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

The anchor’s swallowed

Play d'eau is sold

Although I’d been expecting the phone call from David Miles of Fleming Yachts Europe to advise the transfer of ownership was complete, I found… …

Continue reading The anchor’s swallowed

The ensign is lowered

The ensign is lowered

In late June 2021, we cast off from Beaucette and headed north for the UK. Why? Our local COVID restrictions had been sufficiently relaxed.

It felt as though we were on COVID parole and if we didn’t…. …

Continue reading The ensign is lowered

NNE storm forces crew to abandon

synoptic chart for 6 October 2018 @ 1800

Having returned from our summer cruise around the north Brittany coast, we were moored in St Peter Port’s Victoria marina rather than Beaucette since metal works were still in progress. Seeing the forecast cyclonic storm approach, we secured… …

Continue reading NNE storm forces crew to abandon

A child is born

Grandson

At Christmas, what could be a better present than a new addition to the family? Our son Toby and his wife Amy, having married in April 2014 have given birth to a … …

Continue reading A child is born

It’s Christmas!

Play d'eau follows the bright star

May we immediately assure everyone that our radio silence for the last two years has not been because we’ve finally navigated to the great marina in the sky.

No. With considerable quantities of fuel left in life’s tanks, we’ve loved many months in the magnificent country of South Africa,… …

Continue reading It’s Christmas!

Double First Ltd wins Queen’s Award for Enterprise

Queen's Award for Enterprise

Double First winning the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise has provoked me to write a post after seven months of posting silence.

As the founder of Double First Ltd, I can’t tell you how proud I am of the staff’s achievement to have produced Engage, a School Management Information Software (MIS) which is respected worldwide by leading fee-paying schools. …

Continue reading Double First Ltd wins Queen’s Award for Enterprise

Meet Sparky

Our new unltra-thin Sparky

Have you tried driving in Guernsey? If so, you’ll certainly know the roads are narrow and that you often have to mount kerbs to avoid oncoming traffic.

It was obvious, really. We had to sell the Jeep Cherokee and find a thin car. But how thin was thin? …

Continue reading Meet Sparky

Josiah comes of age to travel

Josiah waits for the command to 'Fire!'

Our grand grandson, Josiah, had reached 12 years old and was able to travel unaccompanied on a plane. So, our present was a ticket from the mainland to Guernsey’s International Airport!

We planned to fire a cannon and protect the SW shores of Guernsey by manning a huge restored gun near Pleinmont Point. …

Continue reading Josiah comes of age to travel

An Engagement

Kimberleigh's engaged

‘I’m engaged!’ whispered Kimberleigh to Lin and I.

We were staying in a small boutique Johannesburg hotel where Head Chef Kimberleigh had been feeding us far too well …

Continue reading An Engagement

A deafening silence

africa falls asleep

‘The silence is deafening. What have you been doing?’ asked a friend of mine when I hadn’t posted anything on the Play d’eau site for three months.

I started to explain only to be met with the comment, ‘Excuses, excuses, …

Continue reading A deafening silence