Delphine Rouault

I met Delphine Rouault in Douarnenez, on the coast of Brittany.  I’m on a sailing cargo vessel, the brigantine, TRES HOMBRES, on a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean and back with a load of rum, coffee and cacao.  

Douarnenez was our first leg.  It’s here we load up empty wine barrels to be filled with rum across the sea.  Bay of Biscay was storming so our ship stayed quayside while we worked on her.  One night Delphine came with some friends of the ship and brought her guitar.  In the cold, all of us warmed with rum and cider, she sang in three languages and spoke in a fourth.  We were enchanted.

She’s originally from Paris.  Learned and learned to love sailing in the Caribbean and now captains many types of boats in Douarnenez and has a very beautiful red wooden sailboat she keeps for fun.  She’s been performing music for the last year.I told her about my @tinyboatsession project and asked her if she wanted to play, but this time on TRES HOMBRES.  She said yes and brought her friend, Michael Francis Carley to play as well.  It was rainy, but we had a tarp up and playing makes you feel warm.  

Over a coffee and cider she told me about large schools of small fish called sprats that sometimes show up in Douarnenez. Before we sailed out to our next stop in Spain she gave us a frozen block, two kilos worth.  TRES HOMBRES does not have any refrigeration so the cook had to make due with them that day.  He made tacos, but unfortunately the wind was strong and the sea rough.  Only the captain and the cook were not seasick, and the captain enjoyed the lion's share.  FB: La Passeuze