The RCIYC (Guernsey) Cruising Trophy click to enlargeWe won the RCIYC Cruising Trophy!
Royal Channel Islands Yacht Club
My father, Derek du Pré, a Jerseyman and keen sailor had been a member of the RCIYC for many years.
Following in his footsteps, it was de rigueur to join which we did soon after purchasing our first Play d’eau, a Princess V39.
Shall we? Shan’t we?
Soon after returning from our brilliant cruise of the west coast of France last year, the RCIYC asked members to submit their 2013 cruising logs to see who might be awarded their Cruising Trophy.
‘Come on,’ said Lin, ‘it’s worth a try.’
I did. We emailed the RCIYC Secretary.
We won!
The Merrill Lyle Cruising Trophy with Play d’eau and our names on it! click to enlargeAnd we won! It was so exciting. But what exactly had we won?
At the club, Stuart Crisp, Commodore, presented us with the Trophy. A 9″ intricate ivory carving of a Chinese skiff. It’s so detailed, so beautiful.
I couldn’t help but think of Dad, who, in his 21′ sailing boat, Alouette, would sail the islands, the French coast, and race against the Jersey RNLI in foul weather.
I wondered what his cruising logs would have looked like?
Piers and Lin
from the chart table of Play d’eau
Fleming 55
Play d’eau about to wake up as dawn breaks over Paimpol click to enlargeWow.
We’ve just completed our longest cruise ever of three months and six days.
Departure from Beaucette was on June 17 in poor weather, but we returned to Beaucette yesterday in bright sunshine and flat seas. A great welcome home.
Was the cruise pre-planned? Not really, it was more a dream. Did it meet our expectations? No, it far exceeded them. Did we do and see everything we wanted? Yes, but even though we spent over three months exploring we know there’s still far more to explore along this beautiful coastline.
So is it the Baltic next year, or a return visit? Hmmm. Good question.
Play d’eau’s statistics for the summer cruise
Here are Play d’eau’s vital statistics for our summer cruise 2013 from Beaucette, Guernsey, to Rochefort in the Charente and back.
* we left Beaucette with full fuel tanks and didn’t have to refuel until we returned.
** includes running the generators plus heating Play d’eau for the first 10 days of the cruise.
*** many times we cruised on just one engine. Sunrise over the mouth of the river Charante click to enlarge
Navigating the Charente river from Rochefort (Leg 12) with extreme mud banks either side in the pitch black night. Without the FLIR thermal imaging camera we could not have done this.
The pains
Was the inside of the croissant light, fresh and soft? click to enlargeIn many cases, COLREGs appeared optional.
The two day sand storm in Les Sables D’Olonne caused when loading a coaster at the commercial quay half a mile away. The sand covered everything, both inside and out of Play d’eau. It took days to clean her.
What did we love?
Croissants.
Early morning dawns breaking over calm seas were a wonder to behold.
The evening sunshine – the light and the colours it creates are spectacular.
Navigating the still waters of the Rivre Vilaine at midnight in the dinghy. No cloud, just the stars and moon with their sparkling light in the heavens. No noise, no rush, just gentle, heavenly, ethereal.Alain, the band’s Trumpeter emailed to say the group would like to perform on Play d’eau click to enlargeThe warmth and friendships of the many people we met.
The love and respect the French have for their food, its provenance and freshness. Farmers’ markets are stacked with wonderful produce of myriad colours and aromas. Music to our taste buds.
It was still dark when we awoke and we had to wait for the sill to open click to enlargeWe didn’t want to go home.
Having spent three months and six days of cruising to new and exciting places, the explorer bug had set in. Yet, we both knew the time was right to be back home in peaceful Beaucette, Guernsey.
The three days in Jersey were a ball. With our friends Graham and Frances of Woolly Mammoth, we ate on Play d’eau the first evening (Piers head hurt the next morning), we ate at Shaun Rankin’s new Ormer restaurant the next evening (Piers head didn’t hurt the next morning), and we’d had lunch at the Royal Yacht Hotel, in the sun, on our last day.
Learned fact: Life revolves around eating and drinking, interrupted with elements of work.
The weather
There were bursts of bright sun when the cloud allowed it through click to enlargeA whispering easterly F1/2 was all the wind could muster whilst grey clouds were interspersed with short bursts of bright sunlight. You could smell the dampness in the air which reduced visibility to just over a mile. Yet it was warm enough for shorts and T-shirts.
Pinch points
St Helier marina’s sill time was the limiting factor, but if we left as soon as it opened our time on passage would allow us to motor straight into Beaucette without having to wait at St Peter Port or hang onto one of Beaucette’s visitor’s buoys.
The nav plan
The tide would be against us for the short time from St Helier until nearing Corbière, after which it would help by pushing us along.
The journey
We left St Helier’s marina as soon as we could click to enlargeWe were awake well before the alarm went off, full of anticipation.
Once out of the harbour, we turned west, passed Noirmont and close to Corbière before turning NNW for Guernsey. With no wind, the sea was glassy flat calm, even in the Little Russel where we took the inner route from St Sampson to Beaucette where the current gave us extra 3kts.
Arriving
Ricky, the marina manager, always likes Play d’eau to give a good blast on her Kahlenbergs when we enter of leave Beaucette. Today was to be no exception. Shortly before entering through the quarry walls, the Kahlenbergs let rip. The echoes seemed to reverberate around the old quarry for ages. Yes!
The tecky details
Back at our berth in Beaucette where even the pigeons were there to welcome us click to enlargeDeparted St helier – 0731
Arrived Beaucette – 1105
Time on passage – 3hr 36min
Total planned distance – 30.2nm
Tide: Half way from springs to neaps
Longest leg 19.3nm from Corbière to east of St Peter Port
Tech issues – nil
Incidents – nil
Navigational info: The Little Russel can be avoided by taking the inside route from St Sampson to Beaucette which avoids the angry and sometimes tumultuous seas the Little Russell can throw up. But, it’s a route not to be attempted without local knowledge.
The end of our summer cruise
Well, we started cruising on 17 June, and finished on 25 September. The longest we’ve ever had together on holiday, let alone on the sea and in our boat.
It’s been brilliant. We’ve learned a great deal about each other, we’ve eaten well, we’ve enjoyed cooking, we’ve met some wonderful people, we’ve so enjoyed exploring and can’t wait until next year.
Now, do we go to the Baltic, or head back down to the west coast of France again to explore the areas we missed this time? Who knows? Maybe we’ll just exit Beaucette and make the decision then. North or south? That’ll be the question.
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.
We passed close to Corbière lighthouse click to enlarge
We left Paimpol’s harbour and motored east along the narrow channel click to enlargeWith fresh croissants from Le Fournil du Port collected by Lin and safely stowed in the galley (away from Piers), and the water tanks refilled (we don’t like Jersey’s desalinated water), we lit the fires and cast off ending our delightful nine day stay in this glorious Brittany port.
Exiting the lock, we waved goodbye to the lock-keeper, headed out of the harbour and into the long, narrow channel.
The weather
After days and days of high winds that kept us safely tucked up in Paimpol’s Basin 1, today’s wind was almost non-existent. It was so calm, registering a gust maximum of 0.26kts on Play d’eau’s instruments.
OK, the sky was full of murky cloud but there was no rain and the temperature was ‘good to go’. So we did.
Pinch points
We threaded our way through the Chenal Saint-Rion click to enlargeThe controlling pinch point was the opening time of the lock to exit Paimol giving us a departure time of 0845. Given this, we’d arrive at St Helier at low tide when there’d be insufficient water to enter the marina so we’d have to stay a while on their waiting pontoon, just outside. Not a problem.
Tide Plan 2
The longest leg is 32.7nm. For this, we’d use Tide Plan 2, a software which plans a constant heading to steer between waypoints, ensuring the tidal flow is put to best advantage (or least disadvantage) giving the best time on the leg.
Note: the software can be downloaded for trial, free of charge, from CompassCard.
The nav plan
The hard to starboard turn into La Collette click to enlargeSeeing we’d leave at the top of an 11m spring tide, we decided to pilot Play d’eau through the Chenal Saint-Rion regaining our planned track 0.4nm east of the Ar Bonn Krenv ECM. From there we’d motor north until clearing the Plateau des Échaudés before heading ENE for Jersey via the Danger Rock Passage and Green Rock SHM.
The journey
Piloting through the Chenal Saint-Rion was fun. The spring tide was having a ball, dancing a Viennese waltz around the small islands and rocky seabed, its turning and swirling causing the autopilot to work overtime to keep us on track whilst coping with an additional 3.7kts of tide.
Arriving at the Nord Horaine NCM, we set the autopilot to Tide Plan’s calculated heading of 077 (T) for our next waypoint just south of Les Grunes Vaudin on Danger Rock Passage.The Furuno NN3D chart plotter recorded our arrival into La Collette click to enlargeFor the next few hours we had a calm sea with a lazy 1m swell from behind created by the many lows that had been playing in the Atlantic for the last week or so.
Arriving
TidePlan 2 had done a reasonable job, putting us back on track just 2nm before the waypoint. It was now low tide, giving us just 1m above chart datum.
Calling St Helier marina we were told there was Dragon Boat racing in the main harbour and that we’d have to pull into the adjacent La Collette harbour and wait on D pontoon. ‘Follow the dory,’ was the Harbour Master’s advice. ‘It’s a very low spring tide and the channel to the pontoons is narrow.’ Shades of Paimpol, I wondered? At one stage Play d’eau only had 60cms beneath her keel.
It would be 2½hrs before we could leave and motor the half mile to the St Helier marina. We used the time to give Play d’eau a bath, reset clocks to UK time and change SIMs on our mobiles.
Whilst we paused for a few moments to have some hot chocolate, we looked at each other and said, ‘Nearly home.’
The tecky details
After a two hours we cast off from La Collette and arrived at St Helier marina at 1745 click to enlargeDeparted Paimpol – 0845 (French)
Arrived La Collette – 1515 (UK)
Time on passage – 8hr 30min
Total planned distance – 47.5nm
Tide: Top of springs
Longest leg – 32.7nm Nord Horaine NCM to
Tech issues – nil
Incidents – nil
Navigational info: The approach into La Collette requires a hard turn to starboard to go between the mole and the PHM. Track close to the fishing boats to starboard before heading to the pontoons to port.
Le Fournil du Port, Paimpol. This boulangerie produced the winning croissant click to enlargeWe can now declare the winner of the Play d’eauCroissant Competition 2013.
Having cruised the beautiful coasts of north and west France and their hidden treasures of marinas for the last three months, we’ve tasted croissants in 22 ports from 31 boulangeries.
And the winner is…
‘Le Fournil du Port’ at Paimpol, north Brittany.
The margin by which Le Fournil won was considerable. In all criteria their croissants scored the highest.
To prove it wasn’t a baking fluke and that Le Fournil’s croissants consistently rose crisply to the challenge, we tried croissants from Le Fournil on five occasions.
Le Fournil is at the south end of Paimpol’s Bassin No 1.
Running order…
The first bite of the winning croissant click to enlargeThe final running order was:
1st place (€0.88) – Le Fournil du Port, Paimpol
2nd place (€0.90) – Boulangerie Denigot, Port Louis, Lorient
3rd place (€0.95) – Boulangerie Founesant la Forêt, Port la Forêt
4th place (€0.23) – LIDL, Rochefort (yes, only 23 centimes)
Judging criteria
The judging criteria has been the same all along,
Does it look good?
As you bite, is the outside crispy?
Is it buttery?
Is the inside light, fresh and soft?
Do you glow with croissant pleasure?
Although the price was noted, it was not included as one of the criteria.Was the inside light, fresh and soft? click to enlarge
One question remains. How can we have hot, fresh supplies from Paimpol to Beaucette in time for breakfast?
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.
We were on passage from Lézardrieux to Paimpol on a lovely clear, sunny day. It was flat calm. I’d been asked by Tom Gregory to lead three boats through this channel one of which was Ben and Doreen’s Sealine called Solent Seagull.
I’d briefed the skippers that we’d be travelling at 24kts in our Princess V39 and that if they stayed close and line astern, all would be well. ‘But don’t deviate,’ I’d added. ‘There are rocks both sides.’ As usual on MBM cruises, we’d all be Ch77 colloquially known as Tom’s channel.
Every so often I looked back to check. All three ducklings were in line. But suddenly Solent Seagull was missing.
‘Solent Seagull,’ I radioed. ‘This is Play d’eau. I can’t see you, where are you?’
‘My hat blew off,’ came Ben’s laconic response. ‘I’m going to rescue it.’
At this point I saw him way back and drifting close to the rocks on the north side of the channel.
‘Ben, you’re drifting onto the rocks. Get out of there.’ I said, somewhat urgently.
I shall remember Ben’s reply for ever. ‘It’s OK Piers,’ said Ben cheerily. ‘The boat’s insured, the hat isn’t.’
Happy days.
Piers and Lin
From the Memory Banks of Play d’eau
Fleming 55
P.S. Ben retrieved his hat – a baseball cap.
You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.
The height of Treguier’s the 30m pontoon is 2.5 feet off the water click to enlargeIt happened so quickly
In our report on Tréguier marina we made the point about the strong tidal flows which pass diagonally through the pontoons. Given this, mooring should always be into the current.
Well, there was an incident two days before we left.
Man Overboard
A large yacht chose to moor on the other side of our 30m pontoon. This meant mooring with (not into) a 2-3 knot current with its added effect of pushing the yacht away from the pontoon.
As it approached, I went to help and asked for the stern warp to stop their forward motion.
Instead, I was thrown a breast warp and asked to secure it. By the time the warp was passed, the current had already drifted the yacht 6’ from the pontoon.
By now, it was a no-win scenario. His position and the tide combined to make a retreat impossible, and mooring was going to be a challenge.
The tide took control
With the breast attached, the tide took control, swinging the stern out and the bows in. The tension on the breast line was unbelievable.
Lin (and Richard from Yacht Whileaway) were trying to fend the bows off the pontoon which in itself was impossible given the force of the tide against the hull even though the skipper was applying full opposite bow thruster.
Two crew managed to jump off the bows onto the pontoon to help, and someone came running over from another yacht.
”It happened so quickly”
Lin suddenly saw one of the yacht’s crew in the water just a few feet to her left and some four feet ahead of the bows. He was just managing to hang onto the edge of the 2½’ high pontoon with his fingertips although the tide was doing its best to tear him away.
His saving grace was that he was wearing his life jacket which had inflated.
Although Lin was shouting ‘man in the water’ no-one could hear. There was far too much noise from the bow thruster and general shoutings.
Making secure
Taking the yacht’s bow warp she made it off on a cleat, knelt down and stretched to feed the end under a shoulder, around his back, under the other shoulder and up. He was now looped and tethered and less likely to take off.
When she began shouting again, I heard. Leaving the breast warp to the others I went to Lin, saw what had happened and that the MOB was temporarily safe unless the yacht began moving forward. Telling him not to go away, I ran to Play d’eau’s warp locker, chose one and fed it around him in the same way Lin had. Lin could now retrieve her warp and I’d be able to ‘walk’ him to the lower pontoon to attempt a recovery.
Retrieval
Looking for ladders, there weren’t any.
Speaking to him, I said, ‘Come on, you’ve had a dunking, now you’ll have a swim. I’ll walk you to the lower pontoons where we’ll get you out. Let go of this pontoon, relax and enjoy the ride.’
The tide was tugging at him, strongly. We crossed the walkway and stopped by a lower pontoon. More help having arrived, we managed, after a struggle, to pull him out.
He still had his new boots on, although one had been sliced through in two places.
I walked him back to Play d’eau where I told him he’d have a shower. Standing in the aft cockpit, I deflated and removed his life jacket. After he’d taken off (almost all) his clothes, I led him to the guest shower and shut him in with soap and a fresh towel.
It took another ten minutes of straining on a stern warp by the skipper, his crew and three others, to bring the yacht’s stern in and moor up.
MOB lessons learnt
You may not hear the cry ‘MOB’. General noise can drown (forgive the pun) any shouting.
Wearing a life jacket, and one with a crotch strap, probably saved his life if that doesn’t sound too melodramatic.
Retrieval was hard, even from the lower pontoon.
One boot was sliced in two places which just goes to prove that barnacles are razor sharp and grow on the underwater parts of the pontoon – those parts you use when trying to get out.
There are no pontoon ladders at Tréguier marina.
All in all, a salutary lesson.
Piers and Lin
From the Sick Bay of Play d’eau
Fleming 55
You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.
Richard and Andrea of Yacht Whileaway left for Paimpol as well click to enlargeWe had entered the Rivre de Tréguier in the rain, the mist and a F4, and we left the Rivre de Tréguier in the rain, the mist and a F4.
The weather
Reality was as forecast. A warm front was dithering over Tréguier casting its gloom in the form of mist and light rain, aided and abetted by a F4 from the N.
Pinch points
Being a locked marina, it’s easiest to enter Paimpol when the lock is on free-flow – open both ends – which occurs about an hour either side of HW.
The nav plan
Wanting to minimise the time we’d be directly exposed to the N wind, we planned to route through the Passe de la Gaine, passing south of Les Haux de Bréhat with its 48m high lighthouse before turning SSE through Chenal de la Moisie to the La Vieille du Tréou SHM.Leaving Treguier along the still waters of the river click to enlargeThence, SW to La Croix before turning E to route between the mainland and Ile de Bréhat whilst playing dodgems with the Vedettes that ply their trade between the two.
Once clear of the mainland, we’d turn S and head for the Chenal du Dénou and finally W along the long approach to the locked harbour of Paimpol.
With the journey taking approximately 4 hours, we’d leave Tréguier at 0810 to catch free-flow at Paimpol, at 1200.
The journey
Apart from being misty the whole way with a visibility of ½ mile, the journey was almost boringly uneventful. The sea’s emotions were in an irritated mood for about an hour after we’d left the Rivre de Tréguier but quietened soon after we turned SSE towards La Vieille.
Transiting these narrow channels can be a challenge to a chap’s sense of humour, but the whole journey was ‘plain sailing’ if a motor boater is allowed to use such a phrase.We saw many more fish farms along the river click to enlargeOverall, the tidal effect was more positive than we’d planned and we gained 22 minutes.
Arriving
We’d met a couple from Yacht Whileaway whilst in Tréguier and their plan was also to move to Paimpol, today. However, last night they moved up river and anchored to shorten their journey. Given their departure time we were confident we’d overtake them en route, but this was not be.
In the Chenal du Dénou we hailed them on Ch16. Changing to Ch77, I asked where they were. ‘Just entering the main approach channel to Paimpol,’ came the reply. They’d beaten us! How could that be? They must have set off earlier than planned. Hmmm.
However, we remain friends, and they’re coming around for a glass or three this evening.
The tecky details
We passed just to the south of Les Haux de Bréhat click to enlargeDeparted Tréguier – 0810
Arrived Tréguier – 1335
Time on passage – 3hr 25min
Total planned distance – 26.1nm
Tide: 2 days before Neaps
Longest leg – 3.9nm La Croix to Cadenenou NCM (pilotage)
Tech issues – nil
Incidents – Why do the French seem to leave their lobster pots right in the middle of the smallest navigation channels?
Navigational info: Given the strong tidal flows through Tréguier’s pontoons, it’s best to be pointing into the current when leaving.
Piers and Lin
From the Nav Table of Play d’eau
Fleming 55
You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.
A recently repainted La Croix in the Entrée de la Riviere de Trieux click to enlarge
Passing close to Denou in the Chenal du Dénou before turning west on final approach to Paimpol click to enlarge
Let’s call this leg, ‘Never poke your tongue out at the rain’.
The weather
The cold front hovering over Roscoff and the Bay of Morlaix, its rain showers clearly visible click to enlargeThe last few days of our week’s stay in Roscoff had seen thick fog which didn’t really clear until after lunch, leaving the air cold and damp.
In contrast, today was a clear day. The forecast showed a fairly consistent W’ly F3/F4 which would push us on our easterly route to Tréguier.
The synoptic chart showed something else (see below).
An area of low pressure had been hanging around to the NW of France, leaving an elongated warm and cold front stretching in an almost straight line down the coast of Norway, though central England to graze the NW coast of France before turning into the Bay of Biscay.
It would reach Roscoff as a cold front sometime around midday as it made its way slowly eastwards. The question was how developed was the front? Would it be producing downdrafts, squalls, and heavy rain?
Pinch points
Looking south towards Tréguier five hours later. This same rain storm had stalked us from Roscoff and was waiting to mug us as we entered the Rivre de Tréguier click to enlargeThere were no pinch points as such, but we wanted to ensure we had the wind and tide with us, meaning a following wind and a tide that carried us to Tréguier.
The nav plan
Tidal streams showed we should be entering the channel between Les Sept Îsles and mainland around HW Brest -3½. At this point, the tide would be almost slack after which it would carry eastwards along the coast and upriver to Tréguier.
The journey
As we left Roscoff in sunshine, we could see the cold front to the west.
By the time we were half way across the Bay of Morlaix the front was a solid messy mass of cumulus over Roscoff and it had started to block the sun from Play d’eau. You could see where it was dropping its rain.Tracking these showers on radar showed they were either staying over the land or moving north, albeit very slowly. They’d miss us. Ha!Approaching the Rivre de Treguier, the cloud burst over us as though to say ‘Gotcha’ almost obliterating visibility. Taken from inside the Pilot House! click to enlargePassing by Les Sept Îsles we encountered short term F6 squalls. The largest shower we’d be tracking was almost abeam us but still over the land. In my mind, I poked my tongue at it as I said, ‘You didn’t manage to get us.’
Famous last thoughts. As we tracked south from the Basse Crublent PHM to the mouth of the river de Tréguier, it passed overhead, its rain almost obliterating visibility. But by the time we’d passed La Corne, the rain had all but stopped and we had a beautiful 5nm trip up river, with magnificent cloud displays all round.
Arriving
We arrived as the tide was almost at its highest, with only a half knot flow. Seeing the brand new 30m hammerhead, we turned, headed into the tide, moored up, and settled down to dinner and to watch the finals of Masterchef.
Incidents
The rain was so heavy it beat the sea into submission click to enlargeAfter so many incident-free legs, this one had two.
The first was the pressure switch on the compressed air tank which failed to shut down the compressors as full pressure was reached. Just as we were casting off, the pressure relief valve blew with an almighty bang followed by a huge rush of escaping air. I’d be telling porky pies if I said I didn’t jump.
The second was as we were passing Les Sept Isles. I’d been watching two fisherman becalmed in their Merry Fisher ahead and to port. Suddenly, they opened their outboard’s throttle and steamed straight at us on an intercept.
Five blasts on the Kalhlenbergs did nothing to alter their apparent determination to hit us. By now I see into their small cockpit. The skipper wasn’t looking to see where he was going, he was turned away talking with his friend. Maybe the noise of his outboard was drowning even the 143dB Kahlenbergs.Ten minutes after it started, the downpour stopped just as we passed Le Cornu, leaving perfect visibility click to enlargeHaving already disengaged forward power I engaged reverse and ‘Kahlenberged’ them with a long blast. Just before cutting in front of me and only about 30m away, the skipper must have heard and suddenly looked up. His mouth dropped open, he slammed his out board into reverse and pirouetted to port and away from us, giving me a ‘Gallic’ shrug as though to say ‘Pas de problème.’
My thoughts at this point are unprintable. After 25 years of boating, I was amazed at how suddenly and quickly the situation had developed.
The tecky details
Departed Roscoff – 1225
Arrived Tréguier – 1810
Time on passage – 5hr 45min
Total planned distance – 42.4nm
Tide: Springs
Longest leg – 12.9nm from West of Les Sept Isles channel to Basse Crublent PHMMoored in Treguier on the new 30m hammerhead. Taken the next day as Lin was hanging the washing out click to enlarge
Tech issues – One – see above
Incidents – One – see above
Navigational info: There’s a strong tidal flow at 45 degrees across Tréguier’s marina pontoons just waiting to catch you out!
Piers and Lin
From the Nav Table of Play d’eau
Fleming 55
You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.The synoptic chart for 0001 on 6 September 2013 click to enlarge
What do you think of these? They come from two different bakeries click to enlargeHow would you judge a good croissant?
Can you help? We’d love to know what you’d look for.
The baking hot question
Are all croissants the same? I mean, a croissant is a croissant is a croissant, n’est ce pas? Mais, peut-être pas.
One of the key elements of visiting France to which we really look forward, is our first croissant. That staple of all things French. Even more so than the Eiffel Tower, Pastis, or scary driving.
Imagine
Imagine it’s breakfast. The smell of baking is in the air. You’ve ordered, and you’re served a croissant straight from the wood oven. It’s hot and looks glorious.
Lift it to your nose. Breathe in the aroma. Prepare to take a bite…
Judging criteria
But how do you judge if it’s the best you’ve ever had?What do think of this one? click to enlargeSo far, we’ve visited over twenty ports during our three month cruise along the north and west coasts of France, and we’ve tried croissants from well over forty Boulangeries.
During this time, we’ve found croissants vary considerably from ‘Oh, yes!’ to ‘Oh, no!’ and ‘That’s a shame’.
Our judging criteria (so far) has been based on six facts,
Does it look good?
Is it the ‘right shape’?
As you bite, is the outside crispy and do bits of crust fly everywhere?
Is it buttery?
Is the inside light, fresh and soft?
Does it leave you glowing with croissant pleasure?
How would you judge the Croissant?
Please let us know how you’d judge a croissant. We’ll publish our winners at the end of September when we’ve returned home to Beaucette Marina, Guernsey.
Happy croissanting!
Piers and Lin
from the Galley of Play d’eau
Fleming 55
These were the voyages of Piers and Lin du Pré aboard their Fleming 55
