Corbeau Blanc

Casting Off as a Family

Cédric, his wife Kelly and their family have been sailing multihulls for five years now, first aboard an Astréa 42 and now on their Ipanema 58, Corbeau Blanc. In this, their first Postcard, they tell us how their adventure began.

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Published on 30/09/2026

Issue: 210

Published: Dec. / Jan. 2026

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Who: Kelly, Cédric, Nathan, Valentina, André, Myriam
Where: Palermo, Sicily
Multihull: Ipanema 58
Instagram: @thelifeproject.family

One evening, sitting on the couch, I looked at my wife and said, “What if we went to live on a boat?” A few months later, in 2021, we cast off. Back then, there were four of us aboard our first catamaran, an Astréa 42 called Valentino. We spent a sabbatical year sailing, exploring and learning… followed by two years ashore. A “normal” life, in a way. Those two years ultimately proved enough for us: the call of the sea had us casting off for a second time.
In 2025, we set off from La Rochelle. In the meantime, the family had grown with the arrival of Valentina, now 3, whose name is a tribute to Valentino. She was “made” during an Atlantic crossing and learned to walk on a boat. Try explaining to her that living ashore is supposed to be the norm!
Today, there’s Cédric, Kelly, Nathan and Valentina on board, along with our two dogs, Pika and Uno, as well as Grandpa André, 80, and Grandma Myriam, who join us half the time. Three generations on the same boat… we simply needed more space! We now sail aboard a 58-footer, Corbeau Blanc. And since sailors are superstitious, we certainly weren’t going to change the boat’s name!
From La Rochelle, we headed south

and took our time cruising the Mediterranean all the way to Sicily. Sunshine, sailing and, above all, Italian food: we’re feasting on local specialties and already stocking up on pasta for the next crossing.
This winter, we’re planning another Atlantic crossing, then we’ll be heading for French Polynesia… if everyone is still on board. Or, more precisely, if everyone survives the sailing!
We also tell the story of our adventure in our book, Larguer les amarres (Setting sails), where we share our experience and explain how we decided to leave everything behind and live aboard a sailboat.