The big day is upon us. Today we depart La Rochelle, France and begin the 7-ish day sail to Gibraltar. We’ve got our PolarSteps app turned on so it should track us, whenever the Starlink wifi is on. The captain who will accompany us on this sail, Anthony, arrived last night and has just the calm, confident demeanor we need. He is a natural teacher and seasoned sailer with hundreds of ocean crossings under his belt.

Life in La Rochelle has been lovely. Unsurprisingly, delicious food and wine is everywhere and finds its way to us quite easily. We’ve been living on the boat in a massive marina for most of our time here. Our scenery involves adorable little kids learning to sail, parades of small boats on regatta, and jaw dropping super-yachts. We each spent a half day learning the finer points of docking and maneuvering in tight quarters; all those big and small boats made for a quite a challenge. Sailing culture is known for being quite social and supportive. Neil got to enjoy a long evening of drinks and camaraderie with the owners of three boats docked adjacent to ours (while Sarah made a quick pit-stop back in Columbia for a Mizzou mom’s weekend).

Boat life is not all glamorous. We spent much of our time in La Rochelle, running errands, stocking the boat, and endlessly walking the city’s streets to hunt down the bits and bobs needed so that the boat and it’s crew would have everything we need for a passage that is as safe and comfortable as possible. Our favorite well worn path, led us around Vieux Port (the old harbor flanked by 14th century towers), through the Clock Gate, and down a cobblestone street to reach Monoprix (which we call French Target). As I write this, I find myself sitting in a French laundry, while Neil and Anthony take one last trip to the chandlery and a long awaited plumber finally installs the gas line for our oven (in the nick of time). We hope to depart after lunch. Please with us bon voyage and fair winds.