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Having taken many calls from friends and colleagues asking us these questions, we’ve created new pages on this website which hopefully answer the questions so we don’t have to keep repeating ourselves!
We look forward to welcoming you – just come along and knock on the door.
Piers and Lin
from the Saloon of
Play d’eau
Fleming 55
You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.
Having tasted the fare at The Restaurant at Beaucette Marina I can only say how delighted we are to have such a great venue as our ‘local’.
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Having eaten there on a number of occasions, neither Lin, myself nor our guests have been disappointed. Hence, we decided to add a page to our website about The Restaurant at Beaucette Marina.
When I was taking photos of their kitchen, one of the chefs was creating a dish especially for a party that was coming the next day which had requested a traditional Guernsey dessert. ‘Of course,’ James had responded. The result? Gâche Melée, a rich apple based cinnamon cake, made from the best of beef suet, heavy in calories and really cholesterol challenging. Luscious!
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We have yet to sample their weekend breakfast menu, but having seen the full English and a special of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon I don’t think it will be too long before we are climbing the pontoon to knock on the door of The Restaurant at Beaucette Marina.
Piers and Lin
from the Saloon of
Play d’eau
Fleming 55
You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.
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For many years, this large seal has visited Beaucette Marina to plunder the mullet which have been fattening themselves for the last year since his last raid.
‘He comes every year,’ said John, ‘and clears the marina of all the large mullet leaving just the small ones to grow until he comes back again the next year. He treats Beaucette Marina as his larder.’
At night Mr Snore sleeps under the pontoons, gently bobbing up and down just keeping his nose above the water level.
‘Last year, he was under the pontoon next to my boat,’ added John. ‘He was snoring loudly, and I mean loudly. He woke me up so I went out and shooed him away. He swam up the pontoon a bit and this time, he fell asleep between the hulls of a visiting catamaran.
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Apparently, it takes Mr Snore a few weeks to empty Beaucette Marina (his larder) of large mullet, and just he appeared today, he’ll be gone around the end of June.
I wonder where he’ll be sleeping? Near Play d’eau? Hmmm.
Piers
from the Saloon of
Play d’eau
Fleming 55
You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.
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Bugs – the bane of Play d’eau’s new Pilot House electronics. Can we really exterminate them?
I remember seeing mother-in-law size cockroaches in Delhi years ago in my flying days. There’d been a flying ant swarm and cockroaches, led by these five inch monsters with their armour plated backs, had come out with their armies to hoover a three Michelin star dinner.
In the airport terminal, some local lads were playing football with them but despite severe kicking and smacking against walls, these monster cockroaches just picked themselves up and carried on scurrying about searching for ants as though nothing had happened. They refused to be exterminated.
We now had a monster somewhere in the electrickery on Play d’eau.
Andy Craig of MEI had come to Beaucette Marina on 1st May 2013 and resolved all our electronic woes – or so we all thought.
A few days later, a friend had come from the UK to see us, and in the middle of demonstrating (code for showing off!) our new pilot house equipment, the dreaded ‘Heading Data Missing’ alarm on the nn3d re-appeared with the associated ‘Steering Compass Missing’ warning on the Simrad autopilot, activating every possible audible alarm from the Chart Plotter, Radar, Instruments, and this time, from the Satellite Compass as well which also displayed an ‘Aborting’ message.
Arrrgh! An unknown mother-in-law cockroach had crawled out to mock us.
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In the moments that followed, Andy spoke with the warranty desk at Furuno which immediately accepted the warranty claim, arranged for a spare aerial to be despatched from Holland direct to RES (their authorised agent in Guernsey) and authorised them to effect the repair. How brilliant was that!
Yesterday, Robin of RES appeared on Play d’eau and checked the fault remained. It did. Climbing the radar arch and pony mast, Robin unscrewed the cover from the aerial array, removed and replaced the faulty aerial and appeared back in the Pilot House to check it was now working. It was. Brilliant, again.
One mother-in-law cockroach exterminated.
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Yes. Two hours later, three more bugs dared to surface. The original ‘Heading Data Missing’ on the nn3d, and two relatively new ones showing as ‘Log’ and ‘EPFS’ in the Radar alarm log. Yet all with no indication of equipment failure.
To me, I don’t believe there’s anything more wrong with any of the equipment. Deduction tells me these bugs are more like mosquitoes hiding in the sentences being dropped onto the nn3d backbone or the speed at which they are talking. A mismatch or confusion somewhere. Time will tell.
So, having exterminated a cockroach we now have three mosquitoes.
Now where’s that DDT?
Piers
from the Nav Table of
Play d’eau
Fleming 55
and in the pot
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Stock forms the basis of so many good onboard recipes, and the good news is you only really need vegetable stock. No chicken or meat stock, just vegetable.
Our recipe has been refined over the years and never lets us down and produces a gorgeous concentrated stock which works brilliantly with many of the recipes we’ll be adding as time goes by.
It’s packed with flavour and keeps really well in the fridge for a good three weeks and almost for ever in a freezer. It also scales well if you want to make less or more at a time.
So please don’t use stock cubes or any other form of instant stock which all pale into insignificance in comparison.
6 Carrots
3 Large leeks with as much white as possible
2 Small fennels
3 Small onions
2 Parsnips
8 Button mushrooms
3 Celery stalks plus the very small leaves close to the stalks
Small bunch of Parsley stalks (no leaves)
Rosemary (some)
Pepper corns (say 30)
Bay Leaves (a few)
Thyme (some)
Leave for 2 hours or more
with the lid on but just cracked open
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The ‘Dos’ and ‘Don’ts’ of brilliant stock making.
A large saucepan with a lid (in which to make the stock), a smaller saucepan into which to strain the stock, kitchen knife, wooden spoon, sieve, clean muslin or dish cloth, storage containers (half litre recommended) for the finished stock.
Clean, peel and trim the vegetables. Cut them into half inch squares or smaller and put them in the pot. Clean and slice the mushrooms and add them to the pot with the herbs and pepper. Add water to half an inch below the top of the vegetables.
Bring to the simmer, making sure the herbs are underneath the surface (use the wooden spoon). Keep it simmering for two or more hours.
Keep the lid on the pot, but just cracked open to allow some of the steam to escape.
You’ll find the vegetables start to shrink allowing the water to cover them. If you need to add a bit more water, only add enough to keep the vegetables just covered.
When cool, strain the liquor through the sieve and muslin (or tea cloth) into another pan. Let it drain – don’t squeeze the remaining vegetables.
Finally, pour your stock into containers and use as and when needed. You’ll have about 1.5 ltrs of strong concentrated stock which can be diluted as required.
Perfect!
Piers and Lin
from the Galley of
Play d’eau
Fleming 55
You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.
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On Monday at 1630, Play d’eau took the short cut from Beaucette Marina to St Sampson’s and went up in the world as she was lifted by M&G Engineering in their 75 ton hoist to have the offending anode bolt knocked out, the hull checked for moisture content and a new bolt bedded in.
At the same time, we would take advantage of the lift to check the anodes and clean the trim tabs which had grown the most magnificent, yet embarrassing, seaweed beards.
The offending bolt was knocked out and thankfully, it was clean and bright with no sign of any water ingress at all. It appears that the washer had had its anodising scratched as its nut was tightened causing it to corrode in the salty atmosphere of the bilge. Knowing the integrity of the hull had therefore not been breached, we wouldn’t have to suffer the expense of keeping Play d’eau on the hard for days if not weeks to dry out. What a relief.
Note 1 to self: Cover the exposed nuts and bolts on the inside of the bilge with white grease to prevent a return of worrying corrosion.
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When Play d’eau was lifted in February we checked all 12 anodes and it was only the two prop shaft anodes which needed changing.
And now with her in the strops, all looked OK except for the two on the prop shafts. After just four months they’d almost been completely eaten away which was most unusual. Maybe the reason for the rapid erosion was that we’d used MG Duff’s new aluminium anodes rather than zinc, as M G Duff had recommended.
Note 2 to self: If aluminium was the reason the shaft anodes had worn so quickly, I must use twin anodes or more on both shafts to get a full year’s use out of them – or better still, find zinc anodes again.
The hull looked really good with almost no hint of fouling at all. But the trim tabs were another story. They were sporting a truly magnificent full set of whiskers.
The reason for this became evident when they were removed; the anti-fouling had been flaking off leaving bare metal. Far too much of a temptation for the Beaucette Marina seaweeds.
Note 3 to self: Next lift-out, take the trim tabs back to bare metal and start again.
Happy cruising!
Piers
from the Engine Room of
Play d’eau
Fleming 55
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Wandering around to his berth from Play d’eau the next morning I found Lady Jazz, a gleaming Sealine F43, and met Bernie and Lynn. Bernie, who had only just woken up (it was 9 o’clock already!) told me, ’12 miles north of Beaucette Marina the starboard engine conked out and we slowed to 9 knots. At this speed we were rolling around a bit and the last thing I wanted to do was poke around the engine room so we carried on to Beaucette Marina where Ricky (Marina Manager) came out and guided us in.’
Bernie carried on to tell me that the starboard engine’s Racor filter bowl looked a murky grey, that the starboard tank was only a quarter full and that fuel additives had not been used in the one and a half years Bernie had owned Lady Jazz. This seemed to point to a potential diesel bug problem.
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Later that morning, Bernie changed the Racor filter, bled as much air from the system as possible and after a good cranking the engine started and ran perfectly at 2,000 rpm for 20 minutes. All appeared good news so Bernie cast off to motor the short distance to St Sampson’s harbour to fill up with diesel delivered by a Rubis tanker.
But one mile out of Beaucette Marina, Lady Jazz’s starboard engine failed again leaving Bernie to limp into St Sampson’s where he changed the starboard engine’s fine filter just in case that was blocked as well. Cranking the engine to bleed air from the system, it started. Success? Sadly no. Ten minutes later it began hunting, and stopped.
So, with fuel in the tank, clean Racor and fine filters, something else had to be happening.
Spending the next two days in the engine room, Bernie swapped the fuel supply pipes to see if the port engine would run from the starboard tank. It did. So the tank and its immediate pipework to the starboard fuel shut-off valve was good.
So by deduction, there had to be an obstruction somewhere between the starboard fuel shut-off valve and the starboard engine’s Racor filter.
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Having disconnected the fuel valve assembly board completely from its associated pipework and been covered in diesel whilst doing it, Bernie attacked the valve. Lo and behold, it was jammed with something looking like material which took an age to pick out. Was it a bit of rag? Was it a cigarette butt?
But having re-assembled the board, the engine wouldn’t start. It wouldn’t even crank. Why? With constant cranking over the last few days, the started motor had burned out.
At this point, St Sampson’s Marine and General stepped up to the plate and in no time at all had provided a new starter motor at almost the same cost as a rebuild. Perfect!
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The rest is history.
Piers
from the Engine Room of
Play d’eau
Fleming 55
You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.
They’ll go as fast as you can serve them!
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The ‘Dos’ and ‘Don’ts’ of making Parmesan crisps.
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Grate the two cheeses onto the dinner plate. Using your fingers, gently mix them up.
Sprinkle the grated cheese onto the frying pan to form a 1cm deep round leaving a 5cm margin around the edge of the pan. Tamp it down just a bit.
Place on a low to medium heat.
After a while you’ll see the cheese start to melt, then bubble, and the edges will start turning a light brown.
If you want to flavour the crisps, add a sprinkling of the seeds at this stage.
Keep going and wait until the bubbling has almost stopped.
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After a minute or so, the pan will have cooled a bit but the crisp will still just be pliable. Slide a spatula around the outside of the crisp and gently prise it out of the pan.
Place it on kitchen paper for a few moments to remove any excess oils before moving it to a chopping board.
Slice it into 4cm strips and slice again, diagonally to form your Parmesan Diamond crisps.
To keep their crispness, eat them soon after making. Mind you, as quickly as you serve them they’ll go!
Perfect!
Let us know how you get on – you can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.
Piers and Lin
from the Galley of
Play d’eau
Fleming 55
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After much encouragement, Lin and I have decided to add a section on ‘Cooking onboard‘.
The first recipe will be Parmesan Diamond crisps which are really simple to make and so rewarding.
Over time, we’ll share the good – what we’ve learned works really well; the bad – which encompasses the limitations of a boat’s galley and how we overcome them; and finally the ugly – dedicated to what not to do!
We also intend to add comments on any restaurants we eat at during our cruising adventures.
Have fun, and let us know how you get on.
Piers and Lin
from the Galley of
Play d’eau
Fleming 55
But where is Mr Tumnus?
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My 65th birthday celebrations! reported the first ten day phase of this extravaganza, which ended on 9 May when the last of our sons with their families, and our dear friends John and Beryl, had all returned to the mainland leaving my sister Hilary and husband Christopher (Kiffer) with us for an eleven day phase 2.
The first six days of phase 2 were bathed in brilliant sunshine during which we explored Guernsey, walked from St Martin’s Point to St Peter Port along the cliff path through the silent, fairytale woods carpeted with blue and whitebells (it was breathtaking – but where was Mr Tumnus?), visited our friends David and Diana in their beautiful bungalow, ate far too much Guernsey butter and ice cream and on my birthday, we had an excellent Sunday lunch at The Restaurant at Beaucette Marina sitting at a window table with gorgeous views across the marina and out to sea.
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As children, we had often spent our family holidays in Jersey so a plan of memory exploration was hatched; we’d start by driving north along the east coast.
In the 1950s, Dad would take us all low tide fishing. With great excitement, we’d arm ourselves with long bamboo rods with hooks in the end, prawn nets and wicker shoulder baskets and set off from Seymour Slip (Royal Grouville Bay) in the extreme south east, walking way past the two miles offshore, 18th century Seymour Tower chasing the receding tide in time to be at the water’s edge an hour or so before extreme low tide. There, we’d trawl for prawns, hunt crab and lobster under stones and poke under the large boulders with our sticks to see what we could hook out.
whilst a local artist paints the view
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One of the most picturesque places in Jersey, Gorey remains a beautiful village and harbour, guarded against invasion by the French for over 600 years by the imposing Mont Orgueil Castle.
Whilst eating another ice cream, Jersey Royals were being harvested on the steep hills immediately behind us.
Further north along the coast road we passed Geoffrey’s Leap (where we used to have cream teas and listen (again and again) to the story behind its name) to Archirondel, a strong family favourite where we’d spend the day swimming, scrunching the pebbles with our heels, exploring the unfinished breakwater, and being rowed around the bay in Dad’s clinker built dinghy, Dodo.
Hilary, Kiffer and Piers stare into the distance.
The white tower of Amy’s slipway on the left
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Halfway along St Catherine’s Bay is a white Martello Tower and its adjacent slipway, known to us as as Amy’s slipway since it used to be owned by the Amy family.
A good place to swim, but not the best.
Now here’s a real favourite. The huge 640m long St Catherine’s breakwater and its sun trap slipway was such a good place to dive and swim. We’d take our lunch and ‘bag’ our place on the slipway next to the water’s edge, gradually moving up or down as the tide dictated.
Ice creams (have I mentioned ice cream, yet?) were always available from the hole in wall café as it used to be.
To the north of St Catherine’s is a small beach known as La Coupe. A narrow, winding road brings you to a tiny parking area which used to site a 12 pound gun to protect the island from the French (again!). From here, a short walk along the path through the hovering midges and wild garlic brings you to the beach where you jump the last metre to feel the soft sand underfoot.
The beach is a dream. White sand, great swimming, and one special rocky outcrop just for us. It’s U shaped, so building a wall of sand across it would stop the rising tide from engulfing us. It was such fun battling against the rising tide as it sought to erode our damn.
Time was running short but we just had to visit these coasts and their bays to say ‘hello again’ to other favourites and recapture the fun of many picnics and swimmings. Using every minute we had, we continued our explorations.
Originally a fishing village, St Aubin’s Harbour looks across a sand covered bay to St Helier. Portelet Bay with its fort (known as Janvrin’s Tomb) has steps carved in the cliff from the car park to the beach; it’s a puff and a half climbing back up. Corbiere lighthouse on the south west tip of Jersey is a stark reminder of the treacherous rocks which have claimed so many lives over the centuries. And finally, St Ouen’s Bay with its five mile long stretch of sand, renowned for its surfing.
A few years ago when Lin and I visited Jersey’s St Helier’s marina, we moored next to a beautiful 54′ yacht with the great name of Woolly Mammoth. She’s owned by Graham and Frances who commissioned her build in Monnickendam, Holland, to be immensely strong for world circumnavigation, with ice breaking capability.
Since then, Graham and Frances have become firm friends and joined us for our visits to two of Jersey’s Michelin starred restaurants.
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When we weren’t exploring, we ate so well. Evening meals were taken in Royal Yacht’s Sirocco restaurant, but the two main evening highlights were Bohemia and the Atlantic Hotel.
At Bohemia, we ate at the Chef’s table, where, after champagne and canapés, we chose tasting menus. The Pescatarian for Lin, the Vegetarian for Kiffer, with the Tasting for the rest of us, all with accompanying wines.
Each course was introduced to us either by our personal waiter or one of Bohemia’s chefs. Such an experience. Of course, we were all hoping there’d be a Gordon Ramsey style kitchen incident. Sadly, the kitchen ran so smoothly that only three minor incidents occurred. Hmmm.
Graham, Lin, Piers, Frances, Kiffer, Hilary
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The next evening saw us at the Atlantic Hotel’s Ocean restaurant. I have to say that in my opinion, the food were the finest I’ve ever experienced, anywhere, anytime. Simply magnificent in all respects. It makes me wonder whether they will soon have a second star.
We knew it was coming, but it always hits home when goodbyes have to be said.
After we’d eaten at the Atlantic, we had to say goodbye to Graham and Frances. The next morning we drove Hilary and Kiffer to Jersey’s airport where hugs and tears could not hide the sadness at having to part. Maybe, just maybe, we could all meet again soon for another extravaganza at the Atlantic.
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And so ended my birthday celebrations where I’d been surrounded by the family for three weeks, had the most tremendous adventures, eaten so very well, and met up with friends John and Beryl, Graham and Frances, and David and Diana.
My thanks and deep gratitude to my wife, Lin, for all her ideas and arrangements. Can’t wait until I’m 65 again!
Piers
from the Saloon of
Play d’eau
Fleming 55
PS – I’m told in Guernsey that Jersey rich double cream is known as skimmed milk, and that Jersey Royals taste far better if smothered with Guernsey butter….
You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.
