It is anchored in Porto that we find Maverick II and Jean-Benoît, his captain. We are going to exchange with this former fireman from Paris on his vision of the great cruise.
Project Management
According to Jean-Benoît, the secret of such a project lies in the preparation, particularly the training of each crew member. " I followed a training course with the technical training stopover in Nantes : Electronics, electricity, mechanics, seamanship and meteorology. I needed to acquire real good skills, not just basic skills, but skills that could be applied alone at sea. And, also, to know how to build up the onboard toolbox which is neither too heavy nor too little filled. Tool shops are very rare in the middle of the Atlantic! "He also talks about seminars he's attended" The Grand Large Yachting seminar I attended in the spring of 2018 was another real trigger. We can do it, others do it, with less means than we have, and they manage it ", explains the owner.
Go and say it
The real difficulty of the start? Jean-Benoît explains, " In fact, the most complicated part is telling friends and family that we're leaving. Getting them to move from the idea that we have a project to the idea that we're going to do it. We were surprised to find that few people supported this adventure. Fear of many things, above all the fear of feeling abandoned. And it's hard to fight that feeling, not to be on the side of the bad guys who give up. We made sure everyone around us was as active as they wanted to be in the preparation, training and testing of Maverick II."
"Along the way," explains Jean-Benoît, "you meet people with whom you build relationships and friendships. It's always heartbreaking to separate from these people, not knowing if we'll ever see each other again." However, he puts it into perspective: " it's part of the beauty of travel to change places and people every morning. "
" We're both soul travelers, one like the other. Our professional lives no longer suited us. Our children have grown up. We lived in Paris, with ideal financial situations ", explains Jean-Benoît about his motivations for leaving. " Why don't you just leave? One wonders. Once, twice, a hundred times. Then the idea matures. Is it financially feasible?" Because, insists the captain of Maverick II, money is one of the keys to leaving. And time, too. " As both public servants, we had the opportunity to retire early. "
Money, the sinews of war?
As for the budget, Jean-Benoît is transparent." The boat, turnkey, ready to go, came back to us at 210.000 euros . Life on board represents about 3,000 euros per month. Of course ", he says, "i you have to be able to handle life on board and life ashore. We have a son who's in school and we're financing his education... ", he warns, before adding: " We met young people who had been away for 3 months on a 7.20 m with 3,000 euros of budget in their pockets. At the opposite extreme, retired people leave with several tens of thousands of euros available. Everyone will have the opportunity to realize his dream on his own scale, money is the means to achieve it, it does not make the trip in itself ", he concluded.
Life aboard Maverick II
Life aboard Maverick II is based, first of all, on each other's skills, the objective is to achieve versatility. Jean-Benoît explains: " Isabelle invests herself in the navigation and its preparation. She loves to prepare and organize trips. "He goes on," Isabelle naturally takes care of the daily routine, but the daily tasks (cooking, shopping, laundry ...) are divided by natural appetite. It's the same way as on earth, with the difference that everyone has to improve their skills. Isabelle is now taking on responsibilities in navigation, which she didn't do before, as we've always sailed with a crew, where tasks are spread out between the crew members. "
Life as a couple
" Sailing as a couple ", explains Jean-Benoît, " is to adapt life at sea to the knowledge we have of each other. Let's take the example of watches. We didn't want to impose a watchkeeping rhythm on ourselves, so we copied our normal natural cycles. The one who goes to sleep will take his watch when he wakes up. We want to respect our natural circadian cycles without waking up or alarming. If the person on watch is too tired, he will ask the other person for help. Then he can rest. "
Shared goals
Among the absolute objectives of the owner, Cape Horn and the Patagonian canals. "O n wants to do it and this is the ultimate goal of this adventure, a mixture of my passion for the sea and Isabelle's passion for the mountains. "Things are clear, the project is shared in the couple.
Lack of social relations
What's missing on board? " Nothing is really missing, except social life. Being without a relationship overnight, no more Sunday or Saturday night meals with friends. We've been telling people about it since 2017. It is voluntarily that we take our time on Europe, to slowly take distances, on the one hand, to be able to come back to Brittany for the Christmas holidays on the other hand, just to reassure everyone. "And cut, gently, the umbilical cord.
Communicating to the earth
On the subject of keeping earthlings informed, Jean-Benoît explains that the communication part of the project has been thought through at length. " We had to manage not to be or intrusive nor exhibitionist don't frustrate people who haven't left. Give the information where people want it, Facebook, Instagram or blog, without forcing them to receive it or take it. We don't want to get anyone drunk, this project is ours, not theirs! ", explains Jean-benoît.
Advice?
And for those who would like to leave, too? The owner explains: " Prepare well, don't leave on a whim. Manage your project as a couple from the start, don't leave to please the other. Consider and plan a real change of life and rhythm. A new paradigm of life and relationships with oneself and the other. Be prepared to make concessions to comfort, to finances for afterwards. And no matter what happens, consider not regretting anything, you will have done it or, at least, you will have tried. "
Isabelle and Jean-Benoît are well and truly gone, they've moved on. We will meet them again very soon to share their discoveries and their life on board.
