Zai Zai

Who: Julie, Cléo, Anne-Laure, Gwénolé, & Bruno, Thibaut & Joanne
Where: The Canary Islands
Multihull: Eclipse 472
Blog: www.aventure-zaizai.fr

It was a week ago. We had left Lorient in Brittany, with a tear in our eye. We had christened the catamaran there, before heading to La Trinité-sur-Mer, to pick up our daughters and take the new sails on board. As we cast off, we were overcome by a wave of emotion. We said to ourselves: «Life is strange. First you have children. We watch them grow and then they leave! We only want them to be happy, but it’s tough”! For this first step and to reassure the children and spend time with them, we took no less than three crew members on board. First of all, Bruno, who has a lot of cruising experience. He is also a mechanic and was by our side during the renovation works. There were also Thibaut and Joanne. For the record, they had come from La Rochelle by bicycle in August, to help us with the last-minute work before the launch. Then we went to Les Sables d’Olonne, as we had planned to accompany the 6.50s in the Mini Transat. We arrived there in the night, just in time for the first safety meeting organized by the race management. It was like jumping into a pool without having had time to put on our swimsuits. Of course, the catamaran was ready to cross, even if there were still many little things to do before leaving. The presence of our family members on the spot facilitated the logistics, especially with our children. We were able to rest and prepare calmly for our departure. Even if we knew that everything would be perfectly imperfect. We arrived today in the Canaries, in Santa Cruz de la Palma. Everything is going well. The catamaran is a rocket. The girls love their new environment. We are happy to have finally left our daily lives to live this adventure. Everything is looking positive. On the sailing side, we went from strong winds to calm waters, from oilskins to swimming in the open sea. We saw dolphins and did some wing foiling.