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

We had a visitor

The beautiful snow white Little Egret
click to enlarge

A small sound made me look up. An Egret was stalking its dinner in the shallows on the other side of the pontoon. Only a few metres away from me.

What’s for supper?

Slowly and stealthily feeling its way in the shallow of the water’s edge, it would waggle its feet in the sand to stir up anything that might be hiding.

And then it would strike. So fast.

Why here?

Behind Port la Fôret marina is a large brackish lake, home to many migrating sea birds. As the tide ebbs a muddy, sandy expanse is exposed attracting many Heron, Egrets and Terns, all stalking their supper.

The Herons wait, immobile, striking with precision whilst the Terns circle overhead, their short squeaks announcing they’re hunting. In an instant they’ll make a steep turn, fold their wings, dive and plunge with a soft ‘splosh’ into the shallow water, only to fly away a second or so later having gulped their supper. It’s all over in a flash of time.

Little Egret

The Little Egret’s outstandingly beautiful snowy white plumage contrasts with its slim black beak, black legs and yellow feet. Although a member of the heron family, the Little Egret is literally little, growing to only 26″ tall when fully adult.

And yes, he found three fish before flying off.

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

(click on the photos below to enlarge, and use the left/right arrows)

3 comments to We had a visitor

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