Dinner Aboard GLENN IV

Last Thursday evening Brenda and I had dinner with Francois and his crew aboard his boat Glenn IV berthed at the VandA marina.

GLENN IV

One of the crew had already departed for Europe but we were able to meet Luke, Philippe, and Henri.  Brenda and I had a wonderful evening in the company of these accomplished, sophisticated, but very down to earth men.  Among the group were two vignerons, a retired doctor, and a physiotherapist.

Before dinner and over drinks I spent a bit of time with Francois discussing some aspects of the Marine Plotter software which he thinks is great and used a lot on the passage from Brazil. We were told of their 2-day stopover at Tristan da Cunha and Henri showed us his photos of the island. It became clear that TdC was not a suitable stopover for a solo sailor as the anchorage is neither sheltered nor secure - they had two people on the boat at all times. Then Philippe presented a perfectly cooked dinner of steak and mushroom risotto accompanied by South African wine which was of course outstanding.  The conversation was lively and a lot of French was spoken which Brenda enjoyed very much. Two of our hosts spoke English very well.

Afterwards we were given a tour of the boat which is about 53 ft long from memory, and which I would place in the "luxury" class.  Aft of the spacious and comfortable crew's bunks I asked if that was a clothes washer.  No, it was the dryer.  The washer was around the corner.  At the spacious galley we marveled at the bread maker, microwave oven, and dish washer.  Below the surfaces were two freezers.

The aft Captain's cabin was a true cabin, with a large island bed with access from 3 sides, storage space all around, an en suite with shower, and a flat screen TV monitor.

After the tour I congratulated Francois on his outstanding boat.

Philippe, Robert, Brenda, Francois, Henri

We said Goodbye to Luke then Francois and Philippe were kind enough to drive us back to the marina, which dispelled a concern about finding a taxi cab to get us safely back in the dark. 

By now all four of these fine men are on their way back to Europe.  Glenn IV will remain at VandA under the watchful eye of Manuel until it is time for their next passage toward the Mediterranean.