Thursday at the Caribbean 1500 in Portsmouth, VA offered a rare opportunity to see French-Canadian sailor Yves Gelinas’ award-winning film on the big screen at the Commodore Theatre. Yves, who is a guest of the rally this week while he prepares his Alberg 30 for a passage south to the French West Indies, introduced the film today while participants finished lunch at the 1940’s-era art-deco theatre.
“There is a scene in the movie, I must confess, where you’ll see me in my birthday suit,” said Yves at the conclusion of his short presentation introducing his film. “If it offends you, look away. Or, pretend you’re in a museum, gazing at a work of art!” he joked.
The lights dimmed and the curtain drew to applause for Yves as the film began. The movie chronicles his attempt to circumnavigate the globe in Jean du Sud, single-handed and nonstop. Like the legendary French voyaging sailor Bernard Moitessier (whom he takes much of his inspiration), Yves waxes philosophically about ‘saving his soul’ at sea and pursuing peace-of-mind, which he knew would only be attainable if he completed his goal.
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Earlier today, skippers and crew gathered at Roger Brown’s for another morning of seminars, with Mike Meer and Mia Karlsson speaking about offshore yacht rigging and cooking, respectively. Mike, who’d arrived in town from Annapolis yesterday to offer complimentary rig inspections to the fleet, talked about how to keep your boat’s rig safe and secure offshore.
Mia focused her talk on personal tips and tricks for keeping crews fed and happy offshore, including how to prepare meals on the first few days when people aren’t quite ‘themselves,’ to offering a celebratory cake at the halfway point.
Following the film, Chuck O’Malley of Chesapeake Sailmakers, also down from Annapolis, offered a hands-on sail-repair seminar, focusing on making temporary repairs offshore and how to avoid sail damage in the first place.
The program continues this evening back at Roger Brown’s where ARC Bahamas sailor Lee Cumberland will play music with his band Sly 45.