High up on her bers, Estrella is still under construction on the La Rochelle quay... Here a short summary of these last difficult but necessary months!
We learn on the job, a boat refit is a real emotional lift. It's long, it's hard, and you have to hold on to it so as not to give in to the unforeseen events which, it has to be said, accumulate with our star. ⭐️.
"This project is by far the hardest thing I've ever done. And without this great team of volunteers, the real ray of sunshine on this project, it would have been impossible to stay on course. Thank you Dream Team 💙 " Olivia
The Dream Team is a team that is as diverse as it is complementary and that has stuck together in the most difficult moments. Valou, Cathy, Matthieu, Marc, Benoit and Hubert have been on deck every day since the beginning. Together with Christophe Gireau, a golden-handed boat preparer, they started by completely redoing the deck. Removing all the teak, sanding, coating, sanding... A laborious job that completely changed the look of Estrella!
But their work doesn't stop there. Sanding the hull, emptying the boat, complete repair of the rudders, insulation of the forward cabin, stripping it down for modification, cleaning the engine hold, making composite footbraces and so on...
All this also thanks to the help of volunteers stopping by... Olivier came especially from the Alps to build a staircase for the access to the boat, Fouad from the Bordeaux region, Eric, Madison and his friends and of course Fred, Yann and Brice.
We take this opportunity to greet the neighbouring yards, who bring us a precious help by lending us scaffolding, tools, put aside scraps of materials destined for the dumpster (sometimes real treasures!), advise us and sometimes even make us pieces... Chantier Despierres, Candela, Prepa Nautic, Neel thank you!
As for the rest, things are getting tougher and the well-known adage of boaters "small boats, small problems, big boats, big problems" is definitely not coming out of nowhere. The latest slap in the face is that our engine is in a sorry state and repairing it would be almost as expensive as changing it, with no guarantee that it will last. And that hurts.
So it is becoming urgent to find partners, patrons, financial and technical support, to accompany us in this magnificent project.
This is an opportunity to welcome Nautix, our new product partner!
We therefore call on you, dear laboratory workers of hope!
What you can do ?
☆ Help us in our search for financial and technical partners: your company, your sister-in-law's company, or a company likely to adhere to the values we defend...
☆ Yanmar 4JH3 / HTE or equivalent engine operation: if you hear someone who knows someone who... The treasure hunt is on!
☆ If you have any ideas, suggestions or would like to help us, please contact us! We will tell you all about
all about the project, the needs, the stages, the project...
☆ You can always make a donation ;)
☆ Come and see us at the construction site to encourage us, it's always a pleasure :)
As you can see, the work is progressing slowly but surely and there is still a lot of work to be done before we can resume sailing, which is a pity because more and more of you are contacting us to come and sail. And we are only looking forward to taking you aboard an Estrella in top form!
The more people we get involved, the quicker we'll be able to start what we're passionate about: sharing our Little Floating Laboratory of Humanities with you!
In any case, we're not giving up and even if it's longer and more difficult than expected, we're determined to see it through!
