Wednesday 21st May
After a bit of a rocky rolly night we got new neighbour's - Carroll and Danny on Jemima - a Westerly Fulmar.
It was a poor day - raining on and off - we shopped and explored - a nice little seaside town on a peninsular.
The marina is behind a harbour wall and we were berthed in the only available space opposite the harbour entrance which was open to wind from the South. When the tide went out the water was kept in the marina by a sill which kept things nice and calm.
We set up the sewing machine and re-stitched the sail cover and spray hood - just in time as it turned out.
At 5pm we invited our neighbours for a glass of wine and we chatted about our boats and travels lovely.
That night (wednesday) we went to bed in calm wind and the tide out - about midnight the wind was howling and the tide had come in - waves were comming straight into the marina !!
Both westerlies were rearing up and down - straining at the mooring ropes - then we heard our neighbours outside. - I dressed and went to check things out and found them adjusting their mooring ropes to stop their anchor bashing the pontoon!!
We all worked together and and added lots more ropes to sort things out.
Back on Blazer things were very uncomfortable - we were being chucked about all over - so little or no sleep!!
Next morning (Thursday) all was calm while the tide was out and we tidied everything up and explored the lovely little sea side town.
At tea time we went to visit our neighbours on Jemima for drinks and nibbles lovely.
That night the wind strength increased with gusts recorded at 40 knots !!!
Blazer was jumping up and down - snatching at the ropes and sometimes bashing the pontoon!!!
I was up three times through the night - adding ropes and shock absorbers + extra fenders but made little difference !!! - No Sleep Again !!!!
Friday 23rd May
Enough of this lot - we set off at 13.00 in lumpy conditions for St.Malo.
We had a pleasant trip of 26 miles sailing and motoring.
We saw Dolphins again - a pod of about 7 - 50 yds off going in the same direction as us but they didn't come any closer.
A while later one dolphin surfaced alongside Blazer but we only saw it once. - Lovely !
The approach to St. Malo is very rocky - right out to sea - so we took no chances an used the deep water route into the harbour.
We moored in Bas Sablon marina which has easy access - at the side of the Brittany Ferry terminal.
Saturday 24th May
We found a great laundrette near the marina and washed lots of stuff - while it was washing we explored the lovely town - shopped at the little Carefore and bought pastries to die for !!!
At 13.30 we motored Blazer round into the main harbour to lock through into the marina Vaubin on th 14.00 lock but were beten to it by a huge cruise liner!!
We had to pick up a waiting buoy for two hours while the liner cleared the lock!!
We had no bother locking through and moored up in a quite full marina near the walled city of St Malo.
It is very a very popular tourist destination with a maze of streets lined with restaurants and tourist shops.
Sunday 26th May
We woke up to find Jemima moored at the side of us - they had come in early that morning!!
We walked right round the walls of the city - had a great lunch - mussels and frites for me and an omelet for Jackie - very reasonable.
In the afternoon our neighbours helped me to climb the mast to try and coax the radar to work - it had seized up again - more oil helped but I think the bearings are corroded.
A great day - Sunday lunch of chicken with all the trimmings - we watched a film on Blazer in the evening to round things off.
Hey Mike, good to see you're in your travels again.
ReplyDeleteI just hopped over to France this weekend just gone. Maybe I'll bump into you this summer?
Im updating my blog again. You can read about my adventures there. Www.Boogie-nights.org