Loela

After Stretching her Legs in the Med, it’s Time for the Atlantic!

Aboard their brand new Outremer 45, Antoine, Magali and their four children have just completed the first part of their long-distance sailing program, a Mediterranean circuit. So, what’s next? The Atlantic, of course!

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Publié le 26/09/2024

Par Gilles Ruffet

Numéro : 198

Parution : Nov. / Dec. 2024

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Who: The 3M3A team: Antoine and Magali, Arthur, Alice, Martin, Mathilde
Where: The Mediterranean
Multihull: Outremer 45
Blog : www.sailingloela.fr

During the run-up to the trip, we tried several times to take a step back from our project, to really get to grips with it and give ourselves a sense of direction that would help us to stay on course through the difficult times and to make the important decisions based on our innermost ambitions, rather than on the spur of the moment. First, we chose a name for the boat that would always remind us of what’s most important. Loela stands for ‘Là Où Est L’Amour’ (Where the Love Is) because, for us, love is the most important thing in life. We then chose five words to guide us, in addition to the name of our boat, which was a whole new concept in itself: Discovery, Family, Sailing, Simplicity and Sharing. Discovery first of all, because if we had decided to get away from our everyday lives, it would be to discover the diversity that the world has to offer. We want to discover new landscapes, meet their inhabitants, observe the flora and fauna and taste new flavors. Then there’s the Family. Six of us setting off to live together for fifteen months on board Loela and on faraway shores. It’s an opportunity to deepen our bonds: the marital bond between Antoine and Magali, the bonds between parents and children, the bonds between brothers and sisters. We also want everyone to be able to discover themselves, their abilities, their sources of joy and their aspirations. Taking a step back together is also an opportunity to take time to imagine how we want to live as a family when we return. Next, Sailing: I (Antoine) have always taken great pleasure in sailing on all kinds of boats. This passion was passed on to me by my dad, and in turn, I’ve passed it on to Magali since we met in 2001. Then there’s Simplicity: we’re lucky enough to have a modern, comfortable lifestyle at home. We have chosen to limit the resources on board Loela. Energy will be supplied mainly by solar panels, which will power batteries to get us through the night. We hope to be self-sufficient as much as possible and to not have to run the engine to top it up. This means that we will have to be economical with electricity, and we’ve designed the system with this in mind. We are, however, making two concessions to fossil fuels: auxiliary propulsion and cooking. Our boat’s engines run on diesel, but they should only be used for entering and leaving ports and in emergencies. The other engine is the one on the tender, which runs on gasoline. The electric alternatives are not yet sufficiently developed. Our hob, barbecue and oven run on butane, as we didn’t think we could manage to generate enough electricity for that. We will also need to be frugal with our water supply, as it will be produced using a watermaker, which consumes electricity. Finally, there’s Sharing: during our preparations, we had a lot of fun and got a lot of information by reading travel blogs and watching countless videos of long-distance sailors. Our adventure is an experience that deserves to be shared. The voyage began June 3, 2024. That evening, we were back in the port of La Grande-Motte, where it all began for us with Loela. We had finished our preparation, sailing around the Mediterranean, and had just come full circle after crossing the starting line off Ajaccio, having sailed just over 3,000 miles in all kinds of wind and sea conditions. Some (very) hot weather, a bit of rain (hardly any), and waves (which have been fairly light for the past two months). Loela is doing very well. We’re going to spend a couple of weeks fine-tuning her preparation for the long Atlantic crossing. The crew is doing very well too. We’re really looking forward to heading out to sea, especially as we’re in the process of building up a small community of sailboats on this busy route. We hope that this will satisfy our social requirements, which have been a little frustrated during our Mediterranean circuit, where families are less easy to meet.

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