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  Finally … Splash!
  It’s been a long time, ans there has been questions along the way regarding boat performance, built quality etc. Many apologies for not answering in a timely manner. We’ll come back to this. Long story short, the boat was delivered early August. We hold aContinue reading “Finally … Splash!”
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  Building to first splash
  Well … it’s been a while since we initiated this project. There has been ups and downs along the way with a very stressed Garcia yard. Let’s face it, many large corporation saw their production cycles turned upside down by the Covid pandemic, the material,Continue reading “Building to first splash”
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  Energy production systems
  While we’d agreed that boat life has to be more frugal than our on-shore ones, we’re not on a radical journey in this direction, as the passive igloo project was. We plan on continuing computer-based work, using the same main appliances we’d use at homeContinue reading “Energy production systems”
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  The One
  For those unfamiliar with The Matrix movie, “The One” is a systemic feature of the Matrix, in which a special code is carried by a randomly selected human being. As such, he possesses vast superhuman abilities as an avatar within the Matrix, in addition toContinue reading “The One”
• 
  Water, not plastic
  Everyone will agree over the fact that single use plastic is one of the main challenges for our ocean’s sustainability. Over the last two generations, the world has produced over 8bn tons of plastic, and it piles up, since it takes an average 450 years toContinue reading “Water, not plastic”
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  Insulation and ventilation
  Nanuq is a 60 feet Grand Integral launched in 2014 and designed to minimize environmental impact while accommodating a crew of up to 12 in high latitudes, including during winter. Built with the same insulation standards as a passive house, one of its first scientificContinue reading “Insulation and ventilation”
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  Heating
  Winter and Northern sailing plans require lots of thinking about thermal efficiency. And since energy is one of the scarce resources on a boat, trying to limit heat loss is as much a priority as producing heat in an efficient way. When Skip Novak goesContinue reading “Heating”
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  There is something about Garcia
  Two brothers, Jean-Pierre and Jean-Louis Garcia, started their venture nearly 50 years ago. Specialized metalworkers at the time, they established in Normandy what would become over the years one of the most famous aluminium sailboat builders. Looking at Garcia’s homepage, with the “Nowhere you can’tContinue reading “There is something about Garcia”
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  How many hulls is too many ?
  Let’s face it, coming from a catamaran world makes it difficult to imagine a long range sailing life in a monohull. It’s a mix of habit of course, comfort as well, and safety in any kind of rough sea condition we encounter. The layout makesContinue reading “How many hulls is too many ?”
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  Homework
  So that’s how the journey goes on: spending hours on boatyards’ website, all specializing in all-roads aluminium boats, reading blog stories of sailors commenting their choices, good or bad, taking notes of the mistakes they made and the issues they encountered, and how they overcameContinue reading “Homework”
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  Size matter
  There are quite some Aluminium boats out there especially if we include the second-hand market. From the purpose-built one-off, like Nanuq featured above, or the second-hand one which is available after a proven high latitude track record to the series some reputable yard have builtContinue reading “Size matter”
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  Autonomy
  There will be as many autonomy approaches as there are sailors to describe it. It starts with the Skipper who is able to perform any repair in any system of his boat, electrical or mechanical, all by Nigel Calder‘s finest standards. On the opposite, thereContinue reading “Autonomy”
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  Seaworthiness
  It has been the IRC goal for thirty years to calculate how seaworthy were the boats engaged into races all around the planet. Their Safety and Stability Screening (SSS) method was define to rank all participating boats from a stability and safety perspective. The higherContinue reading “Seaworthiness”
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  Rugged
  It’s obvious that off-beaten-tracks will come along any high latitude sailing plan. Although there seem to be places where every sailor going after this sort of adventure would gather (Ushuaia in the South, Reykjavik in the North for instance), at some point the anchoring willContinue reading “Rugged”
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  What is it that makes a high latitude boat?
  Being a rookie has its advantages. It allows you to search for inspiration from role models you get to pick, and the unlimited access to online information streamlines drastically the process. And beyond the smartass answer (“Its crew is what makes a high latitude boat”),Continue reading “What is it that makes a high latitude boat?”
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  How it all starts
  Ten years sailing the most enchanting places within one of the most beautiful sea, not only rich with incredible sceneries, but also with a unique cultural heritage on each of its shores. And doing this in the best of conditions, as we’d be sailing inContinue reading “How it all starts”

Initial launch date was

25 Sept. 2022

Obviously quite late by now …

(on top of the externalities which affected many industries over the last three years, the success of the Garcia range, especially the Explocat 52 one, explains most of it)

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