From Lagoon 39 to Lagoon 42
In 2015, Alain and Fabiola never had the opportunity to sail a catamaran. But they have always dreamed of it! They tell us "We visited several boat shows, read many blogs, and then chose a Lagoon 39 that seemed to fit our sailing schedule."
The delivery of the ship is done in La Rochelle in July 2016. After the apprenticeship with a skipper on board until Portugal, they travel in the Mediterranean between Hyères, Corsica and the Balearics. The couple is taking a liking to this new life: they are selling their house to live aboard the sailboat and are considering longer sailing trips. Fabiola comments: "This is the beginning of the nomadic life!".
She tells again: "The heating allowed us to stay on our catamaran all year long. We are in December in the port of Hyères, warm in our cocoon and comfortable, when our dealer contacts us to offer us a Lagoon 42, big brother of the Lagoon 39" . Alain completes "And the question arises! Because initially, the Lagoon 42 had really won us over, but we weren't ready for a boat of this size without experience".
A catamaran with good habitability
The couple therefore sold, not without regret, their first catamaran. In July 2018, Alain and Fabiola went back to the Lagoon shipyard, for the delivery of the Lagoon 42. The new 12.80 m long and 7.70 m wide boat, which they will name Va'a, offers more generous volumes.
In its owner's version, the catamaran has 3 double cabins and as many bathrooms. The large cabin in the starboard hull has an office space and for storage, each cabin has small closets. To be as comfortable as at home, Alain and Fabiola have installed a Webasto forced-air heater, a washing machine, a freezer, two refrigerators, an oven, a microwave and a television.
On the upper level, the boat has a spacious exterior saloon that is very pleasant to live in. The interior saloon, with many openings, is brighter than the previous vessel.
The finishes of the boat are well done: the teak covering for the exterior saloon and the flexiteck covering for the bathrooms give a warm atmosphere. The design is appreciated by the couple.
Alain and Fabiola regret that the design and installation of certain elements make maintenance interventions complicated. They point out that "For example, it was impossible for us to remove our clogged toilet drain pipe because it is fixed under the shower stall and therefore inaccessible. We had to create two inspection hatches under the cabinet to be able to intervene". Similarly, the ceiling of the canvas saloon is nice, but impossible to take down when it comes to DIY on board.
A high-performance boat to take on the open sea
The catamaran is rigged as a fractional sloop and is equipped with a 57 horsepower Yanmar twin engine. According to Fabiola and Alain, the helm station is particularly ergonomic, the external electronics and the two electric winches make navigation easier.
The boat is fast, reacts well and stays on course. Alain and Fabiola bought a Code 0 and a Code D, in addition to the horned mainsail and the self-tacking jib. Afterwards, they realized that the rail of the self-tacking jib had been poorly thought out, and that an outside intervention was mandatory in case of a tack.
With a draft of 1.20 m, the catamaran offers nice anchorage possibilities. To spend most of their time there, they embark 100 m of chain and a 35 kg Spade anchor. The wide and low stern skirts make maneuvering and boarding easier in their dinghy, which they chose to be powerful: 4.20 m long, with a 20 HP Honda engine.
To be self-sufficient in energy, Alain and Fabiola chose 1400 W solar panels, 6 batteries 140 Ah gel, a generator Onan 4KVA. They installed a 105 liters/hour watermaker feeding 2 tanks of 350 liters. And for the offshore navigation, they are equipped with a satellite communication system and a second emergency pilot.
At the end of October 2019, after a year of sailing in the Mediterranean, Alain and Fabiola are ready to set sail for the West Indies.
They will spend a year in the Caribbean, then continue their journey to Polynesia, via Colombia and the Panama Canal. In six years of sailing, they will cover 25,000 nautical miles on board Va'a, punctuated by beautiful encounters.
Today the adventure continues for them.
