Tag Archives: Fleming 55

Pea Soup

3 October 2013 Piers du Pré 4 Comments

The French just seem to have a way with food, don’t they?

When visiting France, we always look forward to our first can of Petit Pois. Only recently, did we realise the one we really liked had lettuce with it. Lettuce? Well, that sowed the seed for this recipe.

It took a number of trials, but we believe this to be the winning formula – and “it’s yumptious” as my great niece told me.

For the soup – 8 servings

1kg frozen peas – petit pois are best
25gm flat leaf parsley leaves only, no stalks*
30gm lettuce leaves (from green ‘floppy’ lettuce)
40gm Salted butter
1 ltr Vegetable stock
Salt

Wilt the lettuce in the butter and set aside
*click to enlarge*

* Keep the stalks for your next batch of vegetable stock.

For serving

Some finely chopped parsley for the garnish
Bread rolls or Croutons

You will need

Saucepan
Hand-held or small stand-alone liquidiser

Making the Pea soup

Trim the lettuce until you have the correct weight of green leaf.

Over a medium heat, melt the butter in a saucepan, add the lettuce and stir gently until it’s wilted. Remove the mix to a dish and set it aside.

The peas, parsley and stock just a-bubbling in the pan — The peas, parsley and stock
all a-bubbling in the pot
*click to enlarge*

Into the same pan (don’t clean it – whatever is left is good flavouring) place the peas and enough stock to cover them. Add the parsley on top.

As it heats to simmer point, stir occasionally, making sure there’s enough stock to keep it all covered. Keep simmering for a few minutes until the peas are just cooked.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the lettuce and remnants of the butter.

After it’s cooled a while, liquidise well – really well.

Adjusting to taste

At this point, you need first to adjust the soup to the right consistency. If you think it’s too thick, add more stock in small quantities. We believe this soup is far better thinner than thicker.

Once the consistency is right, add salt. Keep tasting until this is just right as well. Don’t add pepper. The black specs will spoil the look.

'Le crunch' from croutons are a great addition — ‘Le crunch’ from croutons are a great addition
*click to enlarge*

As with so many of our recipes, this soup is much better after a night in the fridge. The flavours come together and seem to enrich themselves.

A ‘minty’ enhancement

If you want a little something extra, go ‘minty’. Start by adding 25gm of mint leaves before liquidising, with more if you want a hefty minty kick.

Serving the Pea Soup

Reheat the soup but do not let it boil. Stir well and check again if it needs more salt and more stock. If you’ve used all your stock, skimmed milk is OK.

Pour into warm bowls and add a sprinkling of finely chopped curly parsley on top.

For ‘le crunch’ add some croutons but don’t let them become soggy. To make sure this won’t happen, serve them separately.

This really is a ‘yumptious’ soup.

Piers and Lin
from the Galley of
Play d’eau

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

Cooking onboard

Croutons

3 October 2013 Piers du Pré Leave a comment

Cut the bread into 15mm squares and place them in a bowl — Cut the bread into 15mm squares
and place them in a bowl
*click to enlarge*

Although we are fans of Crouton Soldiers, ‘normal’ croutons can be used to great effect to bring ‘le crunch’ to any liquid dish.

For the Croutons

1 slice of bread/person
Light olive oil

You’ll need

Kitchen paper
Teflon non-stick cooking mat
Baking tray

Making the Croutons

Carefully cut the sliced bread into 1.5cm squares. Tip: Leave the bread on a plate overnight to dry out and start to go stale. Makes it easier to work with.

Drizzle some light olive oil on them and mix with your hand — Drizzle some light olive oil on them
and mix with your hand
*click to enlarge*

Put the squares in a bowl and gently sprinkle some light olive oil on them. With your hand, mix it all about without damaging the bread. Add another sprinkling until all of them have absorbed some oil and are lightly basted.

Remove the squares from the bowl and place them on a Teflon non-stick cooking mat on a baking tray and add one last sprinkling of oil. Make sure none of the squares are touching one another.

Place the tray in a pre-heated oven at 170 degrees for 10 minutes or so, removing them when they are golden brown. Tip: be careful with the timing – they can quickly over cook.

When they’re done, lift them out and pour them on some kitchen paper to absorb any surplus oil before placing them on a separate dish.

They should be crunchy and gorgeous and not taste of olive oil (that’s why you use a light olive oil).

Use them as soon as poss. They tend to pick up the dampness in the air and go soggy.

Piers and Lin
From the Galley of
Play d’eau

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

Place them on a baking sheet making sure they don't touch — Place them on a baking sheet
making sure they don’t touch
*click to enlarge*

As soon as they're golden brown, remove them and place in a separate dish — When golden brown
remove them from the oven
*click to enlarge*

Living aboard Play d'eau

Have you subscribed?

28 September 2013 Piers du Pré 6 Comments

Herm looking to Jethou and on to Guernsey — Dreaming…
Herm looking at Jethou
with Guernsey in the background
*click to enlarge*

Having started in March, it’s been six months since Lin and I started adding posts to our re-vamped website.

We’ve had great fun taking over 2,000 photographs and writing 94 posts, and from the number of hits each post receives it’s so worthwhile.

The top three posts have been,

Man overboard (411 views)
The boat’s insured but… (378 views)
Treguier Marina (263 views)

So what’s new on the site?

Instead of you having to check to see if we’ve added a post, the site can let you know, automatically.

Just add your email address to ‘Subscribe by email’ (left column between ‘Where’s Play d’eau’ and ‘Categories’) and the site will automatically let you know when a post is added.

Searching and Categories

Apart from the Search facility, have you seen there are different categories (left column) for posts depending on what you’d like to see?

Currently, these are,

Cooking onboard (our proven recipes that can be created onboard)
Cruising (passages we have made)
Living aboard Play d’eau (day to day ‘happenings’ on Play d’eau)
Marina Specifics (significant news about marinas we’ve visited)
Servicing/Technical/Nav (knowledge and tips learned from years of boating)

What next over the winter?

Returning to Beaucette from St Helier — Capt Lin in command
returning *Play d’eau* to Beaucette from St Helier
on the final leg of our 2013 summer cruise
*click to enlarge*

Given our summer cruise is over (we’re living off the memories) the only categories that might not be as prominent as usual, will be Cruising and Marina specifics.

But whilst these two categories slumber for the winter, the others will come to life and receive enhanced coverage.

So feel free to subscribe – and we look forward to your comments in the coming months before we set sail again for …. wherever the seas call us.

Privacy

Finally, we hasten to add that your email addresses are not shared with anyone, ever. Total privacy.

Piers and Lin
from the Saloon of
Play d’eau
Fleming 55

Cruising

The highlights of our 2013 summer cruise

26 September 2013 Piers du Pré 2 Comments

Play d'eau about to wake up as dawn breaks — *Play d’eau*
about to wake up as dawn breaks over Paimpol
*click to enlarge*

Wow.

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.

Total distance cruised	979.51 nm
Total passages	25
Longest passage	Leg 2 at 105.4 nm
Longest consecutive days spent in a marina	14 days in La Rochelle ‘Les Chalutiers’
Most peaceful marina	La Roche Bernard
Most nerve racking marina	St Denis d’Oléron (multiple rafting without care)
Different marinas visited	22
Port engine hours used	120.08 hrs ***
Starboard engine hours used	120.6 hrs ***
Port generator engine hours used	57.4 hrs
Starboard generator engine hours used	56.5 hrs
Fuel capacity on leaving Beaucette	3880 ltrs *
Fuel consumed	2356 ltrs
Fuel consumption	1.89 nm/gallon **
Cost to refuel	64p/ltr
Average marina fees	£39.90 per night
Least marina fees	Paimpol
Most expensive marina fees	Île d’Yeu (Port Joinville)
Best croissant	Paimpol

* 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*

Passages

Leg 1 – Beaucette to St Peter Port
Leg 2 – St Peter Port to L’Aber Wrac’h
Leg 3 – L’Aber Wrac’h to Camaret
Leg 4 – Camaret to Audierne
Leg 5 – Audierne to Port La Foret
Leg 6 – Port La Foret to Port Haliguen
Leg 7 – Port Haliguen to Vannes
Leg 8 – Vannes to Île d’Yeu
Leg 9 – Île d’Yeu to Les Sables D’Olonne
Leg 10 – Les Sables D’Olonne to La Rochelle
Leg 11 – La Rochelle to Rochefort
Leg 12 – Rochefort to St Denis d’Oléron
Leg 13 – St Denis to St Martin de Ré
Leg 14 – St Martin de Ré to Les Sables d’Olonne
Leg 15 – Les Sables d’Olonne to Pornic

Fruit stalls were everywhere — Farmers’ markets were stacked with fresh foods
*click to enlarge*

Leg 16 – Pornic to La Roche Bernard
Leg 17 – La Roche Bernard to Port Louis
Leg 18 – Port Louis to Sainte Marine
Leg 19 – Sainte Marine to Camaret
Leg 20 – Camaret to L’Aber Wrac’h
Leg 21 – L’Aber Wrac’h to Roscoff
Leg 22 – Roscoff to Tréguier
Leg 23 – Tréguier to Paimpol
Leg 24 – Paimpol to St Helier
Leg 25 – St Helier to Beaucette

The major challenge

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 light, fresh and soft? — Was the inside of the croissant light, fresh and soft?
*click to enlarge*

In 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 — Alain, the band’s Trumpeter emailed to say the group would like to perform on *Play d’eau*
*click to enlarge*

The 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.

Jazz on the bandstand.

The least expensive Brittany cider at €1.12 a bottle was the best, and some red wines at less than €1.50 a bottle were excellent ‘quaffing’ wines.

A summary?

Perhaps it’s easier to say we cannot précis the cruise. Perhaps it’s best we say our posts say it all, and just leave it at that.

Until next time, ‘Happy reading, au revoir, et bonne navigation.’

Piers and Lin
From the Memory Banks of
Play d’eau
Fleming 55

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

Cruising

Leg 25 – St Helier to Beaucette – 26 September 2013

26 September 2013 Piers du Pré 5 Comments

It was still dark when we awoke
and we had to wait for the sill to open
*click to enlarge*

We 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 enlarge*

A 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 — We left St Helier’s marina as soon as we could
*click to enlarge*

We 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 enlarge*

Departed 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.

Corbiere lighthouse — We passed close to Corbière lighthouse
*click to enlarge*

The sea was glassy calm
*click to enlarge*

Cruising

Leg 24 – Paimpol to St Helier – 21 September 2013

22 September 2013 Piers du Pré 5 Comments

Leaving Paimpol harbour and entering the channel — We left Paimpol’s harbour
and motored east along the narrow channel
*click to enlarge*

With 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.