Aurora on delivery
Finally the delivery date of Aurora arrived and we rushed to Les Sables d'Olone to pick it up. Turned out the easiest and cheapest way to get there was to fly with Wizzair to Beauvais then to take the shuttle bus to porte Maillot in Paris. Once there, take the metro to the trainstation Montparnasse and then take the TGV train to Nantes where to switch to the local train that goes to the coast with last stop Les Sables d'Olone. On the day we traveled there was a warning for flooding in Paris with river Seine going to record highs just half a meter before going out of river bank.
River Seine on record heights leaving Paris on a flooding alert
Finally after a day of travelling just before sunset we managed to get to the Lagoon delivery quay and spot Aurora. She was delivered from the factory exactly on the day according to the schedule and commissioned on time.
Aurora on the delivery quay at low tide. Third in the line.
Aurora at Lagoon delivery quay
Marvelous teak in the cockpit. The tender is already attached to the davits.
Me taking first photo with Aurora
Bimini and winter sprayhood on helm delivered from the factory
A moment of happiness
We headed to the nearby most convenient hotel Admiral on the marina and spent the rest of the evening in a local restaurant enjoying french food and wines. Near midnight everybody was so tired and the cups of wine did the rest so that we fell asleep in a matter of minutes.
Fantastic french meals and wines with really extraterrestrial delicious desserts in random restourants
Les Sables d'Olone old town
Winners in Transat Regatta
On the next day after a champion's breakfast at 9AM we were ready for the factory handover and eager to step on board.
Kitchen and Nav Station. The new Alpi walnut interior is simply fantastic
175x205cm beds in aft cabins
A long day of preparations for sailing, tests and supplies delivery was ahead. We rented a small Fiat 500L crossover for the purpose which suited us perfectly.
Supplies kept coming in
We found a Leclerk supermarket with all home and food supplies we needed for the trip
First dinner on board. The bottle of Champagne exploded all over the saloon and on my shirt. All this was read as a good sign for the boat.
Lagoon delivery quay at low tide during Super Blue Moon that comes once in 100 years
Setting up a Code 0
The gennaker seems to be entirely of the size needed and fits properly.
The gennaker was ordered with North Sails and it is a bit larger than the factory supplied one at 65% overlapping. The material is Norlon 250 and should be possible to use even with up to 20 knots of downwind speed. At same time it can be used in upwind conditions without worry that it will be ripped off easily.
Me setting up a portable generator
A portable generator was set up as an independent source of 220V power during the trip. The blue line turned to be a dog strap which later gave the name to the generator as Roro and was treated as the pet dog on board. It was vast source of jokes for the crew.
Galio with the source of warmth on board
A portable 2kw oil radiator Delonghi was dedicated to heat the saloon and 3 ceramic air heaters for the cabins.
Setting up the boat name on the aft cockpit
Setting up a temporary flag for the delivery
Final preparations before sailing off
My cabin for the next 3 weeks
Raw material. The next story to follow shortly.
I had planned to do those posts in the blog as we sail but turned out impossible to do it with 4 hour shifts at helm, sleepless nights and boat work to be done. Never the less I will do it now once on shore while memories are still fresh.