The view from the top… and the bottom

Thursday, May 22, 2008
Still in Marans
The view from the top… and the bottom

Yes, I know, it seems like a long time and not going anywhere! But we expect a week or two sorting out annual maintenance things and dealing with the unexpected. And its probably true that we don’t advance at full throttle either. Last year we managed a short trip out to the Glennans Islands then went back into port for another round of fixing things and waiting for weather before getting away on the 2nd June. Well, there is a real prospect of leaving Marans in the next day or two if there are no more unexpected events. Al is just now calling the lock-keeper to find out if we can catch the lock tonight and wait on the other side until the morning.
Lots of boat owning is about bricollage – as I think I have said before. The toilet biz really came under the annual maintenance heading, It is a ‘Blakes Baby’. They cost around £1,000 when manufactured and are now made by hand, to order! It’s true you can buy a Lavac for less than £100.00, but you will spend a lot of time unblocking it. So the BB has been undergoing extensive annual maintenance. It was the renewal of the pipe that gave us real pain, since the cabinetwork surrounding the loo had not been assembled with a view to dis-assembly! So we have reached a compromise solution, and we will find out late this afternoon whether it has worked. Keep your fingers crossed or we will be keeping our legs crossed! There’s always the tried and tested method of ‘bucket and chuck it’.
More exciting, we are getting to the point of clearing the chart table, looking at the pilot books, and generally smelling the sea.
An added complication this year is that we are plagued by thoughts of buying a ruin. The little fermette that we saw last year has come back on the market today, and that has given us some pause as to whether we should be shelving the sailing and going to look at the fermette We’ve now decided against that, and are thinking that we will make this sailing trip combined with looking around a little further south (from Rochefort) and maybe also in Galicia if we can make it over to Spain. Now we have a plan, so that also makes it easier to get away. Last year’s plan was easy – we left Port le Foret with the intention of getting to La Rochelle. This year we were a bit vague – of course, a lot depends on the weather. So far this year is better than last year, with fairly moderate winds, quite warm, and only a few showers. Yesterday and the day before were warm and sunny – so much so that we had to work inside during the heat of the day. Like most French towns, Marans goes completely silent from about 1230 to 1345 and then slowly revs up. Even at its busiest, it’s quiet. During the day there’s the odd truck or tractor trundling by, and the doves, tweety birds and ducks; at night there’s a frog chorus.
OK – that’s it. Have to reorganise the car, complete a final pack on the boat, take the outboard motor apart, post the blog, have lunch…. Yes, it’s a nice life! We have a possible visit from Sarah S. and her new bloke – waiting to get a txt that says she’ll be in La Rochelle in half-an-hour and can she bring 3 extra people... we are not sure that she knows just how big (or small) the Snork Maiden is.