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Hi there! Sorry we haven’t had an update for you in a while, the marina wifi has been down for several days. 🙁 The weekend was very cold, windy, and rainy, so naturally I hibernated as much as possible! Before we left the U.S, we had a solid plan in place: take delivery of the new boat on 9/29, spend the week provisioning, one crew member and the delivery captain would arrive 10/5, and we would sail away on 10/7. Sounds perfect, right? Just enough time to get things in order.  So, we’re supposed to be on our way south toward Lisbon by now…but we’re not – we’re still sitting in the marina at Les Sables d’Olonne.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful place, with many amenities.  And the locals have been very kind about our lack of French. But we’re mentally ready to get on the water! Unfortunately, the boat isn’t ready to sail.  When we arrived, we had anticipated that all the extras would be completed and we’d be able to move onto the boat and get going.  However, there was some miscommunication during the ordering process and we are still waiting on some things.  Currently, we are waiting for our water maker to be tested, our wifi antenna to be installed, and the remaining solar panels to be mounted.  And just like on a game show…that’s not all!  As you saw on Instagram, when shipped a pallet of our U.S. 110V electronics, special cookware, clothes, safety gear, and some other items to be here by 10/3.  The pallet has arrived in Nantes (which is about a 1.5-hour bullet train ride from here), but it is being held up in French customs! We’ve spent hours on the phone and emailing people trying to get our things to no avail.  Since there is safety gear and electronics on the pallet, we can’t even go for a day sail without it!

Our experience hasn’t been all bad though! We’ve had some beautiful weather, gotten to explore both cities (Les Sables d’Olonne and La Chaume), and have had more time to provision.  France doesn’t have Target, and the stores are pretty spread out, so it’s been a little challenging to find everything we need without a rental car.  But we’re getting lots of exercise walking! And the sunrises and sunsets are absolutely gorgeous!  Did I mention we found a Burger King?!? After about a week in France, we were so excited to have some American food!

Please send positive vibes and keep your fingers crossed for our pallet to clear customs and the work to be finished this week so we can say Bon Voyage to Les Sables d’Olonne and move on to new adventures!

Bob + Megan