Boat Yard Life

The River Sevre Niortaise - Philippe's boatyard is just to the left

This will be a short blog - the first few days are always a kind of settling in period.  This trip is different since we don't know what the survey report will require us to do before we can launch.  I have an idea, but realistically we have to count the cost of the work, and the time it will take, then weigh up whether we launch or not.  
    I am getting back in there with Snork Maiden - re-acquainting myself with the instruments etc.  We have a problem with the wind indicator - an early NEXUS.  It looks as though the sensor (windvane) part at the top of the mast is broken - unsurprising given the  5 winters of gales it has endured on this exposed coast.  I am waiting to hear from Nexus if the kit is still availabel.  I guess we can always sail without it.  The forecasts are generally good and we have primitive Windex indivcator at the top of the mast.  Permanent squint. 

Good news - I have found a walk.  I was getting a bit stir crazy this afternoon, so went for a little exploration.  There was a track I had never noticed before.  It runs along a sort of dyke, parallel with the river.  Lots of reeds and marshy bits, with cereal fields on the land side.  This area of the Vendee has been drained for at least 1000 years.  It seems incredible to me, that given the huge area of modern France, just why they bothered?  At some point the Dutch were brought in to complete the process.  There are drains and ditches everywhere you look and they all have names - one of the main ones is called The Cure - I can't do the accent but i think it means The Priest. 

Bad news - Al seems to have what I have - so he's postponed his flight until Thursday.  Although I was disappointed, it's probably a good decision.  I will try to get ahead with the headlinings etc.  One of the etc. is installing the new depth / speed sensor.  The challenge there is tracing back the wiring and reconnecting all that.  I will be brave and approach that tomorrow.  I also bought the materials for the headlinings and will start that work.  Probably enough for one day. 

I went to Marans this morning - 10km to the nearest proper bathroom.  I just want you all to know that.  So I killed several birds with the Marans shower block - shower and hairwash, washing up from yesterday and a bit of emergency laundry.  It smells just the same as it did when we fist arrived here, how many years ago?

Last night I got a little bit spooked about being the only person for miles around, sleeping in a totally unsecured space.  What to do?  Lock the washboards and enter via the forward hatch, which I can lock behind me?  Nah.  I'll just go with the odds and trust that there are no psychopaths around... I'll put the lock on tomorrow.  It is just a little creepy, but only if I think about it.  I will restrict my nightly viewing to CALIFORNICATION - a harmless and sexy sitcom on Netflix.  If you really want an innocent feelgood, try HJORDIS.  Still gripped by The Bridge, even though I don't know what's going on most of the time.  

Oh dear, this really is the diary of a nobody.  Stick with it friends...

Boat Yard Life

The River Sevre Niortaise - Philippe's boatyard is just to the left

This will be a short blog - the first few days are always a kind of settling in period.  This trip is different since we don't know what the survey report will require us to do before we can launch.  I have an idea, but realistically we have to count the cost of the work, and the time it will take, then weigh up whether we launch or not.  
    I am getting back in there with Snork Maiden - re-acquainting myself with the instruments etc.  We have a problem with the wind indicator - an early NEXUS.  It looks as though the sensor (windvane) part at the top of the mast is broken - unsurprising given the  5 winters of gales it has endured on this exposed coast.  I am waiting to hear from Nexus if the kit is still availabel.  I guess we can always sail without it.  The forecasts are generally good and we have primitive Windex indivcator at the top of the mast.  Permanent squint. 

Good news - I have found a walk.  I was getting a bit stir crazy this afternoon, so went for a little exploration.  There was a track I had never noticed before.  It runs along a sort of dyke, parallel with the river.  Lots of reeds and marshy bits, with cereal fields on the land side.  This area of the Vendee has been drained for at least 1000 years.  It seems incredible to me, that given the huge area of modern France, just why they bothered?  At some point the Dutch were brought in to complete the process.  There are drains and ditches everywhere you look and they all have names - one of the main ones is called The Cure - I can't do the accent but i think it means The Priest. 

Bad news - Al seems to have what I have - so he's postponed his flight until Thursday.  Although I was disappointed, it's probably a good decision.  I will try to get ahead with the headlinings etc.  One of the etc. is installing the new depth / speed sensor.  The challenge there is tracing back the wiring and reconnecting all that.  I will be brave and approach that tomorrow.  I also bought the materials for the headlinings and will start that work.  Probably enough for one day. 

I went to Marans this morning - 10km to the nearest proper bathroom.  I just want you all to know that.  So I killed several birds with the Marans shower block - shower and hairwash, washing up from yesterday and a bit of emergency laundry.  It smells just the same as it did when we fist arrived here, how many years ago?

Last night I got a little bit spooked about being the only person for miles around, sleeping in a totally unsecured space.  What to do?  Lock the washboards and enter via the forward hatch, which I can lock behind me?  Nah.  I'll just go with the odds and trust that there are no psychopaths around... I'll put the lock on tomorrow.  It is just a little creepy, but only if I think about it.  I will restrict my nightly viewing to CALIFORNICATION - a harmless and sexy sitcom on Netflix.  If you really want an innocent feelgood, try HJORDIS.  Still gripped by The Bridge, even though I don't know what's going on most of the time.  

Oh dear, this really is the diary of a nobody.  Stick with it friends...

A Pot Pourri

This blog is a bit of a mix.  So here is Snork Maiden looking not at all bad for her survey yesterday.  In the photo it looks as though she's wearing her sails in the cockpit, but it's just a pssing cloud. Really. One of the amazing things about the Vendee is the incredible 360º cloudscape and the variations in the clouds themselves.  This afternoon is blue sky with an almost complete border of cumulus.  Oddly enough, the flat landscape can also give me a feeling of claustrophobia.  
  Yesterday we had the boat surveyed by one of the 2 Lloyds qualified, English speaking surveyors in France (the other one is on the South Coast).  He liked our boat - that's always good. He thought she was very well-equipped (she is).  Of course there are things to put right, as always, but nothing too big or too serious.  The engine started, third time of trying.  Not bad. I need to get a fuel filter - I think I can do that in La Rochelle.
 

The Pot Calling the Kettle....

The day before yesterday I went down with a nasty, nasty cold - croaking away, throat, chest, nose - the whole lot.  The survey was thorough but took all day - I lay down and slept at the end of it!  Today I have been to the pharmacy and have a pack of 4-day / night drugs - hope they do the job.  There's a new Mini-U in Charron (a village of around 2000 people) - has some organic (Bio) food.  The photo - well, those are 2 of the most important pieces of kit on the boat.  And because we use bottled gas, everything goes black.  The espresso pot really IS black - an impulse buy in Spain that has served us very well.  As some of you know, I love cooking on Snork Maiden.  She has a huge galley for her size.
 

Back to Charron - this skateboarding cow cheered me up this morning.  Found next to the Pharmacy.  I also found myself reflecting on all things French.  Their shopping in out of town malls has reached staggering proportions (Le Clerc the size of a small village outside Lucon). In spite of that, small villages like Charron sustain a pharmacy, post office, bakery.  Their's a sense of civic pride, but the French complain about regulation and taxes.  Left to themselves - like this boatyard, there's a sense of anarchy.  Environmental regs nowhere to be seen with all sorts allowed to seep into the ground, and later, the river.  The products themselves, though, are becoming more environmentally friendly.  Anti-fouling now less poisonous than it usedto be.
When in France, I do have a sense of a private, bourgeoise life, lived behind closed doors.  Streets are empty, gates and walls high, with an air of impenetrability, shutters closed.  This all in a marked contrast to our recent trip to Crete, where life seems somehow more public, more outdoors, in the street.
Al should arrive on Monday, having spent a week up in Staffordshire, surrounded by verdant countryside.  I can use the break from all the summer greenery that I find sort of oppressive after a while.  I am glad to see the cereal fields here taking on some high summer yellow tones.  OK enough.  It's 6pm and the sun is still high.  Time to slice and salt the aubergines for tonight's supper. I must be feeling better!

A Pot Pourri

This blog is a bit of a mix.  So here is Snork Maiden looking not at all bad for her survey yesterday.  In the photo it looks as though she's wearing her sails in the cockpit, but it's just a pssing cloud. Really. One of the amazing things about the Vendee is the incredible 360º cloudscape and the variations in the clouds themselves.  This afternoon is blue sky with an almost complete border of cumulus.  Oddly enough, the flat landscape can also give me a feeling of claustrophobia.  
  Yesterday we had the boat surveyed by one of the 2 Lloyds qualified, English speaking surveyors in France (the other one is on the South Coast).  He liked our boat - that's always good. He thought she was very well-equipped (she is).  Of course there are things to put right, as always, but nothing too big or too serious.  The engine started, third time of trying.  Not bad. I need to get a fuel filter - I think I can do that in La Rochelle.
 

The Pot Calling the Kettle....

The day before yesterday I went down with a nasty, nasty cold - croaking away, throat, chest, nose - the whole lot.  The survey was thorough but took all day - I lay down and slept at the end of it!  Today I have been to the pharmacy and have a pack of 4-day / night drugs - hope they do the job.  There's a new Mini-U in Charron (a village of around 2000 people) - has some organic (Bio) food.  The photo - well, those are 2 of the most important pieces of kit on the boat.  And because we use bottled gas, everything goes black.  The espresso pot really IS black - an impulse buy in Spain that has served us very well.  As some of you know, I love cooking on Snork Maiden.  She has a huge galley for her size.
 

Back to Charron - this skateboarding cow cheered me up this morning.  Found next to the Pharmacy.  I also found myself reflecting on all things French.  Their shopping in out of town malls has reached staggering proportions (Le Clerc the size of a small village outside Lucon). In spite of that, small villages like Charron sustain a pharmacy, post office, bakery.  Their's a sense of civic pride, but the French complain about regulation and taxes.  Left to themselves - like this boatyard, there's a sense of anarchy.  Environmental regs nowhere to be seen with all sorts allowed to seep into the ground, and later, the river.  The products themselves, though, are becoming more environmentally friendly.  Anti-fouling now less poisonous than it usedto be.
When in France, I do have a sense of a private, bourgeoise life, lived behind closed doors.  Streets are empty, gates and walls high, with an air of impenetrability, shutters closed.  This all in a marked contrast to our recent trip to Crete, where life seems somehow more public, more outdoors, in the street.
Al should arrive on Monday, having spent a week up in Staffordshire, surrounded by verdant countryside.  I can use the break from all the summer greenery that I find sort of oppressive after a while.  I am glad to see the cereal fields here taking on some high summer yellow tones.  OK enough.  It's 6pm and the sun is still high.  Time to slice and salt the aubergines for tonight's supper. I must be feeling better!

It's been a long time...

So - I am sitting on Snork Maiden and it's June 2018.  We have made flying visits during the last couple of years but I am sad to say that we haven't managed to sail her since 2014.  We made a deliberate decision to skip a year in 2015.  We felt that it was time to have a different adventure and we deided on a road trip to Sardinia.  It worked well, and that, together with a delivery trip from Turkey to Portsmouth, persuaded me that I wanted to see more of the Mediterranean, and what better way than in our own boat.  So - a new plan was born. But, as they say, no plan survives encounter with the enemy, or in this case, just life.  That's why I am looking at  major, although mainly cosmetic, clean up, 4 years later. We also have to have a survey before our insurers allow us to get back in the water - that's happening on Thursday - the day after tomorrow. 

Yacht delivery S/Y Ono approaching the bridge across the Gulf of Corinth.

This delivery started in early April from Dalaman (I think, no log with me).  Skipper plus mate plus me. This was my first delivery for PYD and a great starting point.  Skipper and mate both easy to get on with, quiet sorts who knew about boundaries and took an interest in cooking.  It reminded me how a good boat can handle most of what's thrown at her. 

This is quite a round about way of saying that we are seriously thinking of selling the lovely Snork Maiden, having decided that she's not an ideal candidate for the Med, however we might choose to get her there.  Depending on the survey, it may be foolish or at least impractical to think of launching in less than 2 weeks from now, as we had planned.  And there's another consideration: if we decide to sell, it should be the new owner who makes the choices, not ourselves.  Anyway, tomorrow is another day...  I will try to get the new batteries fitted and check out the nav. equipment.  If that goes well, I will start on the clean up outside.  Reefing lines are very discoloured - maybe time for a change. 

It's been a long time...

So - I am sitting on Snork Maiden and it's June 2018.  We have made flying visits during the last couple of years but I am sad to say that we haven't managed to sail her since 2014.  We made a deliberate decision to skip a year in 2015.  We felt that it was time to have a different adventure and we deided on a road trip to Sardinia.  It worked well, and that, together with a delivery trip from Turkey to Portsmouth, persuaded me that I wanted to see more of the Mediterranean, and what better way than in our own boat.  So - a new plan was born. But, as they say, no plan survives encounter with the enemy, or in this case, just life.  That's why I am looking at  major, although mainly cosmetic, clean up, 4 years later. We also have to have a survey before our insurers allow us to get back in the water - that's happening on Thursday - the day after tomorrow. 

Yacht delivery S/Y Ono approaching the bridge across the Gulf of Corinth.

This delivery started in early April from Dalaman (I think, no log with me).  Skipper plus mate plus me. This was my first delivery for PYD and a great starting point.  Skipper and mate both easy to get on with, quiet sorts who knew about boundaries and took an interest in cooking.  It reminded me how a good boat can handle most of what's thrown at her. 

This is quite a round about way of saying that we are seriously thinking of selling the lovely Snork Maiden, having decided that she's not an ideal candidate for the Med, however we might choose to get her there.  Depending on the survey, it may be foolish or at least impractical to think of launching in less than 2 weeks from now, as we had planned.  And there's another consideration: if we decide to sell, it should be the new owner who makes the choices, not ourselves.  Anyway, tomorrow is another day...  I will try to get the new batteries fitted and check out the nav. equipment.  If that goes well, I will start on the clean up outside.  Reefing lines are very discoloured - maybe time for a change. 

LA ROCHELLE FILM FESTIVAL

Well - the summer isn't quite turning out as we thought it would!  Winds have been fairly consistently North and / or West with some days quite rainy too. We have had a few days swimming when we were at Boyardville and St Martin.  We came back into La Rochelle's Vieux Port on Thursday and decided to sit out the bad weather and go to some movies.  So far we have seen  new Icelandic film MEN AND HORSES - the irony of the title is that the strong characters are female - and, of course, the horses.  An unusual documentary about the Galician COAST OF DEATH - unbearably slow picture of a hard life in a tough environment when wind and mist dominate. 

    The festival is featuring the work of Howard Hawks so yesterday we went to a cowboy film RED RIVER.  Shot in black and white in a ratio that was almost square with a beautifully restored print. Story held up for over 2 hours and amazing shots of a 9000 head cattle drive that could probably never be done again outside of CGI.  The stampede scene and river crossings were incredible, although animals probably were harmed.  Made in 1948 the film begins with the issue of land grabbing and quickly moves on. The treatment of the indigenous population was as you might expect for the times with dispensable extras run off by the heroes and a token taciturn character carrying a running joke.  Music - and the whole experience actually - reminded me of Saturday morning pictures at the local cinema in Rhos on Sea - nine pence in old money covered the 3d (pence) admission, a packet of KP peanuts and a Kia Ora orange squash.   This morning we're up for THE BIG SKY.  

    Last night was a back-to-back all-nighter of which we managed to get through a French Classic from 1937 I think - Jean Renoir's LA GRAND ILLUSION - another lovingly restored print. Tough going linguistically - Al found it hard to follow and I just picked up the odd few words. A peacenick film at heart and heartbreakingly released as the Second World War was about to begin.

    I am ashamed to say that we ducked out of the free outdoor showing of Hitchcock's NORTH BY NORTHWEST on the grounds that it was so windy and rainy that it probably wouldn't go ahead. Clearly La Rochelle's festival goers are tougher than we are and sat it out while we were tucked up in our very cosy bunk on Snork Maiden. 

    And for you sailors - the mammoth new gates on the Chalutiers lock are now in place and working.

    Coming soon: we explore new places - maybe.  And just one last film...  The stunningly energetic GERONIMO fresh from Cannes. Watch out for this - also TIMBUKTU.  Both new releases.