We were on passage from Lézardrieux to Paimpol on a lovely clear, sunny day. It was flat calm. I’d been asked by Tom Gregory to lead three boats through this channel one of which was Ben and Doreen’s Sealine called Solent Seagull.
I’d briefed the skippers that we’d be travelling at 24kts in our Princess V39 and that if they stayed close and line astern, all would be well. ‘But don’t deviate,’ I’d added. ‘There are rocks both sides.’ As usual on MBM cruises, we’d all be Ch77 colloquially known as Tom’s channel.
Every so often I looked back to check. All three ducklings were in line. But suddenly Solent Seagull was missing.
‘Solent Seagull,’ I radioed. ‘This is Play d’eau. I can’t see you, where are you?’
‘My hat blew off,’ came Ben’s laconic response. ‘I’m going to rescue it.’
At this point I saw him way back and drifting close to the rocks on the north side of the channel.
‘Ben, you’re drifting onto the rocks. Get out of there.’ I said, somewhat urgently.
I shall remember Ben’s reply for ever. ‘It’s OK Piers,’ said Ben cheerily. ‘The boat’s insured, the hat isn’t.’
Happy days.
Piers and Lin
From the Memory Banks of Play d’eau
Fleming 55
P.S. Ben retrieved his hat – a baseball cap.
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Port St Denis d’Oléron marina was a huge parking lot for Merry Fisher boats click to enlargePort St Denis d’Oléron was crowded. The only visitors’ pontoon was tightly packed and Play d’eau was on the inside of a raft of four; the bulk of the marina seems to be a huge parking lot for Merry Fisher boats.
The Capitainerie staff was brilliant. Under their direction boats were shuffled to give us an outside position against an old beautiful (but actually brand new) 60’ twin masted sailing boat for the last night so we could leave early for St Martin on Île de Ré. Perfect.
The nav plan
The two pinch points (it always seems to be two, doesn’t it?) on this journey were the entry/exit times at both Port St Denis and St Martin de Ré, but given the passage time was just over two hours, it wouldn’t be a problem.
The Journey
St Martin de Ré – our mooring overlapped the yachts in front click to enlargeCasting off at 0551, we used the FLIR camera to pick our way through the unlit buoyed channel to the sea. Exciting!
The journey itself was lovely with twilight changing to dawn as we neared Île de Ré. So beautiful.
The forecast was for W/NW winds F2 but reality was entirely different with an E’ly F3. It’s been interesting that forecast winds seem to bear nothing to reality in this area of the Vendée.
Arriving
Calling the St Martin Capitainerie on ch 9, we were told there was no space until the evening. In the hope this would change as more boats left in the half hour before the lock closed, we hooked onto one of the visitors’ buoys. Determined to keep Play d’eau in the forefront of the Capitainerie’s mind, I called again to announce we were moored to ‘bouée seize’. ‘D’accord,’ came the reply.
A few minutes later we heard, ‘Vedette Play d’eau, ici St Martin. Il y a une place maintenant. Venez vite puisque l’écluse se ferme en dix minutes’. (Please excuse my dreadful knowledge of French…)
We unhooked, venezed vite, très vite, and moored to the smallest pontoon space I’ve ever seen between two rafts of boats four deep, just as the lock gate closed behind us.There was not a lot of space behind, either click to enlargeAs we all know, mooring is not so much a skill but a spectator sport. Finally, as we eased Play d’eau against the pontoon with her bows overhanging six feet into the space in front between the bows of the two rafted yachts, we were give a round of applause!
Whilst taking a bow, a cheery Welsh voice drifted across the marina, ‘Hi Piers!’ It was Mike and Heidi of Yacht El Aranque, whom we’d met in La Rochelle. For Mike, read Dale Nelson.
Within moments we had a Princess 52 and four yachts rafted alongside.
Memories
Looking at how the boats were stacked reminded me of Kim Hollamby leading his MBM cruise in company fleets. You needed to use a feeler gauge to measure how close he’d packed them all in….
The tecky details
Departed Port St Denis d’Oléron – 0551
Hooked St Martin de Ré visitor’s buoy (No 16) – 0802
Unhooked the buoy – 0818
Moored St Martin de Ré – 0830
Total distance – 16.6nm
Longest leg – 12.9nm from Port St Denis WP to Grand Greffe ECM
Tech issues – nil
Piers and Lin
from the Nav Table of Play d’eau
Fleming 55
You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.
These were the voyages of Piers and Lin du Pré aboard their Fleming 55
