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Well, we arrived four weeks ago, and we are still here in La Rochelle! Our items from the U.S. have not arrived, but they are finally through customs, and we are just waiting on delivery. It is frustrating, but out of our control. The good news is that this is a charming place to be stuck for a while!

Daily life while we wait

We’ve completed some boat projects and upgrades and have a few more that will need to be completed after our things arrive. We have been making the most of things in the meantime and enjoying the local scene. We spent a day sightseeing at the Towers of the Old Harbor and found a beautiful local park that stretches into the city. There is also a great farmers market in the center of town, which is only about a 30 min walk from the marina. We walk to the small city market every other day or so to get food (since we can only buy what we can carry – part of our new cruising life), and a larger grocery store nearby is easy to get to on rented bikes. We have also taken the local city bus to get to a larger shopping area with stores where we were able to pick up some kitchen and home necessities to help tide us over until our things arrive.

Bonjour! Merci!

While my French is coming along well, I am far from proficient. Many people here know a little English, but even those who don’t have been very patient with me. I’ve usually opened with, “Je suis désolé. Je parle petite peu Francais.” Which translates to, “I’m sorry, I only speak a little French.” So far, this has been met with a lot of warmth and a willingness to help me to do everything from shopping to finding things in a pharmacy, to boat work, and of course – ordering food when dining out at restaurants!

Plat du jour

Which brings us to food. Oh my, the food here is amazing! John and I have found that you really can’t go wrong ordering the plate of the day (Plat du Jour). We are both adventurous and will eat just about anything, so we usually find something to order on the menu that is new for us, or we just order the daily special and let ourselves be surprised. Most restaurants offer a menu special that includes an appetizer (entrees), main dish (plat), and dessert. Because the portions are smaller compared to the U.S., you can easily enjoy all of the courses in one meal! There is also lots of seafood to enjoy, which we both love. The fish of the day (Poisson du Jour) has become my favorite thing to order. It is different at every restaurant and never disappoints! I could do an entire post on the food we’ve fallen in love with here, but here is a sample!

La Rochelle is a sailor’s dream

One of the other things that is really fun about living here in La Rochelle is that it is a true sailor’s paradise. There are several large boatyards in the region, and La Rochelle is one of the launching locations for many catamaran manufacturers, including Lagoon, Fontaine Pajot, Neel, Nautitech, and Bali. This means that everywhere you go boats and catamarans are being hauled out and worked on, or even transported down the center of the street! There are also large chandleries right off the main marina drive that have made it easy to stop for extra things we need as we get the boat ready.

And finally… sailing!

The best part of the last few weeks is that we finally were able to get Coronado out on the water for some sailing time! We spent a few days with a local French Captain, Damien. He was awesome and has a lot of experience on the Lagoon 450s. He is a cruiser as well and spent 3 years sailing from France to the Caribbean and then over the Pacific to French Polynesia all the way to Fiji with his wife and two children a few years ago. He was a great guy and very knowledgeable. We loved sailing with him, and it was amazing to finally get Coronado out on the water! We are really impressed with the boat and her sailing performance has exceeded our expectations!

Enjoying each day

While we are ready to get going and eager to start sailing, we also know this is just part of our new lifestyle. There are delays. There are unexpected changes to plans. Life on the water and sailing brings with it many opportunities to be more present in the moments of each day, so we are doing our best to just enjoy being exactly where we are. The sunset view helps, too.

As we sat on our flight from San Diego to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, France, the feeling was both excitement and a fair bit of what I can only describe as “reality finally overtaking disbelief.”  After so many years of dreaming and planning, it was happening. We were on our way. This was real.  

From Paris, we took a taxi to the train station where we boarded a high-speed train to La Rochelle, a seaport on the Atlantic coast of France off the Bay of Biscay. It had been so long since we had been to Europe. Driving in the taxi and seeing the city streets, signs, and cafes brought back memories of how much I love exploring foreign cities. Through the mild jet lag, I could only feel a deep, calm appreciation for being here and starting our adventure. The train was comfortable and relaxing, and I gave in to the urge to cat nap as the French countryside sped by at 170 MPH. The next day, we had plans to meet our boat dealer from Lagoon and begin the handover process for Coronado, our new 450S.

Meeting SV Coronado

A grumpy bit of weather had arrived in La Rochelle the next morning. We walked to the marina from town in the middle of a true gale… thirty-five kts of wind and rain. It’s incredible the small umbrella I was carrying didn’t disintegrate in the gusts. We were soaked by the time we reached our dock, but nothing could dampen the feeling of seeing her for the first time. 

Coronado is beautiful. At 45 feet long, she is even bigger than she appears in photos. Climbing on board for the first time was exhilarating and a bit intimidating. Beautiful lines and brand new fiberglass sat floating in the water – and I swear she was happy to see us, too. This boat is meant for sailing. You can feel her aching to be off the dock and out at sea. 

The commissioning crew was off for the weekend, so we spent two days reading manuals and going through all of her systems, one by one. It felt good to begin the process of really getting to know her.  At least a few times each day, one of us would spontaneously say, “We live here now!” By Sunday, the weather had improved and we bought a baguette, brie, and prosciutto for a picnic on her forward cockpit. A nice bottle of local rosè rounded out our meal and had the honor of being the first wine opened on board.

Life on a Boat – Inevitable Delays

One of the things we know well from friends who are long-time cruisers is that there is one constant in the world of living on a sailboat. Expect delays. Weather dictates when you can come and go, things always seem to take longer than planned, and many times in the boating world it seems like the entire industry lives a bit on “Island Time”. Things happen when they happen. If they say it will be done today, it very well may actually be tomorrow… or the day after. It is better to accept that this is just the way it will be and try to let go of schedules and deadlines whenever possible.

It appeared we were getting a chance to practice it right away. We arrived in La Rochelle with three suitcases. Everything else we owned had been sent in January via cargo ship from Fort Lauderdale. At the shipping company’s suggestion, we had sent it early. They said it would probably take 8 weeks to arrive, but we sent everything 12 weeks before we were scheduled to arrive in France, just to be safe. And yet here we were and things were taking even longer than anticipated. Our belongings had made it to Rotterdam, but nobody could give us a firm answer on when they would be processed through customs and finally delivered to the boat. All we could do was wait.

There were delays with the boat as well. We needed to have some customizations done – for example, a transformer project that would let us plug our 120V system into 230V European shore power needed to wait for parts to arrive. But we have some boat artwork we are having added to Coronado’s hull and other things to do while we wait. Time to settle into rolling with the flow of plans and delays!

After one week, I think I can safely say we are transitioning well into our new lifestyle. The city of La Rochelle makes being in one place and having to wait for things a pleasure. Our days and nights are filled with exploring her cobblestone streets, shops, and markets. And every excursion takes you past the striking, medieval towers that guard the entry to the port and outline the city’s downtown harbor like a work of art. 

We are so happy that you are here. We have had a lot of questions from family and friends about how they can stay in touch with us as we set sail. Here are few ways you can follow along and join us on this journey!

You can follow us on our social media channels:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• YouTube

You can also sign up to receive email alerts whenever we add a new blog post to this site:

And once we are underway, you can visit our Where Are We? page to see where Coronado is currently exploring the world!

Welcome to Sailing Coronado! We are John & Anna – an adventure-seeking, travel-loving couple currently exploring the world on SV Coronado, our 45’ Lagoon 450S catamaran. We love all of the experiences of travel: trying new food, experiencing different cultures, and meeting more of the fascinating people that inhabit planet Earth. We also find our hearts are happiest when we are on the water. This combination makes exploring the world via boat pretty amazing!

This site was created to let our friends and family follow along on our journey. It’s also our place to document our adventure for our own memories to look back on later. You can read more on our About Us page.

We are excited to share our journey with you!