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

Rosendal to Oudtshoorn

We started our drive but we soon
had to keep stopping for photos
click to enlarge

After our two nights at the Rosendal Winery, the drive to Altes Landhaus (Schoemanschoek, Oudtshoorn) was greater in distance and greater in beauty if the latter was at all possible.

The enormity of the endless, dry, arid mountain ranges, the unusual variety of colours, the ostriches, baboons and other animals we couldn’t identify, was captivating.

Altes Landhaus

We were staying in another boutique hotel, the Altes Landhaus, a large Victorian colonial style farmer’s ranch, beautifully restored and with gardens full of intense colours.

Everywhere in this ranch was huge including our room. I say room yet it was really three rooms. The bedroom, lounge and bathroom were all of equal size.

A nice touch was a decanter of sherry resting on a side table to refresh us.

Peace

The browny-red colours reminded us of Devon soil
click to enlarge

Both Rosendal and Altes have been so peaceful. It’s Autumn so guests are few; both hotels are in the middle of nowhere so there’s no noise apart from crickets, toads, tree frogs, endless bird song much of which is heard on David Attenborough’s documentaries, and the dinner gong.

For the next two nights we have a rest from fine dining and calories and plan the next stage of our journey – to Plettenberg Bay before setting course for Toby and Amy’s wedding in the Tala Private Game Reserve.

We’re so excited. We want to press the time accelerator.

Piers and Lin
Altes Landhaus
…on temporary leave of absence from
Play d’eau
Fleming 55
Beaucette Marina

You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.

Different rock formations everywhere
click to enlarge

The ranges rolled on for miles into the distance
click to enlarge

So hot, so dry, yet animals thrive here
click to enlarge

By now we are nearing our destination
click to enlarge

We arrive at Altes Landhaus
click to enlarge

Bougainvillea lined the 100m driveway
click to enlarge

Alternating red and white, a wall of colour
was created
click to enlarge

1 comment to Rosendal to Oudtshoorn

  • Hil

    Just another glorioso. The smells must be wonderful too, and the colour of the sky is such an intense blue. It must be like being in heaven. I love your photos.

    Lots of love, Hil x x

Leave a Reply to Hil Cancel reply

You can use these HTML tags

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>