At the start of 2020, the entire world faces an unprecedented pandemic. For us, this means staying at the dock in Nouméa, New Caledonia, not knowing when we will be able to set sail again.

Borders are closing one after another. Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania — all our sailing plans are on hold. Libertaire remains on the hard at the Neptune shipyard, and we are sheltering in our apartment on land.

Despite everything, we are taking advantage of this forced downtime to make progress on the boat. The refit of the front half is coming along well. The insulation is done, the woodworking is advancing. And Ernest was born on January 21st — a bright light in this dark period.

We hope the situation will improve and that we can relaunch Libertaire by the end of the year. In the meantime, we stay cautious and keep ourselves busy as best we can.