Sailing in the fog
'Sarf & West mate, Sarf & West'
Pete Bernfeld
Tue 10 Jun 2008 20:45
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48.16.76N 04.35.30W
Well, motoring in the fog mainly. When I left
Paluden it was a beautiful morning, then just as I turned SSW for the entrance
rto the Chenal Du Four it looked like it might get foggy.....then it did! At one
point I reckon I had less than 0.25nm visibility. Anyway, the tide had turned
southbound, the radar was working and I kept a running plot on a paper chart
(remember them?). At the bottom of the Chenal, low and behold the fog lifted and
it was a beautiful day. Had a stonking headsail-only reach into Cameret (to be
honest the boat would have been better balanced if I'd had the main
up).
Then came the performance of trying to pick up a
buoy in about 20 kts of wind. My patent 'buoy picker-upper' failed and I had a
couple of goes with a boathook....no luck (I tried, honest) so I decided to go
into the marina (look, I really tried to pick up a cheap mooring, honest).
Anyway, after a bit of messing about getting set up, complete with
heart-stopping moment when I discovered you could fool the hydraulic steering
system by turning the wheel too quickly, I managed to ferry-glide into a space
on the outside of the marina. I shan't name the British boat whose crew sat
enjoying their drinks watching, but I suppose any boat that has TWO Royal yacht
clubs' names on its transom must be crewed by gits who can't be bothered to put
their drinks down and ask if a hand is required!
Anyway, just had moules au creme with frites
and a passable half bottle of Muscadet. Can't start losing any weight now,
can I?
I've paid for two nights, so a bit of light
shopping tomorrow, check the boat over and see if the weather looks good for the
Biscay.
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