Today's Word: carénage
: boat service, boat maintenance, careening
Click here to listen to today's word (and try your luck at writing what you have heard, in the comments box below)
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE by Kristi Espinasse
To caréner is to turn a boat on its side for cleaning, caulking, and repair–a chore made easier when two or more people are involved (two to do the grueling work, and another dozen to chat with the two workers while sharing bits and pieces of history, and when thirsty, to share apéro with rosé and olives!).
These two brave workers in question were my husband and his soeurette. You may know Cécile through her French stories here and/or through her beautiful woodwork seen on Instagram (she makes furniture out of found wood). We were very lucky to have Cécile–and her love of wood and knowledge for working with it–for the yearly carénage we were encouraged to do for a certain wooden boat….
Yearly maintenance — that's right! One thing we learned as soon-to-be owners of an historic pointu, is that you must pull your boat out of the slip once a year–and do the weeklong maintenance work–or suffer the consequences (the guy working on the boat next to ours was facing 18 days of of carénage, to make up for 3 years of neglect.
BOATS AND VINES…FISH AND WINE!
This reminds me of how boat maintenance is very similar to vineyard maintenance… Just as vines need to be pruned once each springtime, so does a wooden navire. To leave those vines would mean extra labor the next year, and c'est la même chose for un bateau en bois.
And, just like our former grapevines–which Jean-Marc spent months caring for before the purchase of our first vineyard went through, we are caring for this little boat which still does not belong to us. That means (for our vines) we paid for the clippers and various pruning supplies…and for this boat there have been a lot of back-n-forths to the boat supply store (conveniently located near the old port) for paint supplies. As I said, both the vineyard and boat maintenance required a lot of elbow grease, and how can you put a price on that? Except that in the end, as Jean-Marc points out…
One pays you back in wine…and the other in fish!
On the third day of le carénage, Cécile and Jean-Marc braved the Mistral, which sent one of the old men in our city to the emergency room (the wind knocked him right over). As for the other old-timers who belong to this particular charming port, Les Capucins, they sat en brochette on a bench, with their hunting dogs and their stories of back when…quand c'était leur tour de caréner….
***
P.S. Would you like Cécile to write a story, in French, about her colorful carénage experience? She was the only woman caréner in a line up of longtime mariners. Leave her a note in the comments and she just might be encouraged to share about the maintenance she did and the adorable characters she met.
FRENCH VOCABULARY
caréner = to clean and repair a boat
la soeurette = little sister
carénage = to clean and maintain a boat
le pointu = Provencal fishing boat
un bateau = boat
en bois = wooden
quand c'était leur tour = when it was their turn
BOOK UPDATE
We've made it through Chapter Three in our memoir The Lost Gardens (about what led up to our decision to sell our vineyard). I planned to publish the chapter yesterday…when suddenly I bent that chapter all out of shape (going back in time, to Jean-Marc and my first breakup…).
Which reminds me of a subtitle I'd been itching to add to the book… The Lost Gardens: A Love Story
But we won't know the subtitle until the book is written… At which point, it could very well be called The Lost Gardens: A Rekindling… Or something entirely different…. If you haven't yet, I hope you will follow us on this memoir-writing journey. I will post Chapter 3 (no matter what shape it is in) by the weekend!
Click here to purchase our book–and follow along as we compose it and ourselves, in the process.
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I have purchased your new book in progress. I am unable to access the new chapters and wondered if you could please advise me how to do so.
Many thanks,
Suzan Backer
Hi Suzan, I have just sent you the info via email. If you do more the email, please check any spam filters, and then send me another message if you need further assistance.
The word carenage is very interesting! On it’s face and knowing the meaning, it seems our word “care” comes from this. But digging deeper, this is what I found: “careen. Whether it’s an unsteady ship, a speeding bus, or a person who is woozy, use the verb careen to describe something that’s teetering from side to side. When the word careen first entered the English language in the sixteenth century, it was used to describe a beached ship that was turned on its side for repair.” I read somewhere that 75% of our English words come from the French. This makes it easy to remember the French words.
For many years we owned a wooden yawl, about 40 feet long. Shadowfax needed to be
hauled out each year to clean her of barnacles and all other dirt she accumulated. It was in some ways a labor of love as she looked so beautiful when
she was repainted. Wooden boats are a lot of work but they are worth it.
Cécile: J’apprécie toujours vos histoires. S’il vous plaît écrivez une histoire sur le carénage pour nous.
merci,
gary
Bien sûr, Kristin, je voudrais lire l’histoire de Cécile! Avez-vous l’intention d’apprendre la navigation? Peut-être ça serait sage.
Bonne chance!
Yes! I would love to hear a story from Cecile and her boat adventures.
Our dear Kristi,
My gosh,even though it makes sense,I had no idea that taking care of a pointu requires this yearly maintenance!As always,you turn what could be a ho-hum duty into something unusual and almost a magical
experience,complete with wonderful characters!
(chere Cecile,we would love to see a story in French about your carenage experience!)
Dear Kristi, The Lost Gardens (with or without the subtitle)is an absolute delight!Thank you for helping me access it!I look forward to every new chapter!
Love
Natalia .xo
As Gary said so very well Cécile: J’apprécie toujours vos histoires. S’il vous plaît écrivez une histoire sur le carénage pour nous.
I also would like to hear from Cecile.
Betsy
Great name—Shadowfax… Is it named after Gandalf’s horse in Lord of the Rings?
Oui, j’adore les histoires en francais…
Carener…or haul out is an annual event with our 1956 wooden cabin cruiser and I have the fingernails (or lack there of) to prove it! Truly a labor of love as we spend memorable moments, weeks and months on the water with family and friends.
Best of luck in your efforts and happy boating!
THE DOWN LOW- or- THE LOW DOWN ??? THAT is the Question !!!
Cécille, s’il vous plait, écris une histoire. J’aime beaucoup les histoires sur la mer et le sud de la France.
This post struck a cord with me. My father’s hobby was making beautiful wooden boats. Hence my love of making wooden furniture.
When the love of my life was suffering from cancer and alzheimer’s she would sit in my shop and watch me working. Woodworking is almost spiritual to me and kept me sane in such a sad time in my life.
Dear Cecile, I can never thank you enough for your help when I was in La Ciota. Having lived on a boat (50 ft. Beneteau] after sailing her down from San Francisco to Puerto Vallarta, I admire any woman who steps forward to care for a “Mighty woman of the sea”. Like you, I love the wood work. I did most of the interior teak work for our lady.
I hope all is well for you. I enjoyed meeting you, and hope one day we shall meet again.
Best of life, Vance.
Carénage – One of our first tasks working together as a new couple 50 years ago, We had an old Criscraft, which needed to be recaulked and refinished each year. What a job! But it looked like a floating piece of furniture when we were done. Your boat looks beautiful with its vibrant red and white. Revel in the reward of work well done. May you enjoy many morning and sunset sails, and great fishing. Attention poissons! Thanks for the memories! – Janet
Thanks for the real eye-opener of a post, Kristi !! And thanks, Nancy S.- My thoughts on the word exactly, although not as eloquent or as detailed (about how much of an influence French was on English. I’m glad the Brits were not anal-retentive about keeping the purity of the language, or we English speakers would have lost out on a lot of beautiful words!). I remember my mother describing cars that drove recklessly as “careening around the corner”. Also, there was (is?) a port/town in the (colonial) French West Indies called Le Carenage. Now I know why it was called thus! Bises, Augusta
Perhaps you should rethink your book title. What comes to my mind is Gray Gardens a book non-related to yours, but out there in the world. Something more specific referencing wine and vineyards would be best in my opinion.
J’apprecie toujours des histoires en francais. Cecile, veuillez en partager une autre avec nous! Merci d’avance!
Allez Cecile….au travail!
Tes histoires sont toujours amusantes et bien ecrites. C’est sympa de lire ce qui se passe dans ton petit coin du Midi.
good write