CREW CHANGE AND PREPS FOR ROUNDING FINISTERRE
Aquila
Alan and Sarah Bennett
Sat 19 Jul 2014 10:20
The remainder of yesterday was spent on domestics: taking a whole load of laundry to the other side of the Odet river in search of ‘un lavage’ – the ferryman looked at me a bit strangely, but did not hold his nose again on the return trip! Back on board and with Aquila looking like a Chinese dhoby shop, I spent time preparing the boat for Myf and Ian Adams arrival on 19th, and planning our forthcoming passage up through Le Raz de Sein and Le Four channel. Factoring in the forecast winds and tides, if we sail before 1800 and the winds help at all, we might just make it through the former by the time the tidal gate slams shut at 2342. And with the winds thereafter due to shift into the north by 0600 on 20th, achieving this gate in time is a good idea.
In the afternoon, as conditions were very calm, I took advantage of the hour at slack water to chug the half mile further upstream to the fuelling berth at Benodet – we may need all that the tank holds if winds remain light. The Odet is a lovely river (phots), even between the two villages. My single-handed voyage there and back with respective alongsides went without incident; the Sainte-Marine marina kindly putting ‘Reservé’ signs on my berth in my temporary absence. The service in all the French facilities has really been very good throughout the trip.
A phone call with Myf and Ian would have been nice in order to discuss arrival times etc, but my steam driven phone has chosen this moment to blow its head gasket. It seems no amount of abuse or bribery will get it to perform; even the application of the blow torch did not persuade it (phot)! Luckily the internet connectivity is good here – and Myf and Ian said they are up for a ‘pier head jump’ the moment the taxi from Quimper reaches Sainte-Marine this afternoon. So I’ve arranged a steam catapult on the pier head to assist them – trials using a few locals as guinea pigs indicate they should be able to achieve 300+ metres with its assistance. This will aid our prompt departure and help us achieve the tidal gate time….
So this morning it has been clean, water and store ship (phot) etc – please note the onion, and red and green peppers! Not exactly sure what I’m going to do with them, but will no doubt think of something…. Not sure either where our next port of call will be – with the winds forecast to shift to NE in the Channel by Tuesday, it will be to our advantage to get a wriggle on before then. We will see!
