September 28, 2022

La Grande Motte

La Grande Motte is a beachside resort town located in the South of France near Montpellier. The architecture is quite unique and is a combination of Mayan temples and art deco. Commissioned by the French government to improve tourism in the area, LGM was designed by Jean Balladur and constructed in the 60s and 70s.

We left the U.S. one week ago, flying from Detroit to Paris with our dogs in carriers jammed under the seats in front of us on the plane; rest assured, they were quite content. After a 7-hour red-eye flight, we rented a small suv and drove 7 more hours to arrive at LGM. Why are we here? The answer is simple. By analogy: why do people rob banks? Because that’s where the money is. We have traveled to LGM because that’s where the boat is. More specifically, we have purchased a new sailing catamaran built by Outremer Yachts which happens to be located in this village.

We stayed in a very nice dog-friendly hotel for a couple of days until our Airbnb was available and did some shopping and touring in the area. Most memorably, we visited the medieval city of Avignon which is about an hour away. This was our first medieval city, and we were quite impressed by the stone walls, narrow streets, and gothic architecture. I was surprised to learn that in the 1300s, Avignon was the residence of the papacy (“Palais des Papes”) until its relocation to Rome. Even more interesting, Avignon is the birthplace of Pierre Boulle, the author of Planet of the Apes and Bridge over the River Kwai.

The real action started three days ago with our participation in Outremer Week which provides intensive training in a number of sailing topics both in the classroom and on the water. We eschewed the lectures and signed up for sailing every day in our new boat Leviathan. Technically, the boat is not ours yet. The handover will take place next week. Nonetheless, we are getting a crash course with outstanding professional skippers. The last two days have been quite windy in the 25-30 knot range; the sailing is exhilarating but the docking is challenging. We love our boat and wouldn’t change anything about it. We were originally going to purchase the 45-foot version, but we thought that the 51 would be more comfortable when we have family and friends visiting. We are delighted with our decision. We have two more days of sailing and then some additional activities over the weekend.

September 20, 2022

Prolog

Like all great stories, this one starts at the very beginning. I grew up in the Washington, D.C. area, and for some reason, I fell in love with sailing. I’m not sure why. Nobody in my family sailed or operated boats of any kind. Nonetheless, I was infatuated, and I convinced my mom to let me take a sailing course at age 7. There was a marina near our house on the banks of the Potomac River across from the facility formerly known as National Airport. I completed an American Red Cross Basic Sailing course, and my parents purchased a small boat called a Dolphin Sr. (lateen rigged, like a Sunfish, only a little bigger). We sailed it for years until I started whitewater kayaking (I have always been keen on water sports) which then took up most of my spare time.

A seminal moment in my sailing history occurred in 7th grade when I read the book Dove. This book had been sitting on our book shelf at home for years and was ignored by me for all that time until I accidentally pulled it out and looked at the cover which depicts the silhouette of a boy on the deck of a sailboat using a sextant (more on this topic later) at sunset (or sunrise, I’m not really sure which). The cover inset reads: “The true story of a 16-year-old boy who sailed his 24-foot sloop around the world to discover adventure and love.” Of course, I read the book and decided that that would be the life for me.

As we all know, life has a way of intervening on the best laid plans, and like George Bailey, I deferred world travel while completing my education, pursuing a cool medical career, and experiencing the joys of family life. Although I often entertained the idea of world cruising on a sailboat with the family from time to time, I did not have the financial ability nor the free time to proceed. Now that I have the ability and the time, the kids can’t/don’t want to go. So, it is up to me and Yong to fulfill (my) dream to circumnavigate the globe. I recognize that it is a selfish dream on my part, and I realize that I will not be winning any Father-of-the-year contests; those awards usually go to dads that don’t abandon their kids. Anyway, this is something that I must accomplish, or at least try. The purpose of this website is to provide a connection to our family and friends to follow along. We will try to update things as frequently as possible.