Monday 11^th, Tuesday 12^th, Wednesday 13^th and Thursday 14^th April

Monday was the first day of the Oyster Regatta and this was mostly spent preparing their boats for the Concours d’elegance judging in the afternoon.

This is largely a competition to see whose professional crew can make their boat look the smartest with most of the owners, but not all, taking things easy! Sadly for all concerned the weather here is very unseasonal and it kept pouring with rain which meant feverish activity afterwards as they desperately chamois-ed the boats dry and shiny again – and again – and again.

We in the meantime set about starting our preparation for the lay up but this was broken up increasingly as we paused to answer questions and chat with the many people passing by. Seems a good many of the Oyster owners hail from the east coast and the fact that Serafina is registered in Maldon catches their eye and sparks a conversation. It also seems that a fair number of the sailing community in West Mersea have their gardens designed and landscaped by Sarah’s old sailing friend Judy Tridini!

Actually it has all become very friendly and we have found ourselves whiling away a lot of the time chatting to crews of all nationalities about all manner of things. Sadly Eddie Jordan’s yacht is on a different quay, so we don’t get to hob knob with all the rich and famous.

Tuesday was their first race day and as part of all the pomp and ceremony you would expect of this grand fleet, they had to line up in close order, line astern in the harbour and parade past the town and fort in a grand display of opulence, with the band playing and cannons firing from the land and photographers and cheering crowds..... But did I mention the weather earlier? Well it rained like I have never seen rain before and for a full hour or so, these boats filed in perfect order (oh how the organisers of the East Med Rally would dearly wish they could make this happen – but then none of these skippers are French!!) past the fort. No band, no crowd, damp cannon only fired twice and about the only point of note is that it was probably the wealthiest collection of drowned rats in the world. Oh yes and there was not a breath of wind.

Seems the wind did get a bit later on, but even so they had to shorten the course and they all came back in later in the afternoon making a good show of having enjoyed themselves. James and Lesley joined us for dinner on board Serafina as they were not invited to the big bash for the owners in the evening and they did at least have the consolation from the racing of having won their class in this first race.

On Wednesday there was at least some wind and they all set off in better spirits and the better news was that they were going to be away for two nights now as their regatta was taking them to the marina where we are headed to on Saturday. (Le Phare Bleu)

However we had a new distraction today as the Roche family from Worcestershire arrived to start a two week sailing holiday on a yacht based here in Port Louis so we ended up joining them in the bar for a few drinks in the evening.

Thursday was a day free of interruptions and so we both got lots done and in the evening we went out for a meal with the Roches who have had a frustrating day as the boat they have chartered was simply not properly prepared and had any number of important technical faults.