Saint-Malo, Cape Verde, Brazil, Ushuaia, Patagonia, Easter Island, Polynesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Australia, Madagascar, the Azores, the West Indies, New York, Canada, Saint-Malo. A round-the-world trip by the 3 capes. A daring gamble that you have to know how to manage according to the weather. Moreover, Isabelle and Jean-Benoit took the decision to take their time, to get in touch with places and people.
Early Retirement
The executive assistant and the computer scientist have the opportunity to retire at the age of 53. Both travelers and yachting enthusiasts are beginning to have the dream of a lifetime at their fingertips. Jean-Benoit has been sailing since childhood, Isabelle quickly converted to salt water. Both of them want to sail around the world. At their own pace, however, taking all the time they need for pleasure.
Navigation on a Patago 40
Their navigation will be done on a boat of which they will be the third owners, a Patago 40. A 2006 amateur construction based on Jean-François André's plans. Maverick II is an integral aluminium dinghy. It has already been widely used in the past. The boat has spent 6 years around the world with her former owners, including rounding Cape Horn.
In 2019, Isabelle and her husband will acquire their new boat, bring her from La Rochelle to Saint-Malo to start her construction and launch the major adaptations. They will focus on the comfort and life on board. The amateur who built this boat has done it with a lot of logic and efficiency. The list of adaptations is diverse: port aft cabin transformed into a workshop, new headsail, slight modifications to the rigging, new close-hauled sprayhood, engine overhaul, a small makeover, and a thousand small more or less ambitious do-it-yourself projects will be carried out, to make this boat their boat.
Program frustrated
Right in the middle of the ship's work comes containment. At the shipyard the activity is reduced. The project is delayed, much delay. The start of navigation was initially planned for March 2020. The departure is therefore postponed to September. This leaves more time to refine the boat. And also to complete their skills. Isabelle will follow a training course in emergency medicine in Lorient, JB a training course in weather forecasting in Nantes.
To reassure relatives and finish taking charge of the ship, a few outings are carried out on weekends. Chausey and the Hebrews will help to detect some of the boat's defects and correct them. Jean-Benoit, a computer specialist, is a regular user of the Agile method, which he uses here on purpose.
Time goes by, dates become clearer. The departure will take place in September 2020. Maverick II will be honorably christened on August 29, 2020, in the presence of its godfather, Gilles Lurton the mayor of Saint-Malo. The Malouin skipper Nils Boyer now the auspices are open for the boat. Time is passing. Not fast enough or too fast, depending on whether you're talking about the friends you're going to leave or the suitcases you have to prepare.
The weather forecast's coming in. Departure is scheduled for September 19th. Last-minute incidents are quickly forgotten. The lock of the Vauban basin, the mole of the blacks, Cézembre, the big garden. With the bell tower of the cathedral of the corsair city, the first bitterness disappears. Then the fire of the Balue no longer quite aligns with that of the Bas-Sablons. The crossing has begun.
First feelings
A month has passed. First findings, first minor damage. Always something to do on board, from repairing recalcitrant toilets to repainting the bottoms to better identify a waterway. The crew takes its marks and its skills. Both Isabelle and JB discover the boat, the techniques and the surprises of everyday life on a long distance cruise. Sailing goes as smoothly as possible, as expected. Small stages from 15 to 70 miles (3 to 12 hours of sailing), take one's time the ultimate goal.
After a month's sailing, here they are in Portugal. The southbound course is set...
