Maritéa's odyssey

The dream of a life on the water

Dream remembered...

In early 2004, Eric and Céline decided it was time to dust off their 13-year-old dream of living and traveling on a sailboat. The timing was right, while their children were still young. They set about making it a reality.

But the task is more difficult than it seems. Convincing a bank to finance a second-hand sailboat to live on, without a penny to their name or any guarantees, will take ten months of negotiations and the effective influence of the president of the Belem Foundation, who knows he can trust his captain.

Next, they had to find the boat. Eric became an expert on the global market for second-hand Mikados. It took him a year of research, identifying a dozen boats, selecting half of them, visiting three, and almost buying two, before he fell in love with this 1976 ketch, the 32nd in the series, which was waiting patiently at the end of the port of Kos to begin a new life.

A dream come true...

Éric finally decided to go and see this boat just a few days before re-embarking. As soon as he stepped on board, he fell in love. Not everything was perfect though: the engine compartment was in poor condition. But the boat seemed to silently speak to its future captain. Éric knew in his heart that he had found his travel companion, his family's new home.

The purchase was finalized on January 27, 2005. With a new owner, flag, and life, the boat needed a new name.

The atoll of Marutea, located in the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia, ended up at the top of Éric and Céline's list. By changing just one letter, they subtly inserted their daughter's middle name, concealing it in the gentle exoticism of the name of a distant archipelago.

Their dream now has a beautiful name: Maritéa.

As it should be, Maritéa is registered in Saint-Malo and proudly flies the city's flag. This famous pirate city is where the children were born and was the family's adopted home for nine wonderful years.

On March 15, 2005, Céline, Juliette, and Damien discovered their new home. Their friends, Hervé and Magali, who had arrived in Kos a few days earlier, had prepared the boat to give the new owners a warm welcome. Céline celebrated her 33rd birthday on board, and this unforgettable moment was the best present she could have asked for...

After thirteen years of waiting, Eric and Céline's dream had finally come true! If there's a moral to this story, it's that you should never give up on your dreams or forget them...