Noahs Progress Another Tale from the rain
Zepher
Chris & Lyn Darch
Sun 5 Aug 2007 13:47
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15th July to 29th July
Noah's Progress .. The Wet ones .
Sorry folks its been a while since our last
transmission hope you are all well, thanks for the many texts of congrats you
all sent, well on with the ditty we arrived in Benodet to a sunny day but that didn't last long many tales of woe were heard
from the UK regarding the weather but it wasn't much better in Benodet , yes
rain and plenty of it thermals still remained on stand by , we contacted an old
friend of Lyns, Maggie who lives in a beautiful part of rural France correct me
if I'm wrong Maggie " Petroose" and thought that it would be a good
idea to visit as we planned to go from Benodet to Spain direct giving the middle
of the bay a miss , we organised the train tickets" very efficient
railsystem here" when we went to the folk festival in Quipare great day
shower dodging should have been onstage it was dryer ...We set off on the Friday
four hours later we were in the warm a good 4 deg hotter with no rain , it was a
whirlwind visit that evening Maggie took us to the local "Vouille les Marais" (
musical market ) what a brill idea tables in the
village square live band and stalls around serving local produce hot or cold
wine a a nice price of three euro a bottle ..we met a lot of Maggies
friends a mix of French and English couples and had a great laugh, after a while
and a few bottles it was time to say our goodbyes and trundle off back to
Maggies for some shut eye , the cottage is very charming and a credit
to Maggie and David's hard work .
Next day we had breakfast and set off for Fouteney
the rural capital of the area , walked the market and around the
centre of the town , it has been completely unspoilt and gives you a real feel
of rural French town it will be a shame if they modernise it ,
then it was off to the Forest Massive on the Vouvant river Maggie had
to sort out some work for here nabours daughter , wonderfull spot we
stopped a a bar at the head of one of the river bends stunning scenery drank
beer and soaked up the atmosphere . Back to maggies home for some evening
entertainment with some of her neighbours who had recently come backfrom a round
the world sailing trip "tales of the dark incontinent and all that" had a good
rest Sunday and set off back to Benodet the next day , a big thank you for a
great weekend Maggie .
Back in sunny Benodet it was still in liquid
form , with news from blight that the Shipwreck would be making his way out to
see us on his super scooter via the ferry and St Marlo we laid bets as to see
how lost he would get ... he far exceeded any of our expectations and final
pitched up nine hrs later after visiting the whole of northern Brittany, after
feeding and watering he was back to his old self ..weren't you Phil
..!
Next day the sun came out so we all went for a walk
along the coastal paths stunning scenery in this area , sun go next day so we
visited Quampair Phil new the area better than we did he had been round it many
times so it turned out trying to find the Benodet turn .. after seeing the
computer aided route I wasn't suprised half the roads were missing . The
following day we took a day trip, rain cloud and wind and some rock and roll on
the ferry to the Isle de Glenan , a small version of the Silly Isles very seanic
and rocky not a place to be in a Biscay blow but well worth a day visit , back
to land much vomiting by the tourists as we wound our way back .
Next day we dropped Phil off on the jetty at 5:30
with a new road map and directions worked out from a real road map .. Phil made
the ferry in time for a cup of tea , the band will be happy that he made it for
the gig on Sat ! Elsie we have returned him a bit overweight so he will have to
get back on his bike .. Our toilets survived as well , I have been on many
biking holls with Phil most bathroom facilities in France dot survive his first
visit , things tend to fall off toilet cisterns ,shower rails etc .
After Phils departure it was time to think of thing
maritime so we went searching for weather forecasts , long range type as we had
a 330 mile trip ahead of us and wanted to pick the right window , we have been
having trouble with the weather fax and problems downloading gribs(weather
charts) on the sat phone , found a hotel with wifi at last and got the info ,
two days later we departed 29th July it was raining .. we had agreed to meet
Roger and Margaret ( Magnetic Attraction ) in the Ria De Vivero , they were
working there way along the coast ater three weeks in the sun Roger hoped we
weren't bringing the wet stuff with us ! after the first night of mist rain and
a rising sea the sun came out , we had a sparkling sail on the 30th then it
started to blow ( wasn't in the script ) wind up to 40knts 4th reef in stay sail
up we pounded our way to the Ria De Vivaro the blow abated by the afternoon of
the 31st and we had a pleasant entrance to the Ria , meanwhile Roger and
Margaret had been trying to call ,," Carlos it works great with Steves Hot Beads
its the DBs "us on the sat phone as they had kindly reserved us a berth in they
marina ( phone switched off ) sorry ! I called them on the mobile and they
directed us to a lovely anchorage SUN at last ... True to form we had bought the
rain but it was much warmer and only lasted a few hrs , Roger was crying in his
beer as they had avoided this for three weeks , anyway the jinx is off the sun
is out and we have been here five days cleaned the bottom of the hull , made
repairs had a barbi on the beech and onboard , great company of Roger and
Margaret some good photos of Lyn in the quick sand , many thanks to our
" Estimado Contable" Margret and "Keep my bum clean" Roger for a wonderful
ad memorable few days in Ria De Vivero ,
they departed today , I have finished scrubbing the bottom of the boat and we
are ready to move on to Ria de Cedeira the location has been posted so hopeyou
all can see our position , the Noah's are warm at last and looking forward to
the rest of Spain ..
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