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

What a blow last night

Mr and Mrs Pigeon had hunkered down
out of the wind for the night
click to enlarge

By gum, did it blow last night!

…and fire lit the Heavens

Overnight, rigging screamed, Play d’eau lolloped (a nautical technical term) and the wind stirred surface water to slap the hull.

We recorded a N’ly average of 21kts with a max gust of 26kts, and that was even though we were in the lee of the marina so it must have been far greater on the exposed coast.

Having been rocked and rolled we were up at by 6am and had coffee (tea for Lin) and toast (with fig jam – gorgeous) in time to watch the sun’s rays strike the soft underside of the night’s clouds with the most brilliant red orange fire to light the heavens.

By 9am the sky had mostly cleared revealing a blue sky scattered with blobs of cotton-wool fair weather cumulus clouds, and a wind that had gradually veered and abated to an E’ly F3.

The pigeons were grounded

It was as though the sky was on fire
(The picture is completely untouched)
click to enlarge

It had been so gusty over night that even our neighbours, Mr & Mrs Pigeon, who have their berth (nest) on the granite wall in the creeper next to Play d’eau, had hunkered down in the lee of the rocks and foliage.

During the day, the tempestuous seas that had raged outside the marina tempered their behaviour and quietened, and the wind continued to drop.

John and Beryl

Our dear friends, John and Beryl, come to see us on Monday for a week. We can’t wait, but just hope the NE’lys don’t pay the marina a visit with their rock ‘n’ roll during their stay….

Piers and Lin
From the Meteorological Laboratory of
Play d’eau

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

The sun rose to strike the clouds after a night of strong winds
(The picture is completely untouched)
click to enlarge

2 comments to What a blow last night

  • Hil

    You are a BRILLIANT writer.Wow, did I enjoy that!And so beautifully accompanied by the lovely photos… Thank you so much-what a time you had-you rock and rollers-what- would mum say! LOL Hil x x

  • John & Beryl

    Wow, what skyscapes! Yes, we are immensely excited to be joining you tomorrow! I hope we can see sunrises/sunsets like these, but preferably without the high winds – especially for our flight over, in the smallest commercial aircraft known to man! Whoever NE’ly is, may she soon depart! Much love from B & me, John. XX

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