Welcome

These are the voyages of the sailing vessel Pétillant. Her original eight-month mission: to sail from Baltimore to France via Florida and the Bahamas, to successfully navigate the shoals of the French douane, to boldly go where few Maine Coon cats have gone before was completed in 2008. Now she is berthed in Port Medoc and sails costal Spain, France, and the UK during the summer months.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

The Return Trip


We’re Back!


Sorry for the delay in posting this – we were without internet connectivity for 5 days, and then so busy unloading the boat and doing house maintenance that I was not able to put it all together.
We are now back home, and Petillant is back in her berth in Port Medoc, after a great sail down from Milford Haven.  After 4 months of heavy seas, adverse winds, and rain, we got a great weather window and rode it south.

La Rentree

We left Milford Haven at 0600 on August 31, with the sun coming up brightly, and the tide behind us.   The conditions were quite good, with the wind from the WNW at about 12 kts.  Once we turned the corner in MH to the south, we hoisted the sails, and off we went. 

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Lion Sighting in Milford Haven



We stayed in Kilmore Quay for 4 days, waiting for bad weather to blow thru.  It blew and it rained, and there was one sunny day, and one cloudy day.  We took a day trip up to Wexford and walked around a very nice town that seems to have retained its down-town shopping area quite well.  It would certainly be a destination for sailors if the entrance had not silted up, and made it extremely difficult to enter. The bus service was decent, and there was a Dunne’s in town that we used for a moderate shopping trip.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Heading South



Howth


We left Ardglass on the 14th, heading south.  It was clear that Tuesday would be the only day that would be even possibly passable to head to Dublin, so we went for it.  The boat that we had been rafted to,in Ardglass, was supposed to leave at 3AM, to make a tide window into Peel on the Isle of Man, but they decided to stay in port, so we left first.  The trip was not too bad – Force 4-5, occasionally 6, with the seas starting out light, but eventually turning moderate.  The wind was on the nose, so we motored the whole way, but did some motor-sailing at times to take advantage of some slight variations in wind direction.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Strangford Lough and Ardglass



We are now in Ardglass, Northern Ireland.  We spent Friday sailing placidly out of Bangor, down the coast of NI, and up into Strangford Lough, where we stopped at the Killyleagh Yacht Club. 

The trip started quite well, with the installation of the autopilot and the seatrial tests and adjustments.  Raymarine and DHL came thru with a delivery of the unit as expected. They found the burnt resistor and repaired it, at the nominal cost of only about €500(!), but when you have had to hand steer for long periods of time, cost is (essentially) no object.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Bangor

We left Troon on Aug 6, at 6AM, to try to catch the tide out the Firth of Clyde and then south to Bangor.  This was generally pretty successful, although the weather threatened all the way across the North Channel.  We managed to sail for about 8 hours out of the 10 hour crossing, on a close reach all the way, at 6.5-8 kts.  The current in the North Channel was as predicted, and we saw LOTS of ferries.

We will be here for at least three nights.  Phil and Joan are already in Dublin, and are having fund down there before they come up on Wednesday.  Also, the autopilot has been fixed, and should be shipped tommorrow.  If they did as we asked, it should be here on Wed, as well.  No more hand-steering!  Yeahhh!

Kitties are having fun exploring the pier - we are at the furthermost point in the Marina, but there are a fair number of power-boats here with stern platforms that can be sniffed.  And LOTS of very interesting gull droppings...

Troon


We left Oban on August 27 and headed up to Dunstaffnage, where we participated in the Jeanneau Scotland Rendevous.  This was a gathering of Jeanneau boats, and it was quite well attended, considering the location.  We had a great time talking to other Jeanneau owners,  dealers, and factory reps about our boats.  The food at the Wide-Mouthed Frog restaurant was quite good, as well.  We also won a  step-bumper during the quiz-night!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Oban, Again

We are almost ready to leave Oban, heading north, again.  But this time, we will only go about 10 miles, to the Jeanneau Scottish Rendevous, which will take place on Saturday and Sunday in Dunstaffnage.  Our time here has been productive, restorative, and pleasant.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Dante’s Latest Talent, Revealed


In the last posting we made an allusion to some “Dante” activity at Rona.  Well, it involved Dante, and the pier we tried to tie up to, and a ladder, and water...

Malts Cruise, Second Half


Well, we are now back in Oban for a while, to recover from the Malts Cruise, and to refresh ourselves before we start the trek back south.  It has been a good trip so far.  We tasted quite a bit of whisky (not too much, mind you), ate some good food, met some interesting people, visited quite a few interesting places, and also discovered something new about Dante’s capabilities(see next post).

Rona

We left Loch Dunvegan on July 15, with a nice NW wind, and hoisted the sails about 30 minutes after we left the anchorage.  The sun came out, and we sailed close-hauled  up to the north, and then the NE, around the tip of  Skye.  We made it all the way to 57° 43’ N before we turned SE towards Rona.  Interestingly enough, this is NOT the furthest north we have been so far.  We actually made it to 57° 44’ north outside Lossiemouth, on the way into Inverness.  But it did seem a bit further into the wilderness rounding the top of Skye.  We could see the Outer Hebrides to the west and north, but they will have to wait for another trip, alas.  It was a glorious sail, with no motoring till we got to Rona.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Dunvegan and first part of Malts Cruise

We are in Loch Dunvegan, at the NW corner of Skye.  It is now about 1 week since the Malt's Cruise started, and we are doing pretty well.

Tobermory

We left Oban on July 8, after a nice parade of sail, and headed up the sound towards Tobermory.  The wind was on the beam, and we held 8 kts (!) for about 1.5 hours, till we entered the straits, and it dies/shifted ahead.  We played with the wind a bit, trying to sail, for another hour before we gave up and moroted about half way.  The slips were all taken by boats that had left the parade of sail early, and were more "racer-equipped" than we are, so we took a mooring and dropped the dinghy for the first time this trip..

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Dante reloaded

Well, the previous post regarding Dante was a bit premature.  He was back on the boat for only about 4 hours when he started to throw up again, so back he went into the carrier, and we pushed to the head of the line for the ferry.  The vet decided to keep him overnight again, and then for a third night, before letting him come home today(Saturday).  He now thinks that maybe Dante had a stomach ulcer.

He responded very quickly and positively to the antibiotic that is used to treat stomach ulcers, and is now eating like a horse.  He is also back to normal, wanting to go outside the boat, and very awake and aware.  Calypso is very suspicious about him, because he smells very different (we wonder if they washed him with something).

He is doing well, and we have made an important discovery - it is easy to pill Dante - he eats the antibiotic in his wet food, and the two times we had to do the manual pill, it was easy.

The flags are all up, we just finished the first grand meal of the Cruise, and we are ready to start the cruise.  The boat is fully watered, we found and fixed a significant leak in the bow that was driving us nuts, and we have a reservation for the 3 Chimneys on Bastille Day.

Off to Tobermory tommorrow.



Thursday, July 5, 2012

Oban

4-8 July


The trip down Loch Linnie was uneventful.  The sea lock was easy, and we had a tidal push down the loch.  We even got to sail for about an hour.  Arrival was at about noon, and we just found a nice spot close to the shore and the shuttle.  Changed engine oil and discovered that we don’t have any more oil filters on board – not good.  Will lower the dinghy and check it out this afternoon, and try to find an oil filter tomorrow.

Dante's Meal


While we have been in the Caledonian Canal, the cats have been having a ball.  Everywhere we stop they get the chance to get off and eat grass, hunt a bit, and contemplate great feline ideas.  They don’t have to worry about whether the seas will be slight, moderate, rough, agitee, or tres agitee.  Calypso has actually stopped drooling(!).  The last morning at the top of Neptune’s Staircase, however, may have been the last time they are allowed to do this.  We were delayed entering the Staircase because of diving work, so Dante got the morning off to go ashore.  Which he did.

Inverness and Caledonian Canal


Inverness                            

25-26 June

Next day opened with overcast skies, but no rain, and predictions of “slight” seas.  We left a bit early to make sure that we had enough water to get out, and we were able to set sails for a while, moving along the south coast of the Firth.  We had occasional patches of sunshine, and Robin got her first opportunity to take the helm and steer.  Seas were indeed slight, and we caught a good current into Inverness, where we found all sorts of strong eddies under the bridge and at the mouth of the river. No problem, and we settled into the marina for one night before our entrance into the canal.

East Coast of Scotland


Eyemouth                           

16-18 Jun

Our original plan after Blyth had been to get to the Holy Islands, just off the coast.  These aresupposed to be quite interesting,  with a good anchorage, but we were a bit short on fuel and the weather was looking like it would be good for only one day.  So, we decided to head for Eyemouth, which was a bit further, but supposedly had a harbor we could get into, and fuel, as well.
 We motored most of the way, in weather that deteriorated continuously, but the seas did not get too high.  We got a slight boost from the current as we passed thru the Holy Islands, and we finally arrived in Eyemouth around 6:00 PM.  The harbormaster kindly took us on the fuel pier immediately, and of course, it then started to rain.  So, we fueled in the rain, and then went alongside a high wall between two large fishing boats.  We had to use our longest lines, and the harbor was filled with debris from the stream that runs thru the town, but we were safely in port, again for 2 days, to wait for more bad weather to blow thru.

East Coast of England


Lowestoft

June 6, 2012

We arrived in Lowestoft about 5:00 PM on Jun 6.  The weather that had started so well had deteriorated, so that the winds were on the nose, and thunderheads were building.  Lowestoft has an outer harbor that is divided into a commercial section, and an inner harbor that is an adjunct to a marina located further upstream.  There is also another marina right inside the entrance, but the one further along was one of our partner marinas, so we decided to use it.  It was a mixed bag.
We arrived after hours, but we called the marina cell phone number, and a very nice woman told us to take one particular slip and contact her in the morning.  We didn’t have any problems finding  the slip, but the weather was predicted to deteriorate, so we took a different one that didn’t have another boat right next door.  It was a good decision.

Crossing the Thames


Harwich and Felixstowe – the Estuary of Wind

June 5, 2012

Finally, the wind gods smiled on us, and off we went up the coast.  We tried to time the departure to coincide with a north-going current, and were slightly successful.  The sun was out, off-and-on, as we passed Ramsgate and headed across the Thames estuary.  This body of water has a number of sand banks that spread out in the form of a palm, with the banks as fingers reaching out into the Channel.  There are shortcuts across the banks in some places, and you can use these to avoid long detours.  Some are marked for use by large ships, some are marked and used by anybody, and some are not marked at all, or the markers have disappeared, over the years. 

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Dover


We stayed in Dover quite a bit longer than we had planned.  6 days, to be exact, and it was a good rest.  Kitties seem to have gotten over the trauma of the ferry ride, and we have been playing tourist all over the region, by train, bus, and on foot.  The first afternoon we wandered thru the Dover shopping district – the “High Street” area – and were a bit surprised to find that the shops closed promptly at 5:00PM.  All of them, including M&S.  It seems like the small shop mentality is even more strict here than in France, where you can at least find a boulangerie open at 6-7PM (maybe almost out of bread, but still open).  Wonder if this is associated with earlier dining hours here than in France.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Fog in Channel - Continent Cut Off!


That's Calais back there somewhere

6:15 came eventually, and the cell phone alarm went off.  Just in time for us to turn on BBC4 and hear the shipping forecast, which included “Fog Patches” in the Dover Straits.  A look out the window revealed grey everywhere, but it was possible to see all the ships and the harbor.  More weather reports later, in French and in English, talked of areas of fog and low visibility.  But none of the reports said definitely that the fog had gotten so dense that the continent was now cut off from Britain.


Calais, and the Douane...


The early start the next day  from Fecamp was to try to make sure that we got a push along the coast from the currents.  Our original idea was to head towards some other port before Calais, but there are not very many on this stretch of coast that do not dry out, so after considering options, we decided to push all the way to Calais, which is 94 miles from Fecamp.  It would be a long day, but with a good push in the later stages from the tide, and with the great summertime weather, it was worth it.

As we headed NE, we edged closer and closer to the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) that is used to keep the ships in the Manche (English Channel) moving without congestion or accidents.  We had to stay outside the TSS, because we are so small.  Just about 10 miles from Cap Gris Nez, as we just about kissed the edge of the TSS, we noticed a gray military-looking vessel heading out, probably from Boulogne-sur-mer.  They were privileged, so we edged a bit to the right to let them pass ahead, which caused them to head far to their port, so we returned to our original course to let them pass astern.  No good.  This just caused them to head straight for us.

Ahhh… 

At first we had safety concerns, but then we realized that we were about to be controlled by the Douane (French customs).  Sure enough, they started to call us on the radio, and we had a nice chat for about 10 minutes about our last ports, our next ports, our hailing ports, etc.  They then asked us to slow down to 5 kts and prepare to be boarded for an inspection.

Fiscalite
Just like in Ireland, they dropped a RIB into the water, and 5 guys came aboard while we sailed towards Calais.  Their leader was very polite, spoke impeccable English (at first), and asked all sorts of detailed questions about us and the boat.  We started to talk in French to him, and after the initial introductions, we did the entire interview in French.  He complimented us(!) on our ability to speak French.  The sequence is one we have been though before, and we have all the papers needed to address the issues.  This time, we were asked for the bill-of-sale for the boat, as well, which we have.  We even presented him with the paperwork from the initial boarding at the mouth of the Gironde in 2008.  Two fellows did a search of the boat, opening lockers and drawers until one of them was startled by a large red cat streaking by.  Then they decided they had seen enough inside.

C'est la vie!
The commander of the team complimented us on having all of our papers in order, and following the prescribed procedures (and paying the required taxes).  He explained that they had seen us because of the AIS, and the prospect of controlling an American boat caused them to come out.  They do not see many US-flagged boats up here.  He explained that he had a quota of inspections that had to be done during the summer, and normally he does tax, safety, and licensing inspections, but with a US boat, he can only inspect for tax compliance (liberté, fraternité, egalité, fiscalité!).  This is one big reason we will not document this boat in the EU – we would have to change out a big bunch of hardware and get licenses.

One good thing about this event was that it showed that the AIS we had installed does actually work – other people can see us as well as we can see them.  The downside, of course, is that every douane in Europe can now see the potential American financial target and zero in on it. Luckily, all of our papers are in order…

Once the Douane left, we cranked it up and headed to Calais.  This is a big ferry port, with ships coming and going at all hours.  We had to stop at the entrance and mill-about smartly for 15 minutes while we waiting for a large ferry to leave, and then we got permission to enter, only to have to wait for another 20 minutes for the bridge that guards the marina basin to open.  Once in, we quickly found a spot, a few slips down from a Brit-flagged boat named Philadelphia.  This turned out to be owned by a Brit/US couple who live in the UK, and she is from the eastern PA area.  Very nice people in town as part of a Calais Rally with their yacht club.

Calais and the Kitties

Next day was one for figuring out how to deal with kitties.  We slept in, checked into the marina, and headed out on foot for the enormous ferry terminal across the inlet.  This terminal really looks like a prison camp, with double rows of high (4 meter, probably) fencing, some topped with razor wire.  There seem to be a large number of people in this part of France who really, really, really want to get to the UK, and need to be strongly discouraged from trying to sneak aboard a ship.  Our walk took us to the parking lot entrance, which is the normal way for pietons to enter the ferry terminal, but it was closed because of maintenance work, so we were allowed to enter a side gate by a special guard.  

We then crossed about 15 lanes of traffic(!) to get to the terminal.  We discussed the process with the nice P&O people, and even bought a ticket for jlm and the kitties.  Then the fun started…

Since we didn’t enter via the normal pathway (which was closed), no one in the terminal wanted to let us back out the way that we had come in.  It seems that normally, people like us take either the P&O shuttle from the train station, or else the city bus.  NO ONE WALKS.  Or, at least no one had walked for such a long time that they didn’t know how to get us out, except thru the pathway that the maintenance people had blocked off.  So, of course, the security people in the terminal failed open, and said that we would have to walk “that way” (far NE) for along way to get to the car entrance to the terminal, to leave.  They could not contact the special guard that their own security service had stationed at the normal entrance, to see what could be done.  A typical security issue..

We got tired of this, and just then a taxi showed up to drop off some passengers, so we got in and paid €10.00 to go back to town for some snacks and last minute French shopping.  It was also fortuitous, because it gave us the number of a taxi guy to pick up jlm and the kitties the next day.  We spent the rest of the day getting prepared for the kitty trip and the single-handed Calais-Dover trip, and cleaning the boat.  We also got concerned because the gorgeous summer weather had disappeared as we walked thru town.  A thick layer of fog descended and we wandered thru a cold, grey fog bank, listening to the horns from ships and lighthouses.  None of us slept well, thinking about how one person would take the boat across the most trafficked body of water, in the fog, alone…

Cherbourg to Fecamp– Slogging up the Channel


We finally made it to Dover, with both cats legally entered into the UK.  The trip from Cherbourg was all motoring or motor-sailing, which is not very pleasant, but at least the seas were not rough.

Cherbourg

We waited in Cherbourg for four days for a break in the weather.  A stubborn  set of systems over the continent generated strong easterly winds in the channel for 3 days, and associated large swells, so we decided to see the wonders of Cherbourg, of which there are really not many. Although the commercial aspects of the harbor have been significant in the past, only the ferry traffic to the UK is left for passenger service, and the mainstay seems to be the large shipyard.  They are also trying to do a lot with a maritime museum, which we did not visit, and there have been big Titanic anniversary  events going on.  We did a fair amount of walking, and had two good market days in town, but did not take any meals out.  With the good produce that was available, it was more fun to sit on the boat and watch the various tourist-sailors arriving from the UK, and the students at the sailing school learn how to sail dinghys, Lasers, and other similar boats.   We also did a number of boat chores that have been waiting for a while, and we now have our netting back in place, and complete, to catch any wayward kitties (or boat objects) who might slide towards the gunwales…

Kids having fun
The sailing school seems to be quite large, and the younger students must be receiving encouragement from their educational institutions, because they were sailing during the school week.  We wondered whether it was part of their physical education program. In the morning, the instructors would tow long lines of dinghies out to the rade behind a RIB, and turn the really young children (maybe 6-9 years old) loose to have fun and sail back.  The older ones in the lasers had to sail themselves out the channel, doing short tacks all the way.  They invariably came back around 11:30 to have lunch (this is France, after all), and then back in the afternoon for more fun.

The Brits have been descending en masse.  Cherbourg is only about 65 miles from the Solent,  so a long day or a relatively short overnight trip is easy to do.  And with te east wind we had, it must have been a blast.  There were a lot of groups associated with sailing clubs in the UK.  One guy would be designated Commodore of the cruise, and they would all tie up next to one another and party together.  Then, they all left together, either back to the UK or further west to the more exotic parts of France. 

Fecamp

This was the last holiday weekend (of four(!)) in May for the French, so we knew that town would be quiet on Sunday and Monday, so on Sunday the weather appeared to be quite calm and we decided to try to make it further east.  Our first goal was Ouistreham, which is the port for the large city of Caen.  As we motored east with a large push from the current, we got ambitious, and decided to try for Le Havre, at the mouth of the Seine.  We often talk about heading up to Paris with the boat for a winter, so we thought we would check out the facilities in Le Havre, which is where many boat take down their masts.  Supposedly, demasting boats is a real industry there, and it is possible (and even inexpensive(!)) to have the mast shipped to the Med if you decide to take the canal route instead of the Spain-Portugal-Gibralter route.

However, as we approached Le Havre, we realized that it was really just another large French city, of which we know quite a few, and we really wanted to make some distance to the north.  So, looking at the charts, we decided to head to Fecamp, a former fishing village further along the coast.  This meant a bit longer day, and in the end we did about 74 miles.  A lot of this was motor-sailing.  For non-sailors, this means that we ran the engine with the sails up.  If you have weak winds from the right direction, you can use the motor to generate better winds for the sails so that you travel faster than you would if you just ran the engine or used just the sails.  We can pick up 1-1.5 knots this way.

When do we get to go ashore and party?
We arrived in a town that was partying because it was one of the first holidays of the season, and the fishing has been supplemented by tourism.  The marina is large, and we just managed to grab one o the last spots on the end of a hammerhead behind a visiting French boat, and next to some Dutch.  They were nice enough to help with lines, and could not get enough of the great red cat who wanted to explore the pier. 

We asked whether the marina office was open, and they said that of course, being a Sunday night, it was not.  And, malhureausement, they did not know the code to the sanitaires.  We explained that we just wanted to know  so that we could go pay for the night, and they gave the French laugh that says “Oh, why would anyone want to pay for use of a few cleats for the night?”.  So, we didn’t worry about it, and left early the next day without seeing the harbormaster at all.  We did this once before, at Treburden last year, and we have noticed a number of boats that seem to arrive late in the evening after the capitainerie is closed, but then leave early the next morning before it opens again.  The prices that are paid seem to level themselves out, somehow…

The White Cliffs of France
We walked around town, admiring the architecture.  This is the “Alabaster Coast” of France, with high chalk cliffs that also contain strata of flint and other stones, and the people of Fecamp have made good use of these stones to decorate their houses.  We also walked along the shingle beach and collected a few interesting stones there.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Channel Islands and Cherbourg

Hello from Cherbourg.  The trip up from Lezardrieux was quite uneventful, and not too stressful.  We were considering how to transit the "St. Malo Bight", which is the part of the French coastline from about Paimpol to Cap de La Hague, and two options presented themselves.  We could go all the way around, visiting more quaint French towns and cities, or we could take the short cut across.  Unfortunately, the shortcut has problems with timing the tidal currents.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Islands, Roscoff Unfinished, and Refits in Lezardrieux

The Adventure Begins
Well, it has been a while since I posted something, but we have made significant progress. The boat was hauled, painted, buffed, and all made ready for sea. We Shanghaied two Maine Coon cats from their innocence on Sunday April 29, and installed them (and us) on board, trying to find places to stow all the stuff that we need (or thought we needed) for the trip.

Our dinner at Andre’s 


 On Tuesday, May 1, we left Port Medoc at 0545, at the tail end of the ebb tide, in order to be able to get to La Rochelle by the time that the gate into La Chalutier opened at 1:00 PM. We had a great ride out, hitting over 9 kts SOG, with an Irish freighter crowding us from astern. The new AIS works great, at least as far as seeing other shipping, and we knew who the other ship was, its heading and speed, and where it was going. Hopefully, they saw our AIS signal as well, and were comfortable with our intentions. In any case, no one interfered with anyone else, and we got out of the Gironde with only the minor discomfort associated with the Banc de Mauvaise, at the outer reaches of the Gironde entrance channel. It is ALWAYS lumpy, no matter what the weather, the state of the tide, or the winds. Sigh.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

More preparation

Petillant has now been hauled and painted, and all the underwater work has been done to prepare for the 2012 trip north. We installed a new Dynaplate ground plate for the SSB, and a new SW washdown pump.
It appears that the old SW washdown pump suffered freeze damage during the winter, and it leaked quite a bit when it was turned on. The pump was also relocated from the compartment under the fwd berth to the space under the aft head sink. Now that we have a freshwater head, we have an extra thru-hull there, and it is a lot easier to maintain a pump in that compartment to one that is buried fwd. We had to run a bit of hose fwd, but this is a good thing. Now we can also run a line aft, install another washdown deck connection, and even install a cross-connection with the FW system, so that we can do either FW or SW washdowns. The latter phase of this mod will have to wait a bit, but it is now quite ready to do. All the parts are on board, and it is just a matter of running the hose. We also found the final bits of the SW pump for the genset. Last year we sucked up a jelly-fish, and the pump impeller died, but we didn't find all of the bits that came off of the pump, so operation of the genset was dicey. The new pump impeller could not push enough water thru the heat exchanger to cool the exhaust, so we experienced frequent premature shutdowns of the genset. This year we took apart the entire inlet to the heat exchanger, and found 4 pieces of rubber in the tubes. They are now gone, and the genset is able to support full use of the AC system. The watermaker was unpickled, and it produces water that is at least as good as the day it was installed, at the same flow rate. This is one piece of equipment that has worked quite well, and we are very satisfied with it. We also made a few mods to the FW plumbing, and can now pump water from any FW tank to any other tank. This is useful because the watermaker only makes water to the center tank. The plan is to move on board on Sunday April 29, and if the weather cooperates, leave for La Rochelle on May 1. Kitties are getting excited....

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Spring planning

Well, spring has sprung again, and we are in full planning/preparation mode for the summer cruise. This year it is back to Scotland, for the Malts Cruise again, and a Jeanneau Scotland Rendevous. We will not be alone for this trip. Several friends have "volunteered" to come along for various segments, to see the sights, to drink whisky(ey), to try out the local cuisine, or to get some open ocean experience. It will be quite a trip. Preparations for this trip will take some time. Because we will be heading up the east coast of the UK, we can cross at Dover, and the kitties can be hand-carried on the ferry while the boat travels without them. This means a crossing of one of the most heavily traveled bodies of water in the world, so an additional safety device will be installed. It is called an Automatic Identification System (AIS), and it basically broadcasts to everyone else who we are, and where we are going while it listens to everyone else broadcasting the same info. This info is passed to the chartplotter, so that we can see who is going where, and they can see us, and we can all call one another on the VHF and talk if we get confused. It also allows our friends to follow us during the trip, much like the SPOT device was used for the transatlantic trip, except that this tracking is done pretty much in real time. There is a Greek web site (www.marinetraffic.com) which provides live feeds of ships at sea around the world. It is supported by a network of shoreside "listeners" who are not ships, but just people with radios. They gather the signals from the ships at sea near their sites, feed it to this web site, and everyone can watch the ships move around the world. Quite amazing. And it is possible to search for one vessel, if you have its name. We will see if it can see us once we have our AIS installed. Also, it appears that the kitties will have an easier time of crossing this year. The UK has finally joined the EU, with respect to pet controls, and the days of waiting 6 months for a rabies vaccination to "take" are gone, if you have the right paperwork. Also, cats no longer have to be treated for parasites, only dogs, for tapeworm. This means no last-minute trip to the vet - YEAHHH! And, it appears that there is a ferry from Boulogne-sur-mer that runs seasonally, and will take foot-passengers with pets. So, we will be able to send kitties on the ferry, not have to wait in Calais for the tidal gate to open, get to Dover at a reasonable time, and maybe make it into the marina there. It is all starting to come together.