As summer of 2021 approached there was some hope that the COVID pandemic was in retreat. Vaccination campaigns were moving forward around the world, inexorably driving down new cases. By early June of 2021 the rules restricting Americans from entering into France due to COVID were liberalized. For the first time in a year and a half we could legally enter France and return to Wanderlust. It was good timing: We had just been notified that after six years of applying a mooring slot in Paris’s Port de l’Arsenal would be available for Wanderlust for the winter, if we could get her there.
Some years the cruising goals are what we make up on the fly. This year was different: From the start we knew no matter what that Wanderlust needed to end up in Paris.
As always there were complications. At home in San Francisco the remodel of our condo’s bathrooms had been massively delayed. The project was over time and over budget. In February the contractor’s Gantt Chart promised a completion date by the end of May. At the time we felt the timeline was doable but optimistic. But completion by the end of June seemed very likely.
As it worked out the project was not close to being finished by the end of June. In fact it didn’t seem they would be finished in July or August either. Indeed, it might not be done in September. Or October. Or November. The only person who could make it go faster was the contractor, who first gave up on meeting any deadline, then gave up on even trying to be civil, and in the end just stopped talking to us altogether for reasons we never understood.
Under the circumstances the best choice in June seemed to return to France as soon as we could arrange it. This would allow the work on the bathroom to “continue” in our absence. Since our spot in Paris wasn’t available until the start of October we’d need to move Wanderlust to a temporary mooring somewhere on her route to Arsenal. When we returned to France we could complete the trip and take her the rest of the way to Paris. At least that was the plan.
The quick departure to France didn’t leave us enough time to apply for a long stay French visa. This meant that no matter what we’d need to return to San Francisco if we wanted to stay more than 90 days out of 180. It was another reason why breaking up the cruise to Paris made sense, although if the remodel was completed we could have just delayed our departure and completed the visa process before we left for France.
Overhanging all plans was the constant threat of a resurgence of COVID, a particular concern as the Delta variant spread and hospitalizations again surged. We’d have a big problem if France closed its borders to Americans after we returned to San Francisco. Times are different now and we couldn’t take for granted privileges we once enjoyed. But for now we’d head to France as quick as we could. We would deal with future challenges if they emerged.
Our plans had a lot of moving parts. There were a lot of things that could go wrong. We just hoped that it would all work out.
Thus after a year and a half of absence, we arrived back in Auxonne at the end of June 2021. Wanderlust, not entirely unexpectedly, was in a sad state. Friends had told us that in our absence a wave of Sahara dust had dirtied the boats at the Port Royal. That was definitely true. There were several other things that not unexpectedly needed attention too.
Past the need for a thorough wash of the outside of the boat we also found that the wooden wheelhouse badly needed varnish and several of its windows were leaking, both maintenance issues. It was a pleasant finding after years of discovering an endless string of serious issues stemming from the build each time we arrived back on board.
The superstructure paint issues had, as expected, worsened in our absence. More paint had failed back to steel, continuing the trend that started soon after launch. We had planned to get Wanderlust grit blasted and repainted in 2020 but that work has been delayed by COVID. With the short season and the need to get to Paris it now looked like the painting might be done in 2022 at the earliest. At this point the problems with the paint were so extensive that the early suggestions that we might be make spot repairs was clearly not going to work. The paint needed to be stripped and the build-up needed to be done properly from the steel up. There’s really no other choice.
Our plans left us little time to linger in Auxonne. With so many things that needed to be done in a short period of time there was little opportunity to socialize or revisit favorite places in the area. After a busy week of preparations, including giving Wanderlust a good cleaning, we were ready enough to depart. The wheelhouse varnish repairs would have to wait, as it was raining too much to do the work and the wood was wet. As much as we might have liked a leisurely-paced start to our 2021 cruising season it wasn’t in the cards.
Wanderlust 
Pingback: La Petite Saône: Ray-sur-Saône to Port-sur-Saône | Wanderlust
Pingback: The Marne and on to the Canal Saint-Martin: Lagny-sur-Marne and Port de Plaisance Paris-Arsenal | Wanderlust