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.
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Wanting to jump straight onto the gearbox technical issues quickly, I called TwinDisc’s UK distributors on Monday and explained the oil spill from the flywheel housing.
‘We’ll fly in first thing on Thursday and take the late evening flight back on Friday,’ said Paul Masey, Service Manager. What service. What a star. …
Continue reading Gearbox and tacho – sorted
Play d’eau’s been brilliant and had very few engineering problems over the years. Maybe it’s a sign of her age (she’s 13 now), but we’ve had a few coming to the surface, recently.
So here’s a list of issues from our Tech Log which remain outstanding, together with ones we solved during the holiday …
Continue reading Play d’eau’s holiday technical issues
Drat! Given a recurring gearbox problem and deteriorating weather forecasts, we made the decision to forgo our ‘jolly’ along the north Brittany coast and return straight to Beaucette.
After a day off and a lovely walk into Roscoff, we were ready to leave. …
Continue reading Leg 20 (2015) – Roscoff to Beaucette
Even though we’d had a somewhat tiresome passage yesterday, it had been unexpectedly rewarded by the second best dinner we’ve had whilst on holiday this year.
If ever there’s a reason to visit Camaret, it’s the Restaurant of the small Hotel Vauban. Having eaten and although tired, we felt back on form. …
Continue reading Leg 19 (2015) – Camaret to l’Aber Wrac’h to Roscoff
We’ve never, ever been in such threatening seas.
Leaving Sainte Marine heading south, the wind was calm and the sea flat but soon we were heading into a slow, smooth swell which I have to say was rather enjoyable, even soothing. …
Continue reading Leg 18 (2015) – Sainte Marine to Camaret
The forecast knew it, we knew it, and it was – lumpy.
But well worth it to reach Sainte Marine from which we can judge the attack on the Finistère Peninsula. Camaret, L’Aber Wrac’h and Roscoff, here we come …
Continue reading Leg 17 (2015) – Lorient to Sainte Marine
Having had a dinner of Lin’s luscious mince (heavy on the onions, mushrooms and thick, shiny gravy) accompanied with sweet corn and peas and followed by cantaloupe melon with a touch of framboise liqueur and lime juice, we fell into bed soon after 8pm.
I was up at 0500. …
Continue reading Leg 16 (2015) – Pornichet to Lorient Port Louis
The decision was taken to make as much headway north as reasonably possible.
After nine days in Les Sables d’Olonne of wintry cold, windy and rainy days, we had an ETD of 0700. We knew the westerly swell would be a short and steep 1½m for the first two hours but it would gradually diminish as we passed between Île d’Yeu and the mainland, destination Pornichet. …
Continue reading Leg 15 (2015) – Les Sables d’Olonne to Pornichet
Having drowned our first Phantom Vision quadcopter in the most spectacular manner in Beaucette Marina a year ago (please don’t ask…) maybe you can understand my reticence to fly its replacement.
Having carried No2 in Play d’eau’s pilot house ever since but never having had the courage to fly it, it’s been hassling me saying, ‘Come on! I want to fly. Are you a pilot or not?’ …
Continue reading Quadcopter No2
Own up – who turned our brilliant weather off?
The 6 weeks following our departure from Audierne on 12th June have been utterly glorious. Sun cream by the gallon (well, not quite), calm seas and blue skies, all courtesy of a friendly Azores high pressure system spreading its wings over Play d’eau. It was perfect. …
Continue reading Ambushed by the weather
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