This is an authorized translation in English of a post in French by Vincent Le Roy (@vincentleroy): La Saga PLOUF [Episode 9] : La première sortie en mer

^{As my primary language is not English, there are probably some mistakes in my translation.}

Remember that the person who speaks here is NOT me, Vincent Celier (@vcelier), but Vincent Le Roy (@vincentleroy), a French guy.

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Note: "Plouf", in French, is an onomatopoeia that phonetically imitates the sound of an object that falls in the water. The equivalent in English would be "Plop" or "Splash". That is a strange name for a boat!

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Brief summary of previous episodes

In January 2016, I am given a boat, a tiny sailboat. A kid's dream. Her name is Plouf. And in fact the canoe is in a state not possible and I do not know much except sailing. I tell you the journey that I traveled with this small boat, that have become my fourth baby! The refurbishing job is finished, now it's time for the first navigations.

The PLOUF Saga [Part 9 of 17] - The first sea trip

Friday morning. 9:30. The crew is on the pontoon. Julien will be the captain, I want to observe everything he's going to do. Two of the children are there. Impossible to take all the three, the boat is only planned for 4. And we are 4.

The days before, I had soaked the sails. Rinse the ropes. A priori, they have not suffered too much especially that they are original. There are some spots of rust, green on the rings but nothing too bad. Julien prepares them. He arms the boat and warms up the engine. In the distance, the lights are green, so we can go.

Julien at the maneuver, he delicately pulls Plouf out of his place and slides it into the channel. I do not lose any of his actions. In particular, how to manage the engine. Next time, I know, I will be alone and it will be necessary to do it. Plouf passes the gates and we head for the lighthouse. I only have one word: it's magic ...

Past the lighthouse, we are at sea. It's time to rig. There, I have no worries. To sail, I already told you, I can do. The only thing that worried me was the maneuvers. Julien puts the nose of Plouf face the wind and I send the mainsail. And there, I already see everything that will have to correct and improve. All the sails are mounted from the mast, which means you need to go forward on this very small boat. It is feasible but it would be safer to bring everything back to the cockpit. In my head, I already see the diagram: pulleys, cleats, etc. We will have to install a wind vane too. It is still more convenient to know where the wind comes from, especially since the winds in the bay turn fast.

All sails out, engine stopped, Plouf slides on the water. It's definitely magic. Children do not say a word. They savor too. We are like in a bubble. I remember their first reaction when they saw Plouf for the first time. Now, they are just amazed. I almost won my bet. In silence, I say thank you to Plouf.

Two small hours on the water, I test all points of sailing. I also continue my audit. It will be necessary to add battens to the mainsail, because now my canoe looks like a schooner. The sheet and all the pulleys too. The main one does not rotate and you have to turn it manually. It's as stupid as it is dangerous. Difficult to sheet out in an emergency. On the other hand, the boat is having fun. He sends as they say. He is happy, Plouf! And he surfs in an imperial way. We are safe. Plouf watch over us. We took care of him, he takes care of us. And the story will show this to me many times. Because this first release is only the beginning of a long story: in 2016, I will have the biggest output statistics! The smallest boat in the port but that comes out all the time and in almost any weather.

Back to the port. Always princely. I keep watching Julien do it. Nothing really complicated. I will know how to do everything alone. And that's good because we come out tomorrow, this time with the three children.

Tomorrow, the captain, it will be me.

-- Vincent Le Roy (@vincentleroy)

Continue to Part 10

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8

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