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.

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.

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.

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....

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.

Home

Saturday, August 20 We left Loctudy early and had a good wind to start. It soon died and we were once again motoring. We anchored for the night off Belle Isle. What more can I say, the no wind is old.

Sunday, August 21 We left Belle Isle with a good wind to start. It soon died and we motored to Ile D'Yeu where we anchored for the night. I guess this no wind is what sailing in August is like, a bit like the Bay.

Monday, August 22 We left Ile d'Yeu early to a glorious wind and headed for Ile de Re. This time the wind did not die and we were soon thinking we should take advantage of it and head for Port Medoc. We dithered and changed course a couple of times but by noon this wind was still perfect and we finally decided to go home. We got safely back into our slip at 11 PM.

Tuesday & Wednesday August 23 & 24 We have spent 2 days cleaning up the boat, packing the car, enjoying chausson aux pommes and grand creme, and are ready to head back to the house today, Thursday, August 25.

Back to France

Tuesday, August 16. Kinsale to The Isles of Scilly. We woke up in Kinsale on Tuesday morning to the news that a Fastnet boat (100 foot)had overturned just after rounding the rock. Not a good omen for a passage. But we left Kinsale with the tide and headed for the Scillies. We had a good wind to start and it was predicted to be force 5-6 for the trip. The seas were at least 2 meters on the beam, not a happy motion. By 1PM the wind was gone and we were motoring despite the small craft warning

A Captain Ahab Moment (Almost)

All trip I have been hoping to see a whale and disappointed that we were leaving the colder seas without a sighting. Out of Kinsale however, I saw a group of dolphins acting oddly. We were still sailing and it was quiet. I went to look over the side at the dolphins when I spotted a large spray of water about 50 feet off the port bow. HUM. Second spray of water behind the first and getting closer. Third spray of water almost at the bow. Time to take avoidance action. So 3 lovely whales serenely floated across our bows as we serenely sailed behind to avoid them. For the rest of the trip I recalled all the stories I have ever read about boats being holed by sea mammals, all sinking within 11 seconds. However, that was offset by the sighting and the tranquility of the 3 whales enjoying a fine sunny day.

We completed the trip in 22 hours arriving at 6 AM, to take a mooring, and go to sleep. All along the way the smaller Fastnet boats passed us, so we never felt alone. Prince Charles as Duke of Cornwall exercises his right to charge for the use of his land under the water. Mooring cost: 20 pounds. We only paid for a mooring 1 other time otherwise they were always free. He also charges to anchor, just less.
The Scillies were lovely but the anchorage was very rolly. We cleaned up the boat a bit and made realy for the next leg.

Thursday, August 18. Scillies to Loctudy, France.

We left the Scillies at sunrise with a good wind but with a warning of strong winds around the islands. Outside the harbor we danced around the Fastnet boats all coming back from the rock. This time they were not spread out and all really pushing. Again we found the seas to have 2 meter swells on the beams and unplesant. By 1 PM we were motoring again. No wind was getting old.

We motored all the way to Loctudy south of Brest. We were hoping to stop over on the Iles of Glenan but we needed fuel so ended up here in this very quaint Brittany fishing village. We are in a marina which is packed full of boats and vacationers. We are in the height of the French holidays and everyone is enjoying the warm and sunny weather here. Dante and Calypso are quite the show.

Tomorrow we continue our route south to Port Medoc. No more all-nighters, we will mosy down the coast and take about 4 days to get to our marina.