Chapter 24: Jeanne’s Discovery

Captain Tony and his family were already at the restaurant when we arrived.

“Bienvenue! Je suis heureux que vous soyez ici. (Welcome! We are glad you are here). I’d like you to meet my wife, Monique. These are my daughters, Cécile, Fleur, and Marta. And this is your crew mate, Noèle. She will be your chief steward, assistant cook, and first mate. We all speak English fairly well, except my wife, Monique, who can understand it okay, but does not speak English very well.”

“Thank you. This is my associate from the Foundation, Isabella de la Vega, and my dance partner, Jeanne Mauresmo,” I told them.

“Your dance partner?” Cécile, the oldest daughter asked.

“Oui. Jeanne and I are scheduled to compete in the upcoming Maison Ruinart Trophy French Senior Open Ballroom Championship in just a few weeks and we needed to be able to rehearse while we sail,” I explained.

“Oh. Cool!” she replied.

“Why don’t we have some lunch and then go see about the provisions,” Captain Tony suggested.

It was an interesting lunch as strangers worked to become friends. After all, we would be sailing together in relatively tight spaces for the next ten days. After lunch, Monique led the way while Captain Tony and I followed. The girls all headed for the boat to help the new girls get settled in.

Monique tried to explain what she was buying, and more importantly why she chose certain items, but it was all very confusing. I could see that I was going to have to spend more time grocery shopping when I got home. But finally we had it all. She had brought several grocery bags with her, the rest we loaded into boxes and then lugged them back to the marina. I could see right away that I was investing in one of those cloth-sided wagons before my next foray into provisioning.

When I told Captain Tony, he just smiled. “Alfred said you were a fast learner.”

After all the provisions were on board, I left putting them away to Monique and Noèle and went up to the flying bridge to find Captain Tony.

I guess I should explain about the yacht. It was a Sunreef 80, twenty-four meters long (about 80 feet) by twelve meters wide (about 40 feet), twin hulled, sailing catamaran, almost identical to Captain Alfred’s. The main difference was that the galley was down in the port hull, instead of up in the salon. That gave more room in the salon, but fewer cabins.

In the port hull was the owner’s cabin (the biggest cabin), the galley, storage, and then the crew quarters in the aft port hull. The starboard hull held three cabins, mine being the aft cabin.

The other main difference between this catamaran and Captain Alfred’s, besides the upgraded instrument package, was the flying bridge. This bridge was considered an open bridge, although it had plexiglass panels that could be inserted when necessary. When not in use, they were removed and stored in the hold, and the bridge became an open bridge. With the temperature hovering in the low sixties, I’m glad they had the panels in place.

Another small difference was that the bridge console, where you sat to run the boat, was in the center, forward, as opposed to being off to the side. This made the rest of the flying bridge area seem bigger, even if it really wasn’t. It also made viewing the port side a little better when docking.

When I got to the bridge, Captain Tony had the engines running to warm up the diesels, while he went down the start-up check list.

“Can you and Noèle handle the lines?” he asked. I immediately went in search of Noèle and asked her to help me cast off.

And just like that, we were off on another adventure.

After we cleared the harbor at Antalya, I helped Captain Tony raise the main sail and unfurl the genoa. The wind caught them immediately and Captain Tony cut the engines and we were sailing! Captain Tony started showing me all the new electronics and how they worked. Finally, after thirty minutes, he pointed to a drawer under a nearby sofa.

“The manuals are in there. I expect you to start on them as soon as you can. In ten days, you should be a master of every instrument on the bridge. But first, let’s get undressed, and then I want you to go to the port side engine room and look at the watermaker. The previous owner said it didn’t work sometimes. The shipyard said they fixed it, but I want to be sure.”

I carried my clothes to my stateroom and put them away in the clothes locker, along with the rest of the clothes in my backpack. I threw my toilet kit in the en suite head (bathroom) and headed for the port engine room. Catamarans have two engine rooms with redundant systems in both. The hatches to access the engine rooms are located in the cockpit, just outside the large sliding doors that separate the cockpit from the salon. I couldn’t see anything wrong with the watermaker or any of the other systems located there. So I made my way back to the bridge.

“Alex!” I heard her scream my name and immediately reversed my tracks, heading for the salon and the source of the scream.

“They’re ... they’re all naked!” Jeanne yelled at me.

“Uh, oh! I guess someone forgot to tell her,” I thought to myself.

I quickly grabbed her hand and led her to my cabin. Then sitting on the berth, I held her at arm’s length in front of me.

“You KNEW!” she screamed. “YOU KNEW!”

“I didn’t realize that no one had bothered to tell you,” I said lamely.

“Cynthiana knew?” she asked.

“I think so, though we never discussed it,” I told her.

“And Isabella knew?” she asked.

I just nodded my head sadly.

“And just when were you going to tell me?” she yelled again.

“Look. I screwed up! I’m sorry. You don’t have to go without clothes, if you don’t want to,” I told her.

“So I’m just going to parade around fully dressed for the next ten days and let everyone think I’m a freak? Or a prude?” she asked, a little less forcefully.

“Look, going without clothes in one’s home is not uncommon, especially in Europe. And this is the Lavigne’s home. They choose to go without clothes for the freedom they feel. That they chose to do it where others cannot infringe on their privacy is a byproduct of owning the yacht,” I told her.

“But...”

“No buts! You do not have to participate if you don’t want to, but if you want to remain on this boat, you will keep your mouth shut about it and show them the respect they deserve. If you cannot do that. I will put you in the dingy and tow you the rest of the way. Do you understand me?”