Claude Desjardins – Part 1 of sailing from Canada to Australia
Episode 5 of The Sailing Podcast is part one of a two part interview with Claude Desjardins who has a wonderful story about small boat sailing and his journey started in 1979 in Montreal in his homebuilt yacht Pere Peinard. Claude had ordered some plans for an 18 foot Bruce Roberts designed trailer sailor and then he adapted them and built a formidable ocean sailing yacht. It proved to be a very capable vessel which served him well in his travels as you will hear about this in the interview.
Claude doesn’t see his trip as particularly special or legendary however I find it fascinating that he has sailed so far and lived for such a long time on a small yacht. His story really proves that you don’t need a big yacht or catamaran to go small boat sailing on the ocean. What is important is that your boat is sea-worthy and well prepared and that you just get out there with whatever budget you have available.
Part 2 of the interview with Claude sailing from Canada to Australia:
Episode 5 Show Notes
Here are some links to websites mentioning Claude:
Bruce Roberts Design Website
- http://www.bruceroberts.com.au/sail/r19.htm – there is a nice little article by Genevieve on this page
“Small is Beautiful” – article on Microcruising.com
“Famous Small Boat sailing” on Microcruising.com
A photo gallery that I found on Google
Claude has a YouTube channel at – http://www.youtube.com/user/Peinard79/videos and hopefully we can convince him to put some of his small boat sailing footage from the trip up there.
The Sailing Podcast – Episode 5
Transcript of the Podcast with Claude
David: This is the Sailing Podcast with David and Carina Anderson Episode number 5 We would love you to come and join us on our journey.
Hello everybody, welcome to the fifth episode of the Sailing Podcast. The episode today is part one of a two-part interview with Claude Desjardins who has a wonderful story about his journey, which started in 1979 in Montreal, in his home-built yacht. He ordered some plans for an 18 foot Bruce Roberts designed trailer sailor, then he adapted them and built a formidable ocean sailing yacht. It proved to be a very capable vessel, which served him well in his travels, as you will hear about in the interview.
Claude doesn’t see his trip as particularly special or legendary, however I find it fascinating that he’s sailed so far and lived for such a long time on a small yacht. His story really proves that you don’t need a big yacht or a big catamaran to go cruising on the oceans. What’s important that your boat is seaworthy, well prepared, and that you get out there with whatever budget you have available. You can find some articles and photos of Claude’s trip online on places such as microcruising.com and on the Bruce Roberts website there’s some photos. I’ll put links to these on our website, that’ll be at www.thesailingpodcast.com forward slash Claude, and we may even be able to get Claude to put up some sailing footage on his YouTube channel. If he does, I’ll put links there as well on the website. We caught up with Claude at his office, where Claude’s a distributor for the German-designed and manufactured Torqeedo electric outboards. Torqeedo are their leaders in high-tech electric outboard motors. They also do batteries, solar panels, things like that. Down the track, we’ll have to ask Claude to come back and share some insights into what the latest developments are in electric systems. But for now, we’ll just let Claude take us right back to the beginning of his dream to go sailing across the oceans.
David – Well, thanks Claude for coming along today, and we just want to hear some stories about your great sailing experience.
Claude – Well, that’s my pleasure, and yeah, so there we go. So you want to know about how it all started and what that was all about. So basically, I used to do family sailing with my family, my father and sister and so forth, and mother. And my father had a large sailing trimaran, and that was in the 60s. And that was a Jim Brown design, was one of the first Jim Brown designs.
And so we used to do cruising around Montreal and the state, like Champlain and so forth. But that’swhere the dream started, really, is with the sailing. And probably before that, that is when I was quite young, and the dream was very much an intellectual dream. So that is, I read a lot of books, so I read all the great trip and what other people have to do. And that was quite an exciting thing for me at the time. So that was a combination of doing the sailing with the family and also reading. And my uncle also built a trimaran. It was one of the first Piver, and also in the 60s. And so at the time, my father’s boat was a large trimaran, and my uncle’s boat were the two only trimarans in Montreal. And that was quite unusual at the time, and obviously it was very different than the other way people were sailing.
That is, they used to sell small boats, and there was not that much sailing. So anyway, it all started with that, and eventually it’s become, after I’ve read all the great books, for example, Moitessier was “The Long Way” by Moitessier. I read that five times when I was in high school. So that actually was quite funny, because at the library, they used to have cart in the back of the book, in the library of the high school, and the only name in there was my name. Nobody else had read the book except me.
So basically, at the time, it was a dream and something very kind of a crazy idea. But eventually the idea became something that I wanted to do. And I used to have a small boat, it was a Mirror Dinghy, a small Mirror dinghy, and I used to sail the St. Lawrence River and so forth. How long is a Mirror dinghy? It’s ten foot, so it’s a little bit more than a sabot. Because I used to have one too before, I used to have a sabot, and then I went up to the Mirror Dinghy, and I used to go on an expedition with my Mirror, so that is going down with my tent and sleeping in the bottom of the boat, and go down the St. Lawrence Seaway.
David – How old were you when you were doing this?
Claude – I cannot remember exactly, but I will have been middle teenager, maybe.
David – Your parents would just let you go off by yourself down the river?
Claude – Yes, they used to, and I did that one stage actually, that was in my sabot, I did a very big part of the Lake Ontario, because we were sailing on the Lake Ontario with my father, and so he was on the big trimaran, and I was following with it. So I went across, you know, part of Lake Ontario.
David – Excuse my geography, but does Lake Ontario have sea access?
Claude – Yes, Lake Ontario is where basically all the big ships go. For example, the Great Lake, that is not just Lake Ontario, but all the lakes there. Basically that is what supplies, for example, Chicago. So all the ships have to make it there to do all the supply and so forth. So it is a big seaway, and Lake Ontario itself is quite large.
So when you are in the middle, you do not see the shore. So I did that with my sabot. So I used to do a lot of adventuring.
David – By yourself, though? Even as a kid, were you sailing those trips by yourself?
Claude – Well, yes, I did. When I was down the St. Lawrence seaway, I was by myself. And I did quite a bit of that. And also with friends, we used to go and have different boats and different things. And you know, I always have a boat in my life. So that was an important thing to me. And eventually, when I did one trip down the St. Lawrence seaway, it was always like the norm for me. I was going to do a long crossing. And at the time, the idea was to build a boat and cross the Atlantic. I cannot tell you when the idea started, at what stage or what age I was, but it seems like it’s always been there. And obviously, I was very influenced by my father’s love of boats and by my uncle’s boat building. And that was something that was kind of in the thing. And I used to do a lot of hanging around the boatyard where my father kept his boat. And in Montreal, we sort of don’t sail very much because it’s cold most of the year. So we work a lot on our boats. So the boat is out of the water, and we used to spend a lot of time there and working on the boat and, of course, looking at all the people on the side of the seaway there and all the people dreaming of boats.
That was at the time of all the big ferro-cement boats. And so everybody was building a boat, and they were all going to go and do the trip. And I actually used to spend quite a bit of time, for example, the ferro-cement, I remember going over and doing the concreting because it needed to be done all in one go. So the people in the yard will ask everybody to come and help. So I was always there. It’s better for them to have a whole team of people. Well, you need to do it all in one. So I used to go and do that. So I was kind of part of this little dreaming group.
So anyway, so what’s happened is when I was going down, like I was saying before, just down the river, the St. Laurence, at one stage I did the trip, and I could not come back because the current was too strong, and I was way down the river. It was quite a long way. So I called my father to come and pick me up. So he did come down with his car, and basically we put the Mirror on the roof and come back. And when we were driving back, he told me that I received some boat plans from Australia, actually. And so I said, oh, great. And he said, what is that all about? So I said, well, that’s the plan of my boat. And he said, well, what’s the story? And I said, well, I’m going to build it. So he said, well, that’s not the boat you want to cross the Atlantic with. And I said, yeah, and he got quiet for a while.
And he got quiet because that was the Bruce Roberts Trailer Sailor 18, it was not exactly a boat for most people to think about, an offshore going boat. And so he said, well, and especially at the time I was in college, so I was studying. And so he said, well, you can use the garage and the tool, but I’m not going to help you. And he never did.
So I ended up building the boat in the garage. And he never did. And they did come a lot, look at it and see what, but obviously everybody at the time was thinking it’s never going to happen. And so he’s never going to finish it. And he’s never going to leave.
So I was quiet. I can just do my stuff. And that’s what I did. I spent two and a half years building the boat. And I have to say I really enjoyed it because I was putting everything in it.
David – So the boat that you ordered, the Bruce Roberts, it was how long?
Claude – It was 18 feet. 18 feet. So yes, it was not the biggest one. So that was actually the smallest one.
David – What did your dad want you to build?
Claude – He was not actually really specific about what I should not build one in the first place. So I should stay in school and do my study like you’re supposed to do. And so that’s what the story was.
David – So did you end up going across in that boat that you built?
Claude – Yes, that’s the boat that I still have to this day. So that was a few years back, obviously.
David – So that’s the boat that you’ve now got in Noosa?
Claude -Yes, that’s the boat that I have in Noosa now. So I’ve never done the Atlantic. So I never crossed the Atlantic, really. But I did cross the Pacific and I did a lot of sailing on the Atlantic with it. So the idea was basically was to cross the Atlantic and take a year off after college and Sijep, as we call it, back home and then go home to university. I just got lost a little bit after. So what’s happened is I eventually put the boat in the water and the night that I put the boat in the water I sleep aboard and that became my home that night.
David – What year was that? And how old were you then?
Claude – That was in 1979. I was 21 when I put it in the water. And two weeks later I was out of the country. So after two weeks I put the boat in.
David – And when you took off those two weeks, was there a plan?
Claude – Yes, I was going south because basically the plan is when you’re in Montreal you have to catch the lock. Because you go down the St. Lawrence Seaway and you can either go out the St. Lawrence Seaway and by the Maritime Province. To do that is very, very difficult, especially in the winter. So what most people do, they go down through the St. Lawrence Seaway to Sorel and then to Lake Champlain and then the Hudson River to New York. And that’s what I did. But you have to go there.
I forgot which date it is, but I left Montreal in September the 10th of September, 1979.
David – So this is an inland seaway basically?
Claude – It is, it is. Yes, it is. Well, when you go down the Hudson and Lake Champlain and so forth, there is a lot of lock and it’s very small. You come out in New York, but then you go back in because you have the Intracoastal Waterway. So I went in and out, but mainly through the route with, I don’t know how many, they call them the Canadian Goose because all the people go south. All the boating people, not all, but many boating people go down south during, they left Montreal or whatever and Lake Ontario and all that. And they all go down through the Intracoastal Waterway. And so when the weather is good, you might go out and so forth. But it’s a fantastic trip. It really is quite nice because you get used to your boat and you basically are with all these other people who are doing the same. So you make a lot of friends and so forth. And it’s very, it’s really good fun. So I did that all the way to Miami. It’s about 2,000 miles. And so it took me, I think it was three months, and I go down there. So you’re heading through there in the winter. Yes, it is very nice.
David – What’s happened in New York?
Claude – When I arrive in New York, and that’s probably the funny thing, is because my father, when I put the boat in the water and they all see that I was going, he basically said to me, all right, I’m going with you to New York. And so I was really, I’m not too sure about that. And he said, yep. He said, I’m going. And so that was really fun because we come down. And then when we arrived to Lake Champlain, my uncle was there with my father’s boat. So to actually, you know, they were on the lake. So then, you know, my father jumped on his boat. And then I went down Lake Champlain. And after we went, you know, all the way to New York together. And when I arrived in New York, it was miserable. It was snowing and cold and, you know, and so forth. And my father said, well, see you later. And he just left like that. And it was really quite funny because I was thinking, well, it’s a bit of a letdown. And then, you know, I said, I better get out of here because it’s cold and miserable. So I opened the log book. And in the log book, he emptied his wallet. So there was some money in there. It was a good thing. And he wrote a note that he now sort of, you know, approved, not really approved, but I forgot what he said in French now. But he kind of, you know, he will back me up or help out. So yeah, like a blessing, yes, of what I was doing. But I did do the boat without any help from anyone. So he did not, so he keep his word. He stayed till the end.
Anyway, so I went down to Miami. And I spent quite a bit of time in Miami. And there, I cruised, you know, the Caribbean back and forth. I did nine trips through the Caribbean, mainly to the Bahamas, going to the Bahamas. And I did a lot of work on the boat when I was there.
David – Were you by yourself all this time?
Claude – Yes, I was there initially in Miami. I was there by myself. And I did quite a number of trips, you know, by myself through the Bahamas and so forth. And working, and working on the boat, and sailing on the boat, and doing boat delivery.
David – Had that always been part of when you built the boat, did you always build it for a single-handed trip?
Claude – Yes, it was built. It was built, being so small, it was built as single-handed. So basically, that’s what I did. I ended up there. And like I say, I spent three years in Miami. So between Miami and the Caribbean, you know, going back and forth in all these trips and so forth, and finishing the boat was not, and modifying the boat. So that was what I was doing. It gave you a good chance totest it out, working a bit as well. I was working all the time, yes, of course. And that was obviously working illegally. So when you arrive, but like many people, you know, but I always work on boat.
And what was kind of amusing is when I arrive in Miami, I have no money, and I have a cast, because I broke my arm on the way. So I actually, so I have to go, actually, you know, all the way with, or most of the way from Charleston, I think it was, but with the cast. So when I arrive in Miami, I did not, you know, I did not speak much English, and I did not have any money, and I have a broken arm. So that was kind of interesting to try to, but it took me a few days, literally, and I find a job. And it was quite amusing because it was on a very big, beautiful motor launch, a hundred-footer, all wood, and they needed someone to do some, you know, woodworking.
And I have a friend that I met there, a girl who was doing the varnish, and she was doing the sort of translation for me. And I said to the guy, yeah, I can do it. And he was really amused that I have my right arm in a cast, and I can do the job, but I was really hungry, and I needed to find someone. So he gave me the job, and I ended up working. It’s always good motivation. Yes, yes, and I ended up working a lot there. Happy to break your arm.
Actually, that was a very silly thing. It was, I was at the dock, and there was a boat coming, and I tried to help them to come to the dock, and they were coming too fast, and I grabbed their pulpit, and I got stuck. My arm got stuck between the pulpit and the parling. And so, yes, it was a bad break. And so, but they fixed it. So I come, you know, I come with the cast.
David – I’d always assumed you would have done English at school, where you grew up, but not.
Claude – Yes, but I was very bad at it. And I was really bad at it. And also, we did have a bit of an attitude, you know, being in Quebec and being in the 1976, for example, where we have the first separatist government elected, and so that’s when I grew up. So we did not want to speak English. There is not a good reason to speak English, and there’s no need to speak English, and I’m not going to speak English, but I kind of learned my lessons since that. Well, I think it’s still a good idea. I can understand where they’re coming from. But anyway, that was the thing. So we eventually learned, you know, to speak.
And yes, so I spent quite a bit of time in Miami, and then eventually I met, when I was there, I met somebody, a friend, Genevieve was her name, and so we sailed together off from, we spent quite a bit of time still working, working on the boat and working, you know, to make money and get ready, and eventually we decided to leave, because that was her dream too as well, and that’s what was quite interesting, because most people come on my boat, and they kind of, you know, I kind of keep it quiet, but we went for a sail with her, and she did, at the time when I met her, she lived in her dinghy, so because her boat was on the yard to work on, and so she was sleeping on her dinghy.
David – So that was kind of… In the water?
Claude – Yes, yes, she just, in Miami, you have to know Coconut Grove, so it’s a very special place, so she was just rowing out and anchored in the dinghy and sleeping in the dinghy.
But anyway, so we went for sail on my boat, and then she asked me, she asked me, so what do you want to do with that dinghy, literally, and I said, well, you know, because first you make fun of my winch, and she said, what do you need winch on a boat like that, of that size, and I said, well, you know, I was just kind of hoping that would be useful, and so forth, and so she, then she said, well, what do you want to do, and I said, well, I want to cross the Atlantic, you know, and her reaction was, well, I hope so, you know, on a boat like that, that was her view, so I was quite impressed by that, I have to say.
But anyway, so that was my, you know, my introduction to her, so we sailed off together.
David – At that stage you were still thinking of going across the Atlantic.
Claude – Yes, I was still… Because a lot of people do, that go to the mid, don’t they, from the Caribbean. But you need to be ready for it, and what’s happened, we keep on working and get everything, you know, saved the money and work on the boat, and eventually we feel we were ready, but so you have the choice at that stage, it’s either you go for the Atlantic or the Pacific. So, and we were ready in time, so yeah, that’s going to be good for the Pacific, because the whole motivation was not the cruising, but the sailing.
What I mean is that’s what my passion is, it’s the sailing. Cruising is nice, and I got to really love it too, but it was the challenge of doing a crossing, that was not where you’re going, but it’s what you do. So that was the motivation.
So since the boat was ready for the Pacific, we went for the Pacific, and so we then sailed very quickly from Miami to Panama, and you know, because we have to do the trip many times before, and so not to Panama, but you know, through the Bahamas and so forth. So we went, basically left Miami and stopped one or two stops in the Bahamas, and then in Jamaica, and then after that straight to Panama.
David – So you now had two people in a boat.
Claude – Yeah, two people, and my two cats too as well.
David – When did the cats come aboard?
Claude – This is quite a funny story, because when I was coming down on the Intracoastal Waterway, I met a boat along the way, that was a lady from South Africa, and her two daughters, and they have a cat who just got kitten in the middle of the Atlantic, and so, and they give me one, and so that become my one cat, who become pregnant in Miami, with, I used to say, a boatyard bum in Miami, and eventually she got one kitten, only one because she was very young, so I kept the other one, who stayed with me all the way for 13 years after that.
David – That’s just amazing, because these days it’s just such a no-no to be able to shuttle pets around through country to country to country.
Claude – Well, it was then too. It was back then too. First, there was the danger to the cat, and for their own safety, but these cats were very clever, and they were really good sailors, and they never have a problem, and so it was kind of unusual. I don’t know many who actually have to do long crossing without getting to grief along the way.
David – Did the two cats make it? Yeah, the two cats make it all the way. To Australia?
Claude – Yeah, to Australia, and it was very, very difficult to get in Australia when they come to Australia.
David – I would love to take a cat sailing with us. I think it would be the most beautiful companion. They’re so affectionate, and they’re relaxing.
Claude – Yes, and these ones were really good too as well. They were really good sailors, and they were very much my companion, and yeah, they stayed with me, and they were very well trained, and what was interesting, the two of them have very different personalities, and yeah, it was great to have them along, and I used to be able to click my finger and sit down, and they would run downstairs, and they would obey like it was just amazing. Playing like a dog. Yeah, they used to be very funny cats, and yeah, they did that for all their lives.
Yeah, it is difficult to have cats on board because you obviously have to feed them as well, and look after them, and there’s always a few things, but they are great to have.
David – Were they house trained?
Claude – Yes, they have a special, I never see any other than that. They used to have a box outside, it was West System, a composite construction box in plywood and epoxy, and you know, with nicely cove epoxy corner. Little seats? No, no, they used to, I started with having normal cat litter, and eventually we found the right technique, it is to use some small pebble, and so the box was in the back of the cockpit, and it was slightly raised with drainage hole, and there’s this pebble in there, so they used to always go there, and it’s really nice because to clean it, you can just throw a couple buckets of sea water with the dishwashing liquid, so it’s really easy to keep it clean without the fuss of having to carry it. And it’s at the back of the boat, so you’re not getting any wafting smell. Well, there is no smell because it goes dry straight overboard, so I should have patented that one, but it was the same back then, like coming to Australia with a cat was an adventure in itself, and it still is the same, but they all went through, they eventually become Australian, and they have the whole thing, and so that was great fun.
David – So going back to Panama, so how was it going through the Panama Canal?
Claude – Scary. So the Panama Canal is very scary, so when you arrive in Panama first, I think it’s a bit different now, but back then they considered you as a ship, and I still have my ship registration number because when you have to be measured, and they tell you how many tonnes you are, and you pay by the tonnes.
I think it cost me 36 cents, so that’s the fee for the canal. Plus you have to give, at the time we needed to pay a measuring fee, but it was not that much, luckily, and then you have the fee by tonnes, but they have changed that now, I think it’s a lot more expensive, but it was very cheap.
So when you arrive in Panama, the pilot boat comes in, and basically they jump on your boat, and they ask you, are you going to go through, and you say yes, or do you go through all the paperwork and stuff, like a ship would, it was exactly the same. And then the rule is also, you need to have four people on board for the line, the pilot, because you have a dedicated pilot on board, plus the skipper, so you need to have six people on board.
David – How did the pilot feel about that?
Claude – Well, that’s what the rule is, so we could not have six people on board my boat, so they gave us a dispensation, so we only have the pilot and the two of us. But we needed to have a hundred feet line, four of them. So what you do, you have to go up the canal, and to the little, they have a little train on the top, so what you do is you help other yachts, because everybody is going through. So I went through with another boat, another Canadian boat, went through first, so that way you can learn a bit about it, and then you borrow their line, and then you go back and forth like that, so you help each other to go through the canal, and eventually it’s your turn.
David – Who were you in the canal with, though? Were you with a big ship?
Claude – They do it differently now, but at the time what they used to do is you have one ship in the lock, and then the tug behind, and the yacht would go alongside the tug, but because I was so small, it would have slide underneath the fender and the tug have, so it would have been too small, so they did not put the tug, so you have the ship, and then my boat, and so would this line, and then when these boats are made, the ship to fit the canal exactly, so it’s like a piston going in there, so when it’s come out of the canal, it sucks all the water, and you start to wobble all over the place, it’s really scary.
David – How big was the ship that was in there?
Claude – It’s massive, like it’s this big container ship, and then you go, if I remember correctly, yes, it was behind the ship first, and for going all the way up, because there’s a lake in the middle, so you go up the canal, and then so you’re behind the ship, so every time when the ship starts, the big prop turns, and it’s like a big washing machine in the back of that, and then going the other way, is you go first, so you go in the canal, in the lock, and then you lash yourself up with your 100 feet line, and then you see this ship coming in, and they call the distance, and they say that many meters, that many, that many, and then you’re sitting there in your little boat.
Yes, you’re sitting in the middle of it with these lines, you see this bow coming at you, and it’s okay, you can stop now, and you see the bow seems like over you, like when it’s finally stopped, it is quite an exciting thing actually.
David – But you got through undamaged?
Claude – Yeah, I was okay, I was okay, and it was just scary, but it was not that bad really, and the other thing, the other problem is you need to be able to do it at five knots, so you need to be able to motor the minimum speed five knots, and that’s a little bit borderline for me, so you cannot sail in the lake, so we have to put the sail up to keep up the speed.
David – Did you have a motor?
Claude – Yeah, I did have, I have a motor, an outboard motor in the back, so that was helpful, so yes, I went the distance there, but we can barely do five knots, so that was pretty much flat out, so that was a bit difficult. Anyway, so we got out of the canal, and then when we were in Panama, we met actually, when we arrived there, we met a lot of other small boats, and there was the old character, old people that we met there, it was quite interesting, so we were seven boats, less than 25 feet, all waiting to go through the canal, and all of these boats, except me, have at least one Atlantic crossing, so that’s quite interesting, at least one, so in the rule, we kind of joked that we make an association, and that was, it doesn’t work well in English, but it was the l’association so, that means the bucket association, but so also in French means being a little bit idiot, and so the bucketrefers to the fact that to be in the association, you need to have, the rule was to cross an ocean at least once, and they give a dispensation for me, because I was the smallest one, and I was getting ready to do it anyway, but, and then you needed to have no toilet, and a bucket, and so that’s the bucket association, and to be less than 25 feet, no standing edge room, and be poor will help too as well, no money, so anyway, and there were seven of you that qualified for that, except I have the dispensation, I have not crossed the Atlantic, and then Père, who I understand is in Australia now too as well, Père is actually, I saw it on Facebook, was a Swedish guy, and he have a 25 footer, so he was borderline, but he got the toilet on board, but, and he end up also coming across, and I just learned that not very long ago, and when he make it to Australia, he went back through the Pacific for quite a bit, and not sure if he went back to Hawaii, and then back in Australia, but I just learned thathe live in Australia now, and I got correspondence with him, and he got a very nice Sparkman Stevens, and he’s talking about doing around Cape Horn, so when you get stuck in that kind of thinking, you never get away.
David – That seems to be the boat of choice, doesn’t it?
Claude – This Sparkman Stevens, it’s a beautiful, it’s a beautiful big thing that he got now, so he doesn’t have his 25 footer anymore.
David – Do you think that was an unusual, you’re saying like there was seven of you going in small boats that year, do you think that was an unusual year?
Claude – No, I don’t think so, I think there is a lot more people who do that, that we actually think, and I was just saying before, when we were in Tahiti, it really come to me, and I’m talking that was, I wasn’t in Tahiti in 1984 or 1985, so it’s a few years ago, and at the time in Papiti, at the harbour there, it was difficult to find a parking spot if you want, because there’s so many boats, and all of these boats come from overseas, they have to sail there, or most of them anyway.
I just feel like now there seems to be, as people think, that you need a big boat to go on a big trip. Yes, but when you are sitting down in Tahiti, you realise then, basically yes, it’s nice to have a big boat, and it’s nice to have a big luxury catamaran or something, but by the time you get the big luxury catamaran, you don’t really can make it anymore, sometimes, you know, and so you find that the people who actually do it, actually can, you know, do it with whatever you have, so sometimes whatever you have is small, sometimes an old whatever, and so that’s what’s happened.
And to really express that, when I was in Tahiti, I was anchored there, and there was a magnificent big boat, it was, you know, 70 foot or something, it was anchored not far, and their dinghy was bigger than my boat, and one day, it was a French boat, and one day the guy come over with his dinghy, and he come alongside, so I said, oh, you want to come aboard, and the first thing he told me was in French, it was basically life is shit, and I kind of was amused by his comment, and so I said, well, you see, and I said, I don’t know about you, but yeah, that’s pretty cool at the moment here, and so he said, exactly, but look at you, and look at your boat, and look at my boat, and look at me, and I said, well, yeah, I know, I just have a small silly boat, and you have a really big flash boat, and he said, yeah, no, you don’t understand, but look at me, and I said, well, what do you mean?
He said, well, look, you know, I’m 70 something, and you know what’s going to happen with my nice, you know, boat, and he said, I’m putting it on a ship to send it back to the med, mediterranean, where his children, so my children can go and play with it, you know, and he didn’t tell the thing anymore, and so he was really bitter, and he was basically telling me, in a typical French way, to basically, yeah, just enjoy it, just do it, and with your silly little boat, you know, so that was the thing, and I find there’s a lot of that, when you’re cruising, you see a lot of, you know, people do it with whatever you have, you know, who may not, yeah. It’s a good moral, isn’t it? It’s a good moral to that story.
Well, it’s not just the moral, the reality of it, is also, is, basically, the size of the boat is not that important, and there’s a lot of other things more important than the size of the boat, so, so really, you make it anyway. It’s the journey, isn’t it? The experience and the adventure. Yeah. That’s what you’re doing.
Well, that’s what it is, and also, it’s easier to maintain a small boat, and, you know, to keep it going, and so far, it’s a good chance, I think, to make it with a small one than a big one.
David – Well, I’d like to thank Claude for taking the time to tell us about his voyage. Next week, we’ll have the second part of this interview where he continues on to the Galapagos Islands and then through the Pacific to Australia.
At one stage, he was down to his last tin of beans trying to make a landfall in Noumea. As I mentioned at the start, I’ll have show notes with some links to photos of Claude and his yacht. You’ll be able to find this at www.thesailingpodcast.com forward slash Claude.
We’d invite you to add a comment. Let us know how you enjoyed this episode. Of course, you can always just send me an email at david at thesailingpodcast.com. Thanks for listening. I hope you have a great day. Thank you for joining us on our journey.
You’ve been listening to David and Carina Anderson of The Sailing Podcast. See you next time. Bye-bye.