We have been in Brest, France this week and besides indulging in fresh baguettes and croissants we are busy getting ready for our first offshore passage on Saltair!

Up to now we have been coastal, stopping every night either in a harbor (at the dock) or anchoring in a bay. Our next leg of the journey takes us to Madeira which is a 5-7 days sail offshore.

What does it mean? Being offshore adds another layer of preparedness, we have to get the boat and the crew ready. Adam is working diligently on finalizing and documenting our SOPS (Standard Operating Procedures) and emergency procedures so that we can consistently brief our crew. We have a couple friends arriving in the next few days and we will need to get everyone up to speed on the boat. We are also coming up with a watch schedule that works for us. 

Adam is also working on our communications strategy to ensure we have access to weather data and emergency resources should we need it. If we are lucky Starlink will be available reliably but we also have a few back ups!  Adam is also managing several boat projects: fixes, maintenance and new installs, both here and in the Canaries where we will be in October.

 

I am concentrating on making sure we have lots of provisions- I am taking advantage of good supermarkets and great food selection to stock the boat with long term supplies, completely stocking a boat pantry from cleaning supplies to emergency food!  Packaging is quite important and figuring out how to stow everything is quite the puzzle! I am also cooking some meals that we can have ready to go in the freezer during our upcoming passage - just in case the weather is rough and nobody is up to cooking! 

So far I have made three trips to the market, the first when my sister and brother in law were visiting and offered to drive to the big supermarket - we filled three large shopping carts with all the heavy and bulky items! On Monday I walked to a smaller market about 2 miles away to get fresh ingredients for a couple meals . This particular store has a free shuttle service for cruisers so I was able to get a ride back with all my bags. Finally on Wednesday I rode the bus to the center of Brest to find a good butcher and get more fresh ingredients for pre-prepared meals.  We will do one more trip to the market the day before departure to stock up on fresh foods.

Nicolas and Eleonore helping with the first load using the Marina Cart

It was low tide when we brought the first cart down and the ramp was VERY steep! We waited for high tide for the test of the really heavy items.

Seth is also officially starting his French school curriculum from the ‘CNED’ and we spent an afternoon shopping for school supplies and books! Everything needs to get organized and we will finalize a schedule in the next few days! Guessing it will need to be flexible but I am impressed so far by the completeness of the program and ease of access. The hard part will be get Seth to stay focused. I am already missing our wonderful teachers and school…. their work is hard and so invaluable. 

I sorted all the school work into plastic binders so that we can grab the subjects of the day and try to keep things organized!

Did I mention we also need to get laundry and cleaning done? We got 4 loads done on Sunday as the sun was out and everything could dry really fast! Everyone pitches in for cleaning and we will do a deep clean before we head out to sea. Right now the boat is a bit of a mess (it is an understatement) with all the organizing and projects in progress! 

Fear not, we still take little breaks…. Ice creams and kayak rides around the harbor! We are also hoping to visit the aquarium and a maritime museum in Brest time permitting! 

Meals prepared so far: 
Lamb tagine with green olines (using ras-el-hanout)
Blanquette de Veau - but with chicken instead of veal :)
Greek Style lasagna
Ratatouille