Chareauville sur Mer has been a fishing harbour for centuries. Almost all the villagers were once fishermen like the brothers Pierre and Laurent Avernes are now, going out to sea every day and selling their catch in their own shop. And those who didn’t fish themselves earned their money by repairing boats as does Lucien Chantiers from "Chantiers Naval's" or by selling fishing gear like the Honfleurs have been doing for generations in their "Cerele Nautic Honfleur". But now that Chareauville sur Mer has been discovered by tourists as a bathing place, the harbour has also become a place for mooring pleasure yachts belonging to rich French citizens who dare to take on the North Sea with their small sailing boats. Corneille Gargan, former captain of large sea-going vessels, whose ancestors have, as far as he knows, always lived in the stately house in the harbour, has converted this house into an official yacht club.
He parades around in his captain’s uniform filling the glasses of self-appointed seafarers with old-fashioned shots of gin and pure rum from barrels in his saloon, which is decorated with fishing accessories. The walls are hung with small paintings of the harbour by Gérard Potoise, the "Peintre Artistique" of the town. Corneille also has a business agreement with Angelique Cerny from the antique shop for her to look out for old ship parts. These he will hang up in his yacht club as decoration. "Monsieur le capitaine", Chareauville’s inhabitants call him, also sells postcards to skippers who never make it further than the harbour and therefore never get to visit Giscard Ballancours' souvenir shop. Leon Chailly, husband to Anne who runs “Restaurant Deauville”, makes these. He also sells the small shell creations made by the Avernes brothers from the shells they find in their nets alongside the catch. In this way he earns a little extra. Corneille Gargan sees a rosy future for himself and for Chareauville sur Mer. The more tourists that come to the town, the better it will be for him with all the more people treating "monsieur le capitaine" as a real dignitary in the town.