unit. Also the engine in place not powerful enough is replaced by a more modern and reliable model, more suitable for today's navigation.
A cosy interior that does not distort the yacht
Inside there's everything you need to transform it into a cruise ship. But it's not easy to convert it with the engine in the middle at the foot of the companionway and the back arch so beautiful from the outside, but so little volume inside.
Yet the couple manages to create 6 berths (a sort of double coffin at the stern, the saloon convertible into a double berth and a bunk in the forepeak). Bertrand will also fit out a real, very elegant galley which does not swear with the age and the line of the boat. Electricity and a little electronics complete this equipment. And what about the toilets? A simple bucket in a secluded corner of the boat.
3 years of work
The past three years have also been an opportunity to completely rebuild the hull. Although she is in good condition overall, some planks have been replaced, caulking and painting has been thoroughly reworked.
Budget-wise, we had to double the initial purchase to be ready to go. And above all to invest 3 years working on the boat almost daily. But it's worth it.
Ready for launch
Today (fall 2020), Belle Aventure is ready to be launched. All that is missing is the delivery of the standing rigging and mainsail so that the yacht can sail again. The programme is not really defined afterwards. This couple wants to live on board and travel with the boat. The first planned stopover is to be in May 2021 in Scotland at the Fife gathering. Then in the summer of 2021 at the Brest festivities. Then it will be a descent to Cape Verde, Brazil and..
