Wendy’s Diary Samedi 30th Juliet

We feel like we have become residents of Audierne during the last 2½ weeks. We get a very warm welcome everywhere we go and keep bumping into friends and acquaintances both French and English.

After a week of rain the weather finally cleared up and stated off sunny but with a chilly breeze, but in the last few days the wind has changed and the temperature is now in the mid twenties which is lovely.

Last Sunday I paid a very brief visit back to the UK as I had an appointment with a neurosurgeon who is writing a report for the compensation claim. Jean-Louis kindly dropped me off at the ferry and I arrived back in Plymouth at 9.30pm after an crossing that was flatter than a pancake. I was kindly picked up by the friends who are minding my car whilst we are away (and I get to use it when I am there which is very useful), and had a pleasant couple of glasses of wine with them before bed.  On the Monday I spent the day with Amy (my daughter), my dad and his wife. Had an enjoyable day and a lovely meal out in the evening with rather a lot of wine!

On the Tuesday Paula (car minder) kindly came with me to the appointment to make sure all went ok and to be there in case I needed moral support (thank you again Paula). The appointment went very smoothly, nothing unexpected and I now await his report that will be used in agreeing a settlement for my injuries. We spent the rest of the day drinking wine and tea and chatting. The one thing I miss being away sailing is girlie chats and so it was lovely. They dropped me back at the ferry for the overnight crossing. Two bus journeys later (total cost - 4 euro’s for 2 ½ hours travelling), I arrive back in Audierne.

It felt strange for the trip to be that way round, that home is now France – but it will take a while to get my head around what we are doing! Equally strange was buying food in Plymouth to bring back to France as it is so much cheaper there. Also picking up things we can’t get here like Salad Cream and Cornish Clotted Cream (see later)!!!

On Wednesday evening we were invited to another boat owner’s house for dinner. We met Silvie 2 years ago when we both took part in La Route de l’Amitie – the cruise we are here for again. She is a professor at a University in Paris and has a holiday home in Audierne which was built originally for her grandfather. When I say holiday home, it is a good sized house with the most amazing views of the estuary and out to sea. It is one of the best place houses in the town and there is a large balcony across the front which shares the same view. She served an amazing meal which finished with a tradition Brittany pudding; Kougin Amaan – the most amazing pudding which is made of little more that butter and sugar! It was another lovely evening and I practiced more of my French.

On Thursday we had some French friends over to the boat for a Cornish cream tea. I baked the scones just before they arrived and we treated them to some traditional English cuisine. We started with Pimms and ginger ale – followed by the scones, jam, and clotted cream (cream on top), served with Earl Grey tea. It all went down very well, and one of the ladies even took the wrapper with her from the clotted cream so she could get some next time she went to England.

On Friday lots of boats started arriving for La Route de l’Amitie. There are around 180 boats taking part, and it involves a party in port every night followed by sailing the next day to get to the next port and party.   This will be the second time I have done La Route, it will be John’s fourth. Last time (2009) John took the boat over and I flew out just before the start and had to return home a couple of days after it finished, as I had work commitments. It is a tiring event and I needed a holiday to recover from it. This time I am hoping that being able to take things easier before the event I shall be able to take the pace and will of course be able to take it easy afterwards to recover.

It was my attendance at this event 2 years ago that prompted me to go to evening classes to improve my French. There are so many lovely people, many of whom speak very little English and last time I was here conversation was not possible. I am pleased to say that my studies have not been wasted and I can now at least make myself understood, even if my grammar is appalling, and am able to understand far more of what I hear. This does depend very much on the accent and the speed, but it is a distinct improvement. Many thanks to my teacher Cristel who has both encouraged me and given me the confidence to speak in French. 

Saturday saw around 100 boats arrive in this little port and the harbour master worked his socks off to get everyone rafted up to corresponding sized boats. We remained at anchor in the middle of the harbour out of everybody’s way. The spring tides have returned and we needed to tweak the anchors again as we had dragged slightly. In the evening it was the “fest noz” for the crews, a tasty meal and a couple of bottles of cider with old and new friends saw out a very pleasant evening.

John’s Toys – 1 A way of cutting gas costs onboard.

For a long time I have been teased mercilessly about the number of gadgets and gizmos I have got on board, and how Freya Frey is the heaviest HT ever to remain afloat.  (“Really?” you say.)  I thought I would write a little series for anyone with a slightly geeky technophile outlook listing some of the additional things we carry which have proved particularly valuable, so this is really for the lads rather than the girls.

One of the concerns we had was the cost of French gas.  It really isn’t a problem for British boats which only come over here for a short time, but when you are planning to be away for as long as we are, it becomes an important consideration.  It is pretty much impossible to get UK gas cylinders filled in France, and the supposedly universally-available Camping Gaz (we have yet to see their refillable cylinders for sale anywhere!) practically requires a mortgage, costing almost £9/kilo. In addition, you cannot take gas cylinders on public transport, so the cost of a taxi fare may have to be added to the price of the cylinder.   With all this in mind we filled our aluminium cylinders with autogas at £1.60/Kg before we left, which gives us a stock of 22Kg of propane for cooking, which should last several months.  However, that isn’t quite enough to last us until the spring (especially at the rate Wendy consumes tea!) and although we have the Camping Gaz cylinder as a backup, I reckoned we would not have enough to get to Spain.

Remembering how we cooked on the first boat, I had an idea of how to get round this problem by using a Coleman unleaded stove.  (“What?” I hear you say).  This is a single burner camping stove, basically a modern version of the trusty Primus which as the name suggests, runs on ordinary unleaded petrol.  Pound for pound and calorie for calorie, petrol is much cheaper than the cheapest bottled gas, is universally available, easy to carry and easy to store.  So we bought a Coleman.  Now, each morning, I put the kettle on the Coleman to make a pot of tea and fill the big thermos flask with boiling water.  We use this during the day, bringing the water back to the boil with the gas stove.  When the flask is empty we reboil the kettle on the Coleman, and if we need a bowlful of hot water for washing up, out comes the Coleman again.  It is using around a litre of petrol a week, which is equivalent to around 750g of gas – a very worthwhile saving, and far better than using Camping Gaz! 

The stove is compact, very powerful (nearly twice as powerful as the burners on our gas hob!) so it raises boiling water almost as quickly as a domestic electric kettle.  It is very stable, so can be used on deck or in the cockpit (a big plus on a hot day!) or even on a beach, and it is completely independent of the gas system, so provides a backup in case we have a regulator failure.   

Wendy’s Diary 14 July addition – John’s proof that gadgets are worth having!

I think this was on Tuesday...but anyway....we decided to go to the supermarket, which is the best part of a mile away up hill. The folding bikes had been stowed away since the passage down the coast so we unhooked them and I passed them down to the dinghy to take them ashore.  We off-loaded the bikes on a nice wide pontoon, and then John went to tie off the dinghy at the end of the pontoon. I unfolded mine ready for use when some people needed to get by so I moved both bikes closer to the edge...can you guess where this is going now? As John reappeared, somehow I managed to nudge his still-folded bike over the edge, it slid in slow motion and slowly sank out of sight!

May I say at this point that had I been with either of my ex-husbands in this scenario, my anxiety levels would have been through the roof (or in the clouds as we were outside)! So my first thought was I am glad John is my partner and that I have a good relationship with him. J That thought quickly out of the way, and whilst watching the bubbles still coming up, I offered to jump in and try and retrieve it.  John assured me it was too deep and whilst I sat and watched the bubbles John went back to the boat to get the dinghy anchor and....the underwater CCTV!  Just to prove that this was worth the bargain price paid and the space it occupies on the boat.

As John lowered the anchor with the camera attached, the bike appeared through the seaweed on the screen. It only took three attempts to hook onto the bike and pull it back up to the surface. Safely on the pontoon, I rinsed it off in fresh water and finally we were ready with both bikes to head off to the supermarket. We shared a hug of reassurance before setting off. My chain fell off before I started, and then it started to rain...

Wendy's Diary Thursday 14th July

Thursday 14th July

We enjoyed a few peaceful days in Chateaulin including a very nice lunch on the 9^th at a local restaurant to celebrate my birthday. We  motor sailed back down the river on 11^th, stopped overnight in a tiny peaceful anchorage before setting off out of the Bay of Brest the next morning and sailing down the coast to Audierne. As we left there was virtually no wind and the sun finally made a reappearance so we had a lovely warm start. Later in the day the wind picked up and we had a downwind sail all the way down and past the famous Raz de Sein, one of the most photographed lighthouses around.  I have a framed picture of it that used to hang on the wall at the house and is now in storage.

We arrived in Audierne around 9pm and after the long sail, dropped the anchor and went for a quick drink ashore to celebrate our arrival in John’s favourite harbour in France. Back to the boat and crawl into bed very tired. During the night I awoke to hear shouting and noticed bright lights. I looked closer and saw that we were moving! I woke John up who jumped out in his birthday suit to find out what was going on – a fisherman called that we were not allowed to anchor in the channel – our anchor and come loose and we were drifting along! He quickly sorted things out and moved us back to the anchorage and this time put out two and a bundle more chain to make sure we would be ok. At around 3.30am we settled back down for the night.

On 13^th it was a hot sunny day so I did a load of laundry and John set me up with a washing line all around the boat to get everything dry, I quite liked to see the sheets blowing in the breeze, it was very homely.click here for photo! We had drinks with another English couple on their boat and swapped notes on favourite places to stay. In the evening we were invited to the Harbour Master’s (Alain) house for drinks and nibbles to celebrate his belated birthday. Just after 10pm we headed back down to the harbour as there was a fireworks display for Bastille Day. We joined another lovely friend Jean-Louis on his boat to watch the display.

Thursday today, a quiet day of “housework” .

Audierne 12 July 2011

We arrived safely in Audierne yesterday. Will update again soon.

L'Aber Benoir

Seaweed farming was one of the big trades in this pretty little village. Note how loaded down this boat is. They pulled up to a quay where it was loaded into a waiting lorry. 

 The beautiful white sandy beaches

 We liked the house that has been made to look like a boat, and again the white sand. 

Chateaulin

We went our to celebrate Wendy's Birthday. Thank you to all who contributed to the Euro fund at the leaving party!

 John looking like he is holding on for dear life!

If you look ever so carefully in the next photo you can see Freya Frey moored up alongside the wall, through the arch of the bridge.