My first sailing trip

As you may know, we did a teaser of my first sailing trip and if you have been following closely you will already know a fair bit about on my adventure on board. For the curious among you, a link to the article on the behind the scenes of our photo shoot during my first sailing trip is just below! However, the viewpoint was much wider than that and I would like to tell you about my first sailing trip with no filter.

We went to La Rochelle for 4 days at sea with two goals in mind: film the first sailing trip of my life and get some shots for Tribord. What am I saying? Three goals! I nearly forgot the most important: enjoy a fantastic sailing adventure while marvelling at the wonders of the ocean. The team consisted of Lambert (product engineer), Julien (comms manager), Melanie (image leader), Robin (photographer) and Lucie (media specialist), with whom I had the chance to discover the joys of life on board and all the ups and downs (literally) that come with it! The preparation alone for 3 days at sea is no mean feat: hire the boat, don't forget your toothbrush, check that we have all the gear we need to navigate, get the missing spinnaker sail from the hire company, do a food shop for 6 people, fit all the stuff in the cabin, check the wind , check the weather, plan the route, get to grips with the boat, leave the harbour, etc. And to think that some people have to plan to cross the Atlantic... they must be masters of logistics!

As I have already said: "as far back as I can remember, I have always lived on dry land", so heading off for 4 days at sea is a pretty big deal! I was worried that I would panic if we went too far out and couldn't see the coast any more, but also worried about being sick, scared of being scared, afraid of being "cooped up" in a small space... So, I will admit: I was being a wimp!

I created so much needless anxiety that I made myself sick on the first night shift, I had to stand in the wind to ease that feeling of nausea and the sense that I might throw up at any minute! Fortunately, I found the best cure for seasickness: sleeping. So that is how my trip started, with a night passage where I ended up sleeping through all my shifts! The upside: I didn't realise that we went out of sight of the coast at times, I wasn't too sick, I was in great shape in the early hours of the morning unlike the others. And, of course, the downside: I left Julien to steer alone all night (thankfully he doesn't sleep like a log like me), I missed the first sunrise, I won the accolade of proven group sleepyhead to go with my cowardice.

We finally reach Île d'Yeu, what a relief: no more bobbing around and we have come to a stop, yes! I was so happy to finally be at anchor and I longingly looked at the island, yearning to be able to explore every inch of it: my hiking roots were back with a vengeance! But, as I was reminded, that was not why we were here, we had neither the time nor the means (of transport) to go on the island. I discovered life at anchor, the calm and peaceful passing of time *wistful music plays*. Spending time on a boat means taking pleasure in the simple things: sleeping, eating, playing cards, playing silly little games that you invent on the spot, making jokes, missing jokes, swimming, listening to music, sunbathing and trying to live healthily. Well that's what everyone else does at anchor, me I just take a nap... for 3 hours. I was really jealous when I woke up to hear them talking about how they had been swimming and laughing at their new in-jokes; yet I was also very content with the pillow lines on my face because it meant that I had been able to recharge my batteries so that I could be on top form throughout the evening!

And what an evening! For the benefit of the photo shoot, we went off for a little cruise along Île d’Yeu, which gave us the chance to enjoy a magnificent sunset before returning to our anchorage to admire a beautiful starry sky around the time of the Perseid meteor shower. We left the next day before sunrise to go to Les Sables-d'Olonne and that's when I asked myself: does one ever tire of the beauty of nature? Then I got my answer: NO! When in the late morning a school of dolphins came close to the boat to follow our course for a few minutes towards Les Sables-d'Olonne, I was sure. It never gets old. Another thing's for sure: Whether you're rough and tough or a big softie, the reaction is the same when faced with a dolphin... with some variation in decibels and soppiness. FLIIIIIIIIPPEEEEER!

In total: 3 sunrises, 3 sunsets, 1 master DJ to play The Circle of Life at sunrise, 3 schools of dolphins, 31 Instagram stories, 51 photos backlit by the sun, 29 minutes of Facebook Live with the dolphins, 407 "oohs" and "aahs", 2739 stars in our eyes.