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

Out with the old, in with the new

The loop splice of our new rope
click to enlarge

We’d suffered the most horrendous effects of a NNE storm whilst moored in St Peter Port’s Victoria marina in October 2018.

It had taken 11 of our 18mm multiplait ropes to hold Play d’eau but seeing the immense strain they’d suffered, we knew they should be replaced. But this time, they’d be bigger and tougher.

PLAM HT Popeye Double Braid

With advice from members of the YBW Motor Boat forum, I approached the Italian company PLAM for their High Tenacity Popeye Polyester Double Braid.

After discussion and much measuring, I ordered 6 new 26mm warps. 4 x 7m and 2 x 9m, each with spliced loops and tails.

26mm would have an approximate breaking strain of 14.6 tonnes.

Result?

Ah, what can I say? they arrived courtesy of FedEx and they’re just beautiful. the braid is lovely and the splicing just perfect. So much so that it’s almost a shame to use them.

But, needs must, so they’re in full use, and drawing many admiring comments.

We protect them from chafing using Chafe Pros.

What about the old warps?

The end splice of our new rope
click to enlarge

Good question. We can’t bring ourselves to throw them out so they’re all in the lazarette in a large and overflowing box until we can decide.

Maybe we’ll choose the best and have them for light mooring use. The rest? Maybe cut out the worn bits and use the remainder for short breast warps or similar. We’ll see.

Piers and Lin
from the overflowing warp locker of
Play d’eau
Fleming 55

3 comments to Out with the old, in with the new

  • Alan Richmond

    What to do with these old warps? Find a good book about rope fancywork, and make them up into fenders. Low cost and effective. Have you ever burst a rope? They may fray a bit, but think of them as sacrificial fenders!

    Up against a rough granite wall with a nasty surge, I have used my spare warps, simply coiled up and securely tied, as fenders, to good effect. It will keep the deck-hand busy for a while, too.

    Best wishes

    Alan
    Tahitienne

  • What a great idea, Alan. Just the sort of Lin would love to do. Really. By the way, what’s with the word Tahitienne?

    Piers

  • Alan Richmond

    Hi, Piers

    Re “Tahitienne”: I can’t answer that. Like a lot of other things, it came with the boat.

    1. It’s said to be unlucky to change the name of a boat

    2. She is Lloyds registered, so it would require a lot of effort to change it.

    3. I had no objection to the name.

    4. I am pretty sure she has never been to Tahiti.

    Her port of registry is Jersey, but that word fell off the hull the first time I sailed her, and was not recoverable.
    It was replaced by RCIYC, which looks much better. Far, far better.

    Re old rope: soak it for a few days in fresh water with a tiny bit of detergent added, to remove the salt, then dry it out completely
    It will then be a lot softer on Lin’s hands. I hope she has fun. I have some coils of old rope that could do with tidying up, if she is enjoying it that much.

    Tahitienne is due back in the water this Friday, after a three month dry out (Tahitienne, not me.)

    Best wishes

    Alan

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