What was Whitsun?

Monday, May 12, 2008
Aha – it’s what we used to call Whitsun, whatever that was…

It’s been busy in the boatyard and at the cafes today. This afternoon I decided to have a go at cleaning the hull. Tricky because a) no stepladder and b) hosepipe not long enough. Anyway, had to do the top bit hanging down from the deck and the lower part standing on a chair. Lugged a few buckets of water from the tap. Can’t clean the deck and cockpit until we can get a hose, so will have to wait until we are in the water – nice job for Al! I was going to service the winches today but got caught up with why the compass light didn’t work… took the compass apart but couldn’t work out how to change bulbs – seemed to be firmly stuck in there. I even resorted to the handbook, which said helpful things like ‘take out the old bulb and put in a new one’. Har! It’s important to have at least one compass light (better 2) so that you can see your direction at night. Otherwise you have to give it a shot with a torch every now and again. It’s OK on a starry night because you can follow a handy star – so long as you remember to check the course every half-hour or so and adjust, otherwise you’ll be off to the western edge of the world. We have talked about replacing the old compass with a more legible one; the old one is white-on-red and the front has gone very cloudy. We’ll look for a yellow on black version. Meanwhile I have tried soldering on a loose wire, and now I’m waiting for it to get dark so I can see if the light is working or not.
We are meant to be lifting the boat back in on Wednesday afternoon – hope we are ready. The yard (in the shape of Dominique and his rather limited son) has to finish work on the skeg, stick a piece of fibreglass back on inside the boat, change and reposition the primary fuel filter – I can do the rest, but it is difficult to do more than one job on the boat at once because it’s so small (and Dominique is so big.)
Al is coming out on Thursday – at lunchtime. Flybee from Birmingham to La Rochelle – a bit of a schlep and he has to leave very early. Maybe we’ll go into La Rochelle for lunch – we have a favorite restaurant at Minimes Marina and then we can go Ship Chandlery shopping for the new compass. The canal here at Marans is pretty full, although people are leaving. I think the earliest we might get away is Monday. Still have to rig the boat – although that can be done in half a day or less, so if the weather is good at the weekend, maybe we’ll go sooner.
There was a thunderstorm this afternoon while I was cleaning the hull. I kept thinking that one minute I’d be standing on a chair, listening to Zorba the Greek on the car stereo and polishing away, and the next I’d be struck by lightening and wake up with a personality transformation and the soles of my feet all black. The storm passed by some distance away and then the weather cleared completely and the evening is lovely. This area is all drained marsh (as you’ll know if you’ve been paying attention) and just now the landscape has that vibrant green of early summer. There’s a line of trees visible from the road to Challon (next village), running from Marans to the sea. The trees line the canal through which we will pass with Snork Maiden, to get the sea. There is a lock to go through, then we are less than 2 hours from La Rochelle There are reeds at the edge of the canal, and the drainage ditches, and some of them have yellow irises growing along the margins. I passed a house yesterday that had huge clumps of irises along the front fence, mainly shades of purple with some yellow ones growing in between. There are birds in the hedge at the back of the boat and they sing and coo all day – dawn and dusk best. I think that there is a pair of turtledoves – they have patterned wings like tortoiseshell, no collars and are much smaller than wood pigeons. And they coo. In the evenings there are frogs too – a big froggy chorus.
This is a popular place for camper vans. There’s no site, but they park up between the old grain silo and the canal. There’s a wastewater dump for them outside the shower block. People picnic, fish and generally hang out. Every town in France, and many villages, seem to have a camping ground or some place for campers.
Off to have an early night – need to be ready in case Dominique turns up early. You never know, and its embarrassing to be still in bed when someone comes knocking on the hull. Especially with the bathroom arrangements as they are – or aren’t.