This is a boat in the Marseille area - Clarence is an old family friend and has been living on board for several years. I always love to see new boats and I hadn't seen Clarence in a long long time so one evening, my uncle and I popped over with pizzas and a bottle of wine to take a look at his beauty.
Clarence does take his boat out from time to time and she's all set up to sail, however, like my other live aboard friends, he stressed that he sails a lot more conservatively than I would on Elise, as it is his house!
The contrast with Elise is huge. First it is a 45 footer, and a cruising boat, not a 27-foot race boat. It is much heavier, much more spacious, super comfortable - which means that you can actually stand on the boat, neatly organized. It was super well maintained and I love to see boats that get regular attention. Keeps them beautiful :)
I guess that when you live on the boat, you have a pretty strong incentive to do so.
[[posterous-content:pid___0]] The galley with a super cute Christmas tree.[[posterous-content:pid___8]] Nat and Clarence ready to set sail for some tropical destination. We already got the pineapple :-)[[posterous-content:pid___7]] The boat[[posterous-content:pid___3]] Nav table area, full of gadgets :)[[posterous-content:pid___4]] The boat is rigged so that everything can be controlled from the cockpit in a relaxed way. Both sails are furled for instance.[[posterous-content:pid___5]][[posterous-content:pid___6]] Jean-Paul in the lounge[[posterous-content:pid___1]] Typical Marseillais :)[[posterous-content:pid___2]]The captain!
A lot of people ask me which boat they should buy after they decide to become a boat owner. My answer is always a question as it is important to know what the boat will be used for. Clarence did a great job at that. He was very clear about what he neded the boat for (eg. a house) and the boat looks just about perfect for that goal!
On another topic, we talked about the Mediterranean Coast and how it is becoming increasingly busy and harder and harder to just cruise around - fewer anchorages drive people to marinas who then charge an arm and a leg for overnight stays - so many people decide to cruise around the Med that most guest docks are full throughout the summer making it impossible to move around without reservations, and taking away the freedom of just sailing around with no constraints...
PS: I was dressed like this all week as United lost my luggage...
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