On parole from COVID
In late June 2021, we cast off from our berth in Beaucette marina, negotiated the narrow exit, turned north through the Doyle Passage and headed for the UK. Why? Guernsey’s local COVID restrictions had been sufficiently relaxed enabling us to visit our sons and their families after almost two years.
It felt as though we were on COVID parole and if we didn’t behave ourselves we’d be back in the naughty corner of lockdown.
Hmmm – what of our Boating future?
You know, driving in the UK is so different. It’s rush, rush, and rush some more, as if the sky’s about to fall down. As we drove to Devon to visit one of our sons and his family, we realised the distance was 25 times the length of Guernsey!
On the plus side, these distances gave Lin and I an unusual amount of time to talk. So we did.
Strangely, we found we were grateful to COVID. On the one hand, it had forced us into house arrest, but on the other, it allowed us to enjoy and work on our gorgeous gardens which were in their full summer gloriousness – something we wouldn’t be able to do if we were away on our usual two to three months’ cruising on Play d’eau. Conundrum? 
And then our children and grandchildren began asking if they could come over in the summer. Was Play d’eau about to become a stumbling block rather than an exciting escape?
Memories
We began reliving the many magnificent journeys we’d had on Play d’eau. The inland waterways of Holland; the UK’s south coast; the Isles of Scilly; the Channel Islands; the Normandy coast; Brittany and best of all, around the Brest peninsula and south past the Isles de Glenan and further south to La Rochelle and Rochefort. On our own, with family, with friends.
So many highlights, some of which we’ve written about in Play d’eau’s history of this website.
Making the decision
The more we talked, the more it began to dawn on us that we needed to start a new chapter in our book of life. After a great six weeks spread amongst all members our family, we returned to Guernsey where the conundrum became a fact and we made the decision, albeit agonising, to sell our beloved Play d’eau.
Lowering her ensign
Piers crew, Richard Poat, insisted on taking the helm seat whether on the FB or in the PH. Richard had crewed on our maiden trip in 2003 and was now on her final trip, in effect bookending our Play d’eau history.
After 18 years of ownership, we arrived in Swanwick. That evening, it was with a really heavy heart that Richard and I lowered her Guernsey ensign, for the last time.
Piers and Lin
from the Pilot House of
Play d’eau
Fleming 55
(click on the photos below to enlarge)
