Boat

Déjàlà is a 1972 Ericson-Alberg 
35' Sloop with step mast and full/long keel.

• Hull: #46 according to survey we cannot find proof aboard
• LOL: 34'9" or 10.59 meters
• LOL: with bow pulpit: 36'1"                  
• LWL: 24'1" or 7.34 meters
• Beam: 9'8" or 2.95 meters    
• Ballast: 5,300 pounds or 2,404 kilos
• Draft: 5' or 1.55 meters               
• Displacement: 12,000 pounds or 5,443 kilos
• Type: Fiberglass
• Hull Speed: 6.7 knots
• Dimensions: 
• I = 41.60' or 12.68 m
• J = 12.30' or 3.75 m
• P = 36.0' or 10.97 m
• E = 16.0' or 4.88 m
• Sails:
• Main, loose footed = 288sqft, 1st reef = 184 (64%), 2nd reef = 104 (36%)
• Jib = 345 sqft
• Gennaker = Selden Code X CX-15
• Asymmetrical Spinnaker with sock = 845 sqft

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Here are some pictures of the electric drive and associated batteries and switch system. The battery bank consists of ten Trojan L16 6V batteries in the deep part of the bilge. They are fitted with Hydrocaps to catalyze the hydrogen generated while charging back into pure water, greatly reducing the addition of distilled water, and keeping the interior safe from the gas.

The electricity is routed through a knife switch array to allow changing the operating voltage from 60VDC for the drive motor to 12VDC for operating house loads (lights, fridge, pumps, etc.)

The motor is a 'Ray' electric outboard. It resides in a box above the outboard well when not in use. This helps the boat sail more efficiently by avoiding dragging a prop through the water. The motor is sized to drive the boat in and out of crowded harbors, marinas, anchorages, etc. It is not for long term 'motor-sailing' for days on end. After all: it IS a sailboat! We could motor at 3 knots for about 12 hours to a 50% depth of discharge, but have never done it.

Electric Motor, Electric Switches, Batteries

Charging the bank is by a combination of solar panels, tow-behind generator and shore power through a Xantrex 100A inverter/charger.

This is probably too much info for those that don't care, not enough for those with a technical bent, but it is a short overview of the drive system.

The inside

Spinnaker, Anchored, Sailing

Stern, Cockpit, Dodger

All Lines to Cockpit, Solar Panels

We cannot forget our modular sit-on-top kayaks (Apollo Point 65 N) 

that get us safely (although wet at times) to and fro.

Inside V-Berth during passages

What's in the Name:

After owning our sailboat for about 4 years and in preparation
for our sailing adventures to visit many new countries, and following approximately two seconds of heavy deliberation, we agreed
to have our sailing vessel registered in Canada. From experience,
it seemed that in many countries of the world, the Canadian flag is viewed and treated as friendlier than the US one.

When we traveled to Canada to register our sailboat a couple of years back, we came up with three possible names (Déjàlà [French], La Pulce D’Acqua [Italian], or Yá át tééh [Navajo]). In case our favorite one was already taken by another clever name thinker we’d quickly have something to fall back on. The first name we came up with was thankfully approved and we didn’t think much more of the meaning behind the name we had made up.

How we came up with Déjàlà? Well, if you know a little French (English use the French term as well) Déja-vu, basically means “the experience of feeling sure that one has already witnessed or experienced a current situation, even though the exact circumstances of the prior encounter are uncertain and were perhaps imagined – somewhat like an illusion.” We toyed then with the idea of replacing the vu (seen, viewed) with là (there) hence the illusion of having been there/somewhere before.

Now that we are in Mexico I often catch some of the Mexicans working around our boat point at its name and snicker so I finally asked them what it meant then did a little googling of my own.

In a broad sense, the term can mean: Let her be, Leave her behind, Let it be (my favorite version), Let it go,
anything to do with leaving something or someone somewhere, placing something somewhere or abandoning something or someone. It also can mean to allow, to pass on or to let depending on the context. I can now see why some snickers happen here in there. The Mexicans who snicker will often dare one another to ask me what it means or how I say it. I tell them that it actually is not a true word and when I pronounce it the French way where the “j” is pronounced like a “j”, not an “h” (as in Spanish), they think of it somewhat differently.

It will be interesting to see if other languages encountered along the way see other meanings in the name…