The crew at Power & Motoryacht was lucky enough to enjoy a Jeanneau Leader 36 as a company boat this summer courtesy of Jeanneau and Louis Marine Ltd. of Westbrook CT. Below is just a small sampling of the fun we had on this trusty little cruiser.
(Not So) Bored Meeting
We hope you enjoyed your summer as much as we did ours. Send us your summer fun or Labor Day photos via email, Facebook and Twitter and we may just send you a vintage PMY hat!
An afternoon aboard a Leader 36 reminds the editors of the rejuvenating power of the water.
The smell of sweet and spicy sausage seasoned with a healthy squeeze of fresh lemon wafted through the saloon and out the enormous sunroof of the Leader 36, our company boat for the summer. Deputy Editor Jason Wood worked the grill like Bobby Flay while Digital Editor John Turner channeled his inner Scorsese (or perhaps his Tarantino) and shot B-Roll of the entertaining spaces aboard for an upcoming video series. Myself: I grabbed a quiet corner of the aft sunpad and looked out onto the tree-lined shore of Deep River, one of my favorite spots on the Connecticut River. Besides Jason and John ribbing each other, as per usual; the only sound that pierced the incredible quietness was a passing steam train.
“Ding-Ding, Ding-Ding, Ding-Ding, Whooo-Whooo.”
It was a serene sight.
The weeks prior were filled with more late nights, whirlwind travel, and weekend writing than we’d typically like to admit. The end result, a rich October issue was worth every second but it left us feeling just a bit punchy.
It was a perfect time to take the Leader out and shoot some video. Getting some wind in our hair as we blasted up the river at 28 knots, I half expected to see our stress and tension floating in the turbulence when I looked aft.
Grabbing a mooring and spending some time sitting around the cockpit table with a plate of fresh sausage, and chips and salsa was exactly what the doctor ordered. Conversation and cold drafts flowed easily, as the topic du jour shifted from our to-do lists and strategy to what’s happening in personal lives. We laughed hard and often about past adventures together, especially our Five Day Cruise Aboard Arawak. The ability to reconnect, not just colleagues, but as friends is something that just happens easier on a boat.
We’d eventually drop our mooring line and carve a course back to Essex. Joystick control allowed me to dock the boat with as much confidence as one can muster when maneuvering a boat that is borrowed under your boss’ name.
The three of us then took to giving the boat a thorough bath. Working under the sun at a simple, straightforward chore was something I think we all found a strange enjoyment in.
It’s pretty amazing how just a single afternoon on the water—much like an antique train running up the coast—releases steam incredibly quickly. Untying lines, leaving our to-do lists at the dock, and running the engines recharged not just the Leader’s batteries but our own, while reminding us of our passion for the sport.
I think we’ll have to test boating’s effects on our team again real soon.
Follow our adventures aboard the Leader 36 on Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag, #SummerLeader.
Click on a thumbnail to enlarge the images:
We enjoyed our meetings on the Leader 36:
Another one of our ‘meetings’:
On a more serious note:
On the Leader 36 in Sag Harbor:
