It all starts as we settle into the liveaboard life
They told us, you'll never forget your first day out on your own boat. Indeed!
Imperia — Villefranche-sur-Mer
Quite nervously we untied the lines in Porto Maurizio on August 15th. After one last evening with an Aperol Spritz at the big breakwater in front of the harbor and a last ride on the caterpillar at the fair we say “Ciao Imperia!”.
With little wind and the urge to finally leave, we headed west to France past Monaco. Joséphine proudly helped raise the French flag.
In the evening we anchor next to Nice in the bay of Villefranche-sur-Mer. We are well protected there, except for the swell from the south. We hadn’t expected that we would be confronted with Mistral or its foothills from the north for two nights this week before Villefranche. We spent two nights on deck and saw several ships drifting at anchor around us, some of them far away. We added another 10m of chain and were glad that our anchor held even in 28 knots of wind. 🌊
Because of the wind blowing in the Golf de Lion this week, there is an impressive number of large motor yachts in the bay that are looking for shelter here. Again and again, we watch how helicopters land on the huge ships and the crews storm the shops of the town and chauffeur their guests on the dinghies.
In the last week, we have done many things for the first time. Jumped off the ship into the salty water for the first time. Left the ship first time for a few hours to Villefranche to the playground or the turquoise, very popular beach. For the first time, we left Mirabella for almost a day as we took the train to Nice and it felt very far away. The first encounter with the customs officials from Nice who visited our boat is already behind us.
We are slowly arriving in everyday life. The children say “let’s go home” when they want to get back on the ship. Joséphine said that our dinghy is probably our new car since Mirabella is our new house.
But it’s also pretty exhausting. So many new impressions, so many needs that need to be met - if you have small children, you’ll know what we are talking about. Add on top of that the sometimes daunting weather forecasts and maintaining the boat. But we’re all getting more and more into the groove of it and more relaxed.
With each passing day, we’re better able to create small breaks, moments of rest and again and again, we take the dinghy to the next playground, to the gelateria, or on a harbor discovery tour.
