22/07/2006 - Sables D'olonne-Fort Lauderdale
My next departure is from Sables Dolonne (west coast of France) in a brand new Lagoon catamaran that has to be taken to Fort Lauderdale in Florida. The intention is to join the boat in Sables Dolonne on 22nd July (not before) and leave maybe 4 days after that depending on the weather and the readiness of the boat.
We will stop at the Azores where will rest for 2 or 3 days before making for Florida. It is a passage of at least 4,500 miles and from start to finish will take perhaps 8 weeks in total.
The last time I crossed on one of these I found sitting on the trampoline with a mat under me to keep the breeze off my back and a cushion for my head, the horizon in front and nothing but blue above, real life seemed an awfully long way away!
There plenty of room on this vessel and the cockpit is more like a patio so it is about as comfortable a passage as you are likely to find.
At the end we will have to present the boat in as new condition for it to be handed over to the US dealers. This will take a good bit of scrubbing and cleaning. But as they say, more hands make light work.