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

They sang and danced

The staff sang and danced

I was just about to leave my table after an excellent dinner when a long procession of restaurant staff, kitchen staff and chefs, carrying a birthday cake and singing a South African Zulu Happy Birthday, emerged from the kitchens.

This was not your typical British ‘Happy Birthday’ …

Continue reading They sang and danced

Safari to South Africa

Aslan rules over his Kingdom

What a two and a half months of sheer adventure. We drove across magnificent mountain ranges, extensive plateaus, visited a crane sanctuary, saw four of the Big 5 in a private game reserve, sampled some of South Africa’s finest food and wines, met our new family members again and made so many friends. Oh, and I had an infected wisdom tooth pulled out. …

Continue reading Safari to South Africa

My favourite pics of Lin

Taken on Table Mountain, Cape Town

I love these two pics of Lin.

I sneaked them whilst in South Africa…. …

Continue reading My favourite pics of Lin

Homeward bound

"The wheel on the front goes round and round'

Well, we’re homeward bound. After a magnificent and glorious three weeks in South Africa, we have travelled from Cape Town to Durban to Amsterdam and will shortly leave for Guernsey.

Having taken afternoon tea at Cape Town’s Mount Nelson Hotel (as a chap and chapess do), we stayed at the Granny Mouse Country Lodge some 90 minutes west of Durban for one night before catching an Emirates flight to Amsterdam …

Continue reading Homeward bound

A Hippo Story

A wide open mouth is a warning sign

On our safari around the Tala Private Game Reserve, the ranger took us to the Hippos and pointed out a Hippo Run, a track that a Hippo uses.

Woe betide anything that gets in the way of the run – it will suffer. Apparently, someone had left their Toyota Landcruiser across a Hippo Run in the Kruger game reserve. Three tons of Hippo charged and T-boned it at 30 miles an hour. …

Continue reading A Hippo Story

Plant life

Although it was Autumn, there were still some magnificent flowers in full display whilst leaves and vegetation were showing their vibrant autumnal colours.

Wherever possible, we made use of sunrise and sunset light.

One big problem – we know the names of some, well two or three, but the majority leave us guessing… …

Continue reading Plant life

Animal life

As our visit to South Africa draws to a close, here are pics of the various animals we saw whilst on our journeys.

In the next posts we’ll showcase the vivid colours of the flowering plants we’ve found and finally, a summary of our whole magnificent tour …

Continue reading Animal life

Wedding preparations

Welcome to the wedding venue

A picture postcard story of the wedding preparations.

The wedding venue, Acacia. A beautiful thatched, wooden barn with a large decking area overlooking a waterhole, 150m away. The sun was bright and strong. …

Continue reading Wedding preparations

The wedding – 19 April 2014

Toby and Amy exchange their vows

The day had arrived. The day Toby and Amy were to wed.

The Tala Private Game Reserve was the chosen wedding venue with its 3,000 hectares in KwaZulu-Natal, between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

Its various single story accommodation lodges are scattered around the reserve with a central main reception and restaurant complex. There’s no tarmac here, just rough dirt tracks. …

Continue reading The wedding – 19 April 2014

Oudtshoorn to Plettenberg Bay

Our patio, plunge pool and lounge

Only three more sleeps until we see Toby and Amy again, and two extra until the wedding – excitement is growing!

Yet again, clear blue skies ruled the start of the day and the 37C temperature and low humidity was simply delightful. …

Continue reading Oudtshoorn to Plettenberg Bay