From Saltimbanque to Tané via Tadalu

The transition from a monohull to a catamaran

Céline and Jérôme, who want to live and work aboard, have just sold their old aluminum monohull for a one-off catamaran built in strip planking.

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Published on 01/12/2022

By Gilles Ruffet

Issue: 187

Published: Jan. / Feb. 2023

Discover this issue

Who: Céline, Jérôme, Malwen & Lilou
Where: French Polynesia
Multihull: One-off Gildas Plessis design

Our first boat was a Brise de Mer 28, on which we cruised for three years, when we were in our early thirties. When our children arrived, we had to think about a bigger boat, and we acquired an aluminum keelboat, which we set out on, as a family, after five years’ work. The children were then 7 and 9 years old. We took the traditional route: Canary Islands, Cape Verde, West Indies, without hanging around too much, because we had one goal: the Pacific Ocean. Then it was Bocas del Toro and into the Panama Canal. When we arrived in Polynesia, we sailed for a year. Then we had to work to get some money into the boat’s coffers. We soon outgrew the monohull, especially as the children were growing up, and also because we had moved from a cruising mode to a sedentary one, and we now needed more comfort and space in our daily lives. Jérôme got a job as a teacher, and Céline, who had trained as an upholsterer at the «Ateliers de l’Enfer» at Douarnenez in Brittany before leaving, needed space to work and to make or repair her various cushions, hoods and covers, etc. The monohull was therefore sold, and the family moved ashore for a while to search for that rare pearl - a catamaran. After several months of searching in Polynesia and having hesitated between a Punch 12.50 and a Privilège 42, we finally found a one-off boat designed by Gildas Plessis. This catamaran, built in strip planking about twenty years ago is a tropical boat, open at the back with a particular look but which we like. In December we are going to haul out for a big refit and then she will be even more beautiful. We’ll keep you posted!