About this site

Piers and Lin du Pré bought their new Fleming 55 / 129, Play d'eau, in 2003.

She was berthed in Beaucette Marina, Guernsey in the Channel Islands at N49° 30’.197 W002° 30’.350 until she was sold in October 2021.

This site charts the thrilling adventures they had in her.

You can contact us here.

Where’s Play d’eau?

If the new owners have the AIS on, you can find where Play d'eau is right now.

Click here.

Zoom in and our position will be shown on a map.

Recent Posts

Leg 6 – Port La Foret to Port Haliguen – 1 July 2013

A cold, grey sky greeted us as we emerged from our cabin and raised the blinds in the saloon to view the outside world. Whilst Lin went to fetch fresh croissants (a pink job) I busied myself with engine and nav checks (a blue job).

Lin at the helm, not always doing a pink job
click to enlarge

Leaving Port La Forêt

Casting off at 0830, we motored gently from the sleepy marina along the narrow half mile channel to the open sea where we began dodging the many poorly marked lobster pots that seem to litter the Brittany coast.

Lin brought the La Foret Fouesnant croissants and fresh coffee to the pilot house for breakfast and we were soon set up for the six hour passage to Port Haliguen, a small marina and fishing port on the south east side of Presqu’ile de Quiberon some fifty miles to the south west.

The nav plan

There are no real pinch points along the route today, but there’s one part worth mentioning.

Towards the end of our journey we pass to the south of Presqu’ile de Quiberon where we need to thread our way through the many reefs and islands which extend fourteen miles to the south west.

Threading our way through the reefs, we passed within 50m of this outcrop
click to enlarge

The track we take through this area will depend on the sea state at the time and how comfy we feel about cutting corners and threading our way thought the rocks!

Arriving

Just as we rounded Presqu’ile, the sun came out in her full glory and turned a grey day into a great day.

Given the sea state was completely calm, we chose the shortest of short cuts through the reefs where the tide, at times was running at 4 knots against us.

The Harbour Master was waiting for us in his RIB and led us to our berth. Would you believe, it had one of those pesky water connectors we’d first encountered at Camaret. The receptionist at the Capitainerie couldn’t have been more helpful. In answer to our first question she responded, ‘Oui, of course there’s Wi-Fi and here’s the code.’

This is the adaptor required for the new style water outlets being installed in many French marinas
click to enlarge

In answer to our second question, she replied, ‘The Chandlery is closed and there’s nowhere else to get the adaptor. But wait a moment.’ Picking up her radio she called another of the marina staff and spoke in rapid fire French. All I understood was ‘Play d’eau‘.

As we returned to Play d’eau someone asked, ‘Monsieur Play d’eau?’. ‘Oui’. ‘The Capitainerie asked me to give you this adaptor, with our compliments’.

So now we are the proud owners of the elusive adaptor!

Tecky details

0830hrs FST – Departed Port La Forêt
1453hrs FST – Port Haliguen
Planned distance – 51.1nm
Longest leg – 38.1nm, Pointe de Trévignon to Basse du Chanel SCM
Tech problems – a very slight oil leak from the aft of the stbd motor. Needs investigation
Note: that the previous leg’s nav kit issues were all resolved with a re-boot. The question remains, what happened?

Piers and Lin
from the Pilot House of
Play d’eau
Fleming 55

You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.

1 comment to Leg 6 – Port La Foret to Port Haliguen – 1 July 2013

  • Pip Flynn

    Enjoy your few days in Port Haliguen. Glad to know that you’ve got a wifi connection and can therefore keep your blogs up to date!
    Pxx

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