Oh no, where does the glue box go?

Thursday, September 3, 2009
St Martin. Ile de Re

Oh no, where does the glue box go?

When we get ready to go on Snork Maiden, there appears a very long list of Things That Must Be Done. These range from packing everything away to changing the gear box oil. Thanks to Al’s daily bike trips to the supermarché, we are stocked up with everything from toilet rolls to tins of fruit, and we’re really almost ready to go. We could have left today if it were not for near gale force winds coming from the NW - pretty much exactly where we want to go. (Listeners to Radio 4 pay special attention to Biscay, ‘cos that’s where we’ll be.) The long-range forecast from Sat afternoon is pretty favourable, so keep your fingers crossed and watch your seaweed closely. (My weather forecasting is mainly of the ‘if there’s enough blue sky showing to make a sailor a pair of trousers, the afternoon will be nice’ variety. Fortunately there are more sophisticated models out there on the internet.

You’ll be glad to know that I got my first bike outing yesterday afternoon. While I’ve been recovering, Al has been pedalling over to the Atlantic side of the island nearly every day, to swim in the surf and sit in the shade of the pine trees! Yesterday he took me to his favourite beach - the surf was too wild for swimming, but it was beautiful and the sky was fantastic with every kind of cloud you can imagine (but only tiny blue patches, not even enough for a very small sailor).

The harbour has got a lot quieter and the whole town is edging into the autumn. Most of the French holidaymakers have left last weekend (le grand retour) and they have been replaced by British low-season tourists, and the odd grey coach trip. The regulars are back at the ‘Lever du Soleil’ Bar, and the shops are cutting the price of gifts.

The day goes fast here. Sometimes we wake early, but now I’ve run out of fiction, this is not so attractive. So we’ve been getting up between 8 and 9. There’s breakfast, washing up from the night before, the market, showers sometimes… Internet café, coffee at the Lever, lunch, Al’s bike ride, my gentle strolls around the town and along the Vaubon fort walls… sometimes a bit more Internet, then supper. Amazing how the time goes - I thought it never would when I first heard we’d have to be here for 2 weeks.
Thanks for the texts, comments, emails and Skypes. I feel as though we have virtual visitors. Lynda - this was a great chance for a week in the sun - if only we’d known! I think about you every time I pass the fig tree on the way to the Capitainerie. (I don’t think the figs are going to make it to an edible ripeness, too much Atlantic breeze. But they do have that fantastic peppery smell.) I am afraid that food plays a large part in our entertainment, so might have to be unloaded with a crane. We haven’t eaten out at all on this trip - too expensive, and we can cook well on the boat, but there is a café that does a good line in take-away pizzas and chips! The market is good and open every day, so cooking and eating is a real pleasure.

We’re going to try to make the trip back to England with a minimum of stops - so watch this space. I have piled up the charts in the right order, and am about to do corrections (downloaded yesterday - most of our charts are 3 years old, and some of them a lot older), also make sure that the major waypoints are entered into the GPS. If the forecast holds, we will have light winds, against us to begin with, then becoming more helpful as we go North. The big thing is really the channel crossing. There’s a possibility that we will make for Falmouth - in which case we will have to move on to Dartmouth later in September. So here’s a good chance to sail on board the lovely Snork Maiden, for a short-ish passage - maybe break at Plymouth. Anyway, as you know, sailors don’t make definite plans, they just go ‘towards’.

You (might) see a poll. Some of you are dedicated readers and others seem to forget that blogging exists unless reminded by email! Problem is that I can't easily email a whole long list of you from my Entourage (for reasons too boring to explain). So maybe at least some of you can let me know what you think! I'll email as well when I get back.

Off to upload this… so until the next time… Fair winds and gentle seas to you all.

Jenny, Al & Snork Maiden