Testimony
A story of a sailing catamaran trip with the happy owners of a Lucia 40
Ceylan and Alfie
Model
Lucia 40
Location
Around the world
Winners of the 2021 photo contest
A well-considered purchase project
Aflie left school at 15 and began an apprenticeship to become an electrician. He quickly rose to become a director of an electrical company. Ceylan has managed her own photo studio in South London which she launched with her savings.
Alfie’s grandfather and father always had boats, which they kept in the south of England. Alfie started sailing when he was a child. At the age of 21, Alfie and Ceylan shared their first sailing experience together and they loved it. The conditions were perfect to get away from the daily grind and the stress of work. In the same week, Aflie bought a Snapdragon 27 for £1,400, and they called it Mushu, a reference to the Disney film Mulan, a sailboat abandoned for 7 years, which they decided to restore. While they were finishing the restoration of their sailboat Mushu, Alfie secretly bought a 33-foot Colvic Countess that his grandmother’s friend was selling. A surprise that he hastened to reveal the same evening, before preparing their first cruise outside the English coast.
Ceylan and Alfie always loved Fountaine Pajot cruising catamarans. They visited a dealer for the first time in 2017 to ask about the Astrea 42 and Lucia 40… with a new goal in mind, buying a new catamaran. They then focused on their work to save money.
A few years later, the young couple bought ‘Coco’, their beautiful Fountaine Pajot Lucia 40 catamaran. As soon as Coco arrived, they set sail for the Mediterranean. These two sailing lovers still can’t believe where they are today. They live a dream every day on board their new catamaran. They share their incredible experiences at sea on their youtube channel @sailing coco.
Where were you sailing the last few months, during the photo contest ?
“We had moored Coco in Valencia Marina during the third lockdown. As soon as the lockdown was lifted, we set sail to Ibiza. We spent most of our time exploring and enjoying what Ibiza had to offer. We then set sail back to mainland Spain where we spent some time sailing along the southern coast.
We spend some time in Cartagena to get Coco ready for the Atlantic Crossing. We then sailed down and are currently in Gran Canaria, waiting to leave and head down to Cape Verde and then for a transatlantic sail to the CARIBBEAN.”
What stories are hidden behind the pictures you shared during the photo contest MyBoatandI2021 ?
The diving
“Whilst we were in Ibiza we decided to try out a little bit of free-diving. This was us practicing our free-diving skills in one of the beautiful Cala’s in Ibiza and exploring what was below our Fountaine Pajot cruising catamaran ‘Coco’!”
The Disney evening
“Important fact in Ibiza: the swell has an annoying tendency to rise without warning… One night we were a little over eager about getting a cocktail ashore and decided to ride the swell and hop out in one quick movement! What actually happened was 2 very wet sailors being thrown out the dingy and washed ashore! We waited 10 minutes for our dingy to drain before we hopped back in and made it safely back to the boat. We were both a little shell shocked and disappointed in ourselves for making the silly decision that we decided to turn a negative into a positive and lift our spirits by lowering our saloon table, making popcorn and turning the boat into a real cinema on the water!”
The unforgettable sailing
“This photo was taken on our last sail out of Ibiza. We left at dawn, at 5 am under a choppy sky, with some lightning that we could see in the distance. As soon as the sun came out, the clouds dissipated and the lightning disappeared. Ibiza gave us the best sunrise to enjoy one last time.”
The wedding
“We were so desperately in love with Fountaine Pajot catamarans that we agreed that we would prioritise purchasing the boat before having our wedding. We have been together for 10 years but we chose to prioritize the purchase of our catamaran before anything because, according to us, it is the choice that would allow us to live extraordinary experiences. Once we settled into boat life we had saved and made plans for our wedding! After having to move it three times, because of Covid, we finally managed to tie the knot!”
The unexpected meeting
“After getting married we set sail and started our passage to the Caribbean! We were greeted by this pod of dolphins on our trip out of Cartagena heading south down the Spanish coast. This was our first “official” passage out of the Med and the show that the dolphins put on for us was incredible.”
