I'm receiving a lots of questions about how I got my boat in the first place
and what is the story of Ann Alé
So I thought I could do a quick recap about how that boat came into my life
It was back in 2013, I was in the south of France, finishing my masters
And a friend of my parents calls me to tell me about this boat that is being given away
In Berre l'Etang, near Marseille in south of France
The owner is selling her for really cheap because the owner needs the berth
He sends me the information about the boat, the built, the model: Ecume de Mer
So I start looking online for information about the boat
All the reviews I found seemed to agree that this boat is really good
Strong built, capable of going blue water
So I had big expectations when I went to see the boat
When I got that call I was in Paris, doing some job interviews
to find a job to finance my last year of master
I couldn't think about anything else but that boat,
Getting a boat is never a rational decision
But at that point I was in a suit, but only dreaming about this small boat waiting for me
So I finished my interview, dropped the suit, and hitchhiked all the way down to Marseille
At that point, I had no idea what I was doing
For the records, I didn't got the job I was having that interview for
But it's probably better this way, I would have had to work in Paris,
I wouldn't have liked it I think
So I arrived in Berre l'Etang, have a look at the boat
I also met the owner, Manu, really nice guy
So to start reviewing the boat, I first hauled it out of the water
she had been sitting there for 3 or 4 years
All the bottom part was full of mussels
Then arrived my dad and my cousin, they helped me to scrap the hull
I was mainly looking at the hull condition, to check for damages or extensive osmosis
I checked the engine, that turned out to be really old and impossible to be fixed
and then checked the sails/rigging and made sure the bilges were dry
At that point, the decision of buying the boat was taken
Sorry, forgot to film this before, and now I'm struggling with lighting
The boat was ok, but I knew I would have to invest a lots of money,
And he needed the berth in the harbour
So we agreed I would take the boat for 1$, even if at that moment I couldn't find a coin
So I went into my car and found a bottle of beer brewed by my friends back in the Pyrenees
and give this beer as payment
So if you run into the previous owner of my boat,
he will probably tell you the story about how I got my boat for one beer
I took the engine out as friends were showing up to give me a hand
During 4 days, they helped me fix the sails,
give a big clean, fix the most important elements, rigging, steering...etc
So I could sail the boat to the Montpellier area where I was studying at that point
Don't know how we made it, but after 4 days the boat was back on the water
She had a clean antifooling, and all the vital elements were working
The mainsail was operational and the genoa and furler as well
At that point I had no electricity or electronics
But the boat could sail, and I was planning on leaving on tuesday to Montpellier
We left around 3am with my friend Raphael
At that point I had no GPS, only one really bad chart
No chart plotter either, so I started asking the locals how to get out of the marine pond
Because there is a lots of sand banks everywhere
They basically told me to go straight towards the lights of the nearby airport
And then turn 90 degrees right when having a transit with a bridge...
I don't know how we didn't run aground that first night
But we made it, at night, passed the opening bridges in time
So we made it in time for the opening bridges, and off we were, in the open water,
and sailed the 70nm towards the Montpellier area
Looking back, so many things could have went wrong, but everything went fine
But we had the minimum, one portable VHF and we stayed coastal
Actually we didn't even had a proper chart, only the almanach
So with the close up prints of every harbour,
we eventually had the whole passage, but on different pages
It was a pretty nice 1st sail
And then started the whole adventure
Owning a boat is a lots of time and money, two things I was lacking being a student
But I lived while doing minor fixes
Tried to install an inboard engine, bought a second hand one that never worked
Sailed a lot with only the outboard one
And worked more on it during my last semester of university
During that time, my cousin helped me a lot with the fixing and he was sailing with me as well
Also lots of friends from university, we would go for a sail after the classes
Or even sometimes skipping classes to go sailing
Just enjoying cruising in the south of France
As soon as I finished my last semester and my internship
I remember it was on the 11th of July 2014, and on the 14th, I was setting sails towards Corsica
I spent the summer sailing around Corsica, meeting with friends
Working here and there and sailing single handed as well
And came back to France in September 2014
At that point, I didn't really knew what to do
and I started applying for jobs in the south of France
I was starting to take interviews to get a regular job around Montpellier
I was about to say Yes to work in a research center
When a friend calls me saying that
he needs another sailor to deliver an 25m catamaran from Egypt to Thailand
Can you be in Egypt in 2 days?
I ask him to give me 1/2hour to give him an answer
I call back the company I had almost be hired in, asking if it was a problem if I turned down the position
They said it was ok, so off I was
And the next day I was on a plane, flying to Egypt
to deliver that boat to Thailand
Thats actually a crazy adventure I'll have to get back to
I spent a month and half at sea to deliver this boat
Then stayed a few months working in Thailand and flew back to France
I was still broke, but I had this idea that I wanted to sail my boat across the Atlantic
I don't know how this idea came, but I knew I needed money to achieve this dream
So I took a 6 month contract, working for the UN and flew to Haiti
It was June 2015, I was 2 weeks away from flying back to France
with some money in my pocket to start a major refit of the boat
and go for the Atlantic crossing at the end of 2015
When I got a big motorbike accident
A bus run into me, crushed me and my girlfriend
Hopefully she was ok, but my motorbike was destroyed and so was my left foot.
I spent 3 month in between wheelchair and surgery,
then another 3 month doing rehabilitation
When I was finally back on my legs and operational again
I was again without enough money in my pocket
So the whole boat plan was down again
So what I did was hauling the boat out of the water,
store it on the dry somewhere cheap, meaning my friends place in the forest
And went back to work, I took a 1 year contract for the UN
and went to Pakistan for a full year
After this, I could finally start the refit
And that's when I started this channel, early 2017
From that point, you know the story of the refit
That's more or less the story of the journey of the boat
And how Ann Alé came into my life
I really hope you liked this episode
I had a lots of fun editing it, as I had to dig into so many footage and memories
Stay posted, much more is coming,
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