This is an authorized translation in English of a post in French by Vincent Le Roy (@vincentleroy): La Saga PLOUF [Episode 1] : Introduction

Remember that the person who speaks here is NOT me, Vincent Celier (@vcelier), but Vincent Le Roy (@vincentleroy), a French guy.

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Note: "Plouf", in French, is a onomatopoeia that phonetically imitates the sound of an object that falls in the water. The equivalent in English would be "Plop" or "Splash". That is a strange name for a boat!

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The PLOUF Saga - Part 1 of 17 - Introduction

I will tell you a new saga, in my own way. A true story, that I lived at 100%, like everything I do. This story is going to be a little longer than usual but will still contain a lot of pictures. And I hope that you will also attach yourself to the character that I will introduce to you in this saga: PLOUF!

Plouf? Yes, Plouf! Plouf is the name of my first sailing boat. And you'll see, it's a touching story and quite extraordinary. How does the story begin? Ah yes! Actually, let's start at the beginning. Let's say that in 2015, I make the choice to leave Paris to settle in Brittany, to put myself in shelters in this big house that I like so much just above the harbor and the bay. At the harbor precisely, over the years, as I take pictures at sea, I sympathized with Yann and Julien who run our small harbor. And clearly at the end of 2015, I started saying that if a boat was for sale ... let's say I will not be against it.

The message seems to have been heard. Because in early January 2016, Yann calls me: «I have a boat for you, you just have to clean it a little, but to start, it's perfect; and "small boats, small problems". I'll send you a picture. He is at the pontoon I spot 25.» And the picture arrives on my phone ... with a message: "her name is PLOUF!"

First, which one? Yeah, I'm not much advanced. Decidedly, the photos for our harbor master, it's not his cup of tea; or else he is hiding something. Immediately, I take the car and here I am on the platform and of course I do not have a badge to access it. Fortunately, a yachtsman opens the gate for me and I go down on the slippery teak pontoon wrecks ... To be honest, I'm not really aware of it at that time. And here I discover "Plouf". In its juice so to speak. And no, it's not an exaggeration, because the little Plouf is in a very bad state.

In retrospect, I think that today with my knowledge of boats, I would vomit. But no, I'm so happy to have a boat that I have tears in my eyes and instinctively, I say "Hello Plouf". It's stupid ... but here it is, my boat. And we will not leave each other.

-- Vincent Le Roy (@vincentleroy)

Continue to Part 2

All photos are property of @vincentleroy and under copyright