Years ago, I bought a bicycle in England, took it to Belgium and rode it south through France almost all the way to the Med. During the trip, I slept in a tent in campgrounds mostly, and became quite familiar with what the French call a “caravane,” a sort of sporty-looking travel trailer that facilitates going places and doing things in the great outdoors.
Of course, some memories never fade. And during a recent Jeanneau event in Florida, that long-gone, freeweheeling summer came back to me as I stopped to admire a jaunty 29-foot cruiser—the 895 Sport—that Jeanneau affectionately calls “the SUV of the seas.”
There was a roof rack, complete with a lashed-down paddle board. Below, the aft cockpit sported a rail-mounted, Magma grill, fold-away bench seats on three sides and a movable dining table. And there was a modest collection of fishing paraphernalia as well, including a rocket launcher, cutting board and the optional baitwell.
Upon going aboard, I noticed little side-to-side movement, a finding that surprised me, given the boat’s middle-weight displacement and her fairly sharp 18-degree transom deadrise. I liked the extra-wide sliding door on the salon’s starboard side, accessed via an easily traversed walkway that communicates between the fore and aft cockpits—when I slid it open, I noticed that the great outdoors came immediately inside. And I also noticed that the open door made it easy for a skipper to reach across to the midship cleat from the helm station, a great feature for single-handed docking.
