"50 years later, I bought the same Poker that my Daddy had!"

2023-01-13 01:07:40 By : Ms. Xia Jason

Gilles lives near Marseille. When he walks on the port of Istres, he discovers a Poker for sale. To his friend, he says: " It is on a sailboat like this one that I learned to sail. My Dad had bought his in 1973 in Marseille to base it in Bandol. As a child, we sailed as a family and even did regattas. Dad kept it for 3 yearsâ?¦ ".

To pay homage to his Dad and also to reconnect with the simple pleasures of sailing, Gilles starts negotiating to buy the sailboat. It is a standard model which, unlike his Dad's "Dinette" model, does not have a table in the saloon. It's the Poker n°273 which also dates from 1973. 500 sailboats were built by Jeanneau between 1972 and 1979. Upvc Panels

"50 years later, I bought the same Poker that my Daddy had!"

This Poker named Top Sy is really in good condition. The engine was replaced in 2001 by an 8 horsepower Lombardini. " This is the only one that fits in the volume of the engine hold. "The genoa is new, but the mainsail is tired. In November 2019, just before the confinement, Gilles concludes the deal at 4,000 euros: " A great deal: That's about the price of the engine! "he says.

As a beverage salesman at outdoor events, Gilles' professional activity was stopped with the COVID. A situation which will give him time to undertake a refit of his Poker : " The boat was in good condition. On deck, I just changed the ropes, halyards and sheets and offered a new mainsail to this beautiful unit. "On the other hand, Gilles is undertaking a thorough renovation of the interior.

"J am a handyman only by obligation. But with time, you get there. "Gilles begins by sanding down all the old wood before covering it with paint. He chose white and light gray to modernize the whole. " In one place, I went through up to 7 coats to not see any trace of the substrate! "For the ceiling, he found PVC paneling strips that he fixed with stainless steel screws. The hardest part was to install them in the forward cabin to follow the curve of the hull. He managed to do this by tacking them down with a reinforcing cleat.

For the lighting, Gilles uses commercial 12V LEDs. To power this network, he installs 3 batteries: one for the motor, one for the lights and the pressurized water pump, and the third for the cooler. A compression model that consumes quite a bit. On the deck 2 solar panels feed this assembly. In the future, Gilles would like to increase the capacity of the battery dedicated to the cooler, as well as the power of the solar panel from 100 to 150 W. He even imagines a gantry on the back of the boat to permanently fix the panels.

At the moment, the interior refit is finished, but Gilles would like to do some work on the bottom of the bulkheads that leaked last summer. Indeed, the gland is still original on the shaft line. " This summer, it leaked with one drop per second. It doesn't sound like much, but that's 25 liters of water in the bottom at the end of the day! "Without taking the boat out of the water, Gilles changed the braid and this problem is now solved. But there is still the foot of the bulkheads to be repainted.

" I invested a little more than the purchase price of the boat in the restoration, about 5000 euros. "This budget includes the 12.5 m2 mainsail made in Grau-du-Roi at 1,600 euros and a lot of equipment such as a mainsail cover, ropes, batteries and solar panels, the icebox, the pressurized water pump and even a dinghy and its electric motor.

"50 years later, I bought the same Poker that my Daddy had!"

Upvc Wall Cladding Now the sailboat is ready, but it is time that Gilles lacks. He sails on the Etang de Berre regularly, but would like to go further. " Dès les beaux jours, I would like to make a weekend around the Frioul. But my biggest nautical ambition is maybe one day, to go to Corsica� No need for more to be happy! "