We’re going on a boat hunt…

by Mission Ocean on 2 Dec 2016 Looking for the perfect boat is a long, messy, often frustrating business. I am sure that many of you, reading this, will smile at the memory of afternoons spent wandering boatyards, or late nights scouring the small ads and re-reading the same specs over again in the search for some new gem.

We are on the verge of signing ours – or at least we hope that we are. We have a meeting planned during the Paris boat show, to (fingers crossed) finalize the purchase of a 47’ catamaran. Whilst our search has seen us crawling into the dirtiest, darkest corners of several dozen second hand boats, and braving howling gales, lashing rain, horribly delayed flights and stormy overnight ferries, it has also taken us to some of France’s most spectacular sailing destinations.

Our very first visits took place in Port St Louis du Rhône, at the mouth of the Rhone, between Marseille and Montpellier. This largely industrial town is also home to a large marina and two enormous dry ports, and has become something of a Mecca for world cruisers preparing to set off in the Med.

Swiss, German, Austrian and UK car registrations are as common in the town centre as French ones, and a host of chandleries and other small businesses have grown up around the thousands of boats on the hard. We’ve been here several times, visiting everything from a Baltec to a Suncrest, eating lots of fish soup and knocking on just about every catamaran hull that we came across.

Our closest visit to home took place in the port of Cannes, on a Catana 48 Racing. A wonderful boat, with a fantastically interesting skipper, but in need of work and already well out of our price range. A shame, as she was sitting a stone’s throw away from the berth of the super yacht on which Henrique works. He might be there every day, but Henrique never grows tired of the wonderful sunsets over the Suquet, the elegant swans that live alongside the yachts and fishing boat, or the mix of glam and authenticity that defines Cannes.

One very, very early morning in October, we flew up to Nantes, hired a car and drove to a tiny town in Brittany called Le Magouër, to visit a 48’ strip planking construction. Our flight was delayed by several hours, and we arrived with only a couple of stale croissants in our bellies, to find a rather mouldy boat that had been sitting on soggy wooden keels for a good couple of years.

As we have often discovered, the photos on the net proved to be more than flattering, and a few hours onboard was enough to set us dreaming of a warm bar and a glass of something local. Henrique had called around surveyors in the area, and one proved to be more enthusiastic (and cheaper!) than the others, so we had asked him to meet us at the yard to take a look at the boat.

Seeing our disappointed, thirsty faces, he instructed us to follow his van back along the coast road, and led us to La Trinité-sur-Mer. This town is infamous amongst French sailors, with a rich heritage in fishing, oyster farming, and round-the-world yacht racing, and was a favourite haunt of Florence Arthaud, the Poupon brothers and their compatriots. We were astounded to see Vendée globe catamarans berthed alongside tiny wooden fishing boats, and were even more blown away by the warmth of the welcome that we received at the yacht club that night. The wine flowed, and the early flight back the next morning was tough to catch, but we both vowed to return to La Trinité one day soon.

On a bit of a whim, just a few days after we got back from Nantes, we decided to take the overnight ferry to Corsica to visit a couple of Fontaine Pajots that we had seen on the net. Unfortunately, our trip coincided with the first big storm of the autumn, and apparently the crossing back to France was particularly horrendous. I say ‘apparently’, as we both slept like babies in our cabin. Not the best conditions for visiting boats, however, especially on a tiny exposed pontoon at the very southern tip of the island, in howling winds…

We came across our ‘dream boat’ in a little station balnéaire called Balaruc-les-Bains, near Sète on the south-eastern coast. At first sight, this town didn’t seem to have much to offer, but on a sunny Sunday morning we quickly warmed to its waterfront cafés, sleepy residents and very reasonable prices.

Like all good bargains, we came to discover the catamaran through a rather convoluted trail of people-who-know-people-who-might-know-someone-who-is-selling-a-boat. She’s not actually for sale, but a bit of gentle persuasion has set the owner thinking, and whilst he is a shrewd negotiator, we are close to reaching an agreement. A wonderful combination of comfort, performance and load capacity, we hope to be able to introduce you to her very soon…

Mission Ocean is Henrique Agostinho and Laura Beard. Their three year plus mission is to share their love and respect for the ocean with others, through education, and scientific research. Neither is a stranger to the water, so they have combined all their skills and passions into this bold, courageous and inspiring project. Sail-Worldcruising.com is delighted to be with them for the journey of their lifetime.