An anticipated reunion
From Paris to Polynesia, it took Charles nearly 30 hours of travel, over more than a week, to reach his boat. And what emotion to finally find him, after almost 3 years of separation!
While on a sailing trip in Polynesian waters, Charles is forced to return to France for a while. He leaves his sailboat at the Apataki shipyard in March 2019 and flies to Paris, hoping to return to the atoll soon to get back on the road.
But the owner's return to the Tuamotu Islands was delayed: first by family and professional constraints, then by the global pandemic which prevented him from flying again. Charles, who was paying the equivalent of 250 euros each month for the storage of his 11-meter monohull, recounts: " For a while, I even thought about selling my sailboatâeuros¦ but at more than 15,000 kilometers away, this one didn't have enough visibility." .
In January 2022, after nearly three years of waiting and happy not to have parted with it, he can finally return to the shipyard and find, at the end of the world, the ship that is dear to him.
Special care before wintering
Charles had taken the maximum precautions before his departure:
- Outside, he had removed all the elements that could be dismantled: running rigging, tiller, wooden battens of the cockpit, hood, dodgers... numbering the parts and indicating the direction of installation to facilitate reassembly on his return. He had also oiled his chain so that it would not rust in the anchor locker, protected the coachroof with an old sail hung on both sides of the boom and winterized his engine.
- Inside, he had removed all the cushions and foam, opened the cupboards and floors. He had also removed the loch to let the water out in case of need, and protected this opening with a mosquito net to prevent interested animals from entering. The owner completes " I had also placed in several strategic points a solution based on boric acid and concentrated milk, supposed to kill the cockroaches that would dare to venture into the boat" .
Assessment, 3 years later
When it was finally time to return to his boat, Charles was relieved. He explains: " Outside, the old sail that protected the deck was in tatters, but overall the boat was still in very good condition. The aluminum hull was intact, the deck had been relatively well protected ". It states, " The dry climate of the Tuamotu Islands favored a good storage: while I expected to embark on a boat with mold in several places as it is often the case in Tahiti, I found instead a very healthy boat ".
In terms of equipment, the AGM batteries that dated from 2017 did not survive. The gluing of the stand-up paddle and the tender didn't stand up to the conditions either: the former exploded on the first pressurization and the latter, which was completely unstuck, will be patched up with several cartridges of Sika until a new one can be acquired.
Inside the boat, particularly exposed to the heat, the plastics did not hold up: most of the handles of the utensils became sticky, the silicone elements cooked to the point of becoming brittle. As for the biodegradable elements like the garbage bags, which he had used to pack some of his belongings, they did biodegrade and were only flakes when he arrived.
The spaces were not invaded by insects or wasp nests, and the boric acid and condensed milk solution did indeed get rid of adventurous roaches. Charles says, " The keel of my sailboat was placed on concrete blocks and the rest of my boat was in contact with the land only by the crutches, it is perhaps that which allowed not to have too many visits of animals on board ".
A goal: to go on a big cruise around the world
Not unhappy to find his sailboat in such a good condition, Charles can now consider following his initial project. To resume his trip where he left off, he will put the boat back in sailing condition and prepare it for the big cruise. Several weeks of work on the yard will be necessary.
