Getting the boat ready for our new adventure!
All formalities done, boat paid, papers ready, captain and first maid on board! To be honest I think there is nothing more special than buying a new boat. Buying a house is a totally different thing and has, at least for me, totally different emotional feelings. Buying a boat means that you have chosen for a new lifestyle. An adventurous and unknown destination, with all the consequences coming along with the choice. I will explain these consequences in another post but first commissioning! Normally the dealer where you have bought the boat will do the commissioning. Which means that the boat will be completely checked inside and out. Are all the items you ordered in the boat, is everything working properly, no scratches etcetc. As our dealer was on holiday himself he hired Alain Girard to do the job. This gentleman from La Rochelle is a real catamaran specialist and working for all the brands. Not only the commissioning but also teaching how to handle a catamaran. He had several checklists and did all the work. A few things were not working but there were hardly any problems. So that was a good start!

Next was to get the pallet on board which we had sent from Holland to Harken France. They have their premises in the same area which was really handy! Thank you, Patrick, for the super service! We came to La Rochelle by car so we drove up and down to the boat a few times to bring everything on board. Which means EVERYTHING! From bed sheets, cushions, to kitchen stuff, cutlery, pots and pans, plates, food, coffee machine and coffee cups, vacuum cleaner, technical tools and so on and so on. Also, we had to install an anchor chain as Robbert wanted something else than the standard chain offered by FP.