In the "Sailors confess" series, we confess our stupidest sailing mistakes. But we are also looking forward to your confession. Send us your text, if possible with pictures, to mail@yacht.dekeyword "sailor's confession". If desired, publication will be anonymised.
In the summer of 2024, we chartered a sailing yacht in France to spend our holiday on the Mediterranean. We started in La Grande Motte and sailed in a south-westerly direction to Sète, Cap d'Agde and finally back again. Easy family sailing. We sailed as long as we felt like it and the wind played along, and then headed for the next harbour.
Learned French
The children, who were not yet experienced sailors, and of course my wife, were already involved in the holiday preparations: they learnt how to tie fender knots and practised meticulously attaching the fenders to the garden fence. I also prepared myself conscientiously and practised French with the well-known language learning apps so that I could introduce myself at the start of my holiday, order food in the restaurant and - most importantly - say in French that I had reserved a berth for one night via an app and was now in the harbour. So I would say: I can speak a little bit of French.
French applied
On holiday, however, it was a little more difficult to practise my language skills: I used the radio to log on to channel 9 in French, which always worked well at first. But - quite surprisingly - I was then also answered in French, which clearly exceeded my foreign language skills. When I was asked to continue in English, it usually worked.
French with pitfalls
On the penultimate day, we headed for Port Camargue. Once again, we were able to book a berth in advance using the app. It was a bit windier that day and there was a lot of traffic - both outside and inside the harbour. So I had my hands full: hoisting the sails, keeping on course and sending my radio message on channel 9. My crew got the fenders ready.
J'ai réservé une place pour une nuit..."
As usual, I was answered in French. And after a week's experience in France, I wanted to answer confidently this time: "Please in English, I only know a little bit of French."
I pressed the talk button and said:
En anglais, je suis un petit français."
After that there was a lot going on on the radio, which I didn't understand - there was also laughter. The marinero came towards us with a grin and we were greeted with a hearty laugh in the harbour office.
We reviewed the day over a sundowner. We realised why we had received such a friendly welcome. It was probably more of a laugh. What had I said on the radio? It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I can only speak a little bit of French. Instead, everyone within range of channel 9 had heard me introduce myself as "the little Frenchman".
We were glad when "the little Frenchman" was able to leave the harbour again the next day.
