Wildbird

Going south

Whoopee...  we’ve left the English channel.

 We’d spent hours pouring over tide tables and tidal flow charts and girded our loins for the horrors of the Chenal du Four—big atlantic swell etc. etc.  But it was almost as flat as a millpond, and we had to motor sail most of the way apart from 2 hours of playing with the light wind genoa and bumbling along hoping to catch some fish (no luck). Seems like the world and his wife chose yesterday to traverse the Chenal du Four, as we joined a whole procession of boats going south, and ended up in Camaret.

 We had felt a tad claustrophobic in the very crowded L’Aber Wrac'h marina (a race from Helford accounting for 80 boats apparently) as we’d been rafted four deep, and Susie was concerned about her modesty as various crews walked across the front of Wild Bird at all times of day and night. Opening hatches on the foredeck have their dismerits!  So an anchorage appealed. The labelled anchorage on charts and in Reeds turned out to be full of moorings, but we joined some other boats anchored further along.   

As we motored into town in the Dinghy we spotted Geoff and Lynn on“Lady Lynn”, who  we’d been rafted up with last night in L’Aber Wrac'h, and then agreed to join them for Moules frites in the town.  Seems like this is a hot spot, as we then bumped into the “Morpheus” crew (from Morlais) and subsequently the crew of the HR 34 - also our neighbours in L’Aber Wrach.

The streets advertising art galleries are calling us to stay at least for another day. Maybe I’ll finally find a gas fitting!

Given up on the gas

Still no gas parts and with the weekend coming up we decided on an alternative strategy. The parts - when they eventually arrive- will be posted on to Morgat whilst we meander down the coast and round the corner.

Now we're in L'Aber Wrac'h. Not without another trial - this time water pouring out of a drawer and flooding the saloon floor. A quick test- yes seawater - after a little investigation it transpired that one of the pipes from the engine seawater cooling system had come adrift. I can confirm the pump works well, if indicated by the amount of water it was pumping out onto the saloon floor.

A day of cleaning and drying, and Skye and I continued our pursuit of paths marked with the red and white stripe - these are the coast path around Brittany which we're enjoying exploring. Yesterday was  a long walk around the coast west of L'Aber Wrac'h in to the next estuary - about 12 miles all in all. I'm not sure Skye is appreciating the heat - he was a little knackered when we got back, and had had too much sun, if judging by the state of his bowels. Fortunately, this time he managed to avoid flooding susie's heads.

Bye Bye John

Today we say farewell to John.  Steve came over on the  ferry yesterday, and we motored over to Roscoff for a night at anchor outside the ferry terminal, then to pick him up and bring him back to Terenez. A boozy and very pleasant evening, a lazy morning with a walk round point St Sampson,  Moule frites in the local cafe  and then back to the boats.  

As I write this, Anna Maria is a slowly diminishing speck on the horizon, heading north towards Plymouth. It feels very strange to be on our own after weeks of cruising in company with John, Mike and Odette, chatting to Scilly Pete and Sandra, and meeting other common friends.   Slightly scary...  the unknown.  Who will we meet in the future to cruise with?

Still no gas parts, so our departure is delayed a further day. Come on couriers!

Terenez wanderings

Still in the bay of Morlaix.  John has decided, based on distant advice, that the job is big - probably requires the engine to come out, so he’s  searching for a crew to help him sail the stricken Anna Maria back to Plymouth where he can do the work himself. We’re biding our time at anchor keeping him company.

John and I have been exploring the coast path,looking at the great views of the bay (the one to the right is at low tide showing the oyster beds) and yesterday had a trip to see the cairn at Bernonez.

After wandering about paths for a couple of hours we finally found it, but it turned out to be an abortive trip, as, firstly  it cost £5 a person to enter and secondly dogs were not allowed. We spent our £5 on a beer and chips instead in a cafe overlooking the Terenez mud flats and oyster beds, and then collected mussels from the sea shore for supper. Culture- Pah!

 Without gas, we are dependent on the generator for cups of tea...  and this morning’s cup of tea was delayed because the generator wasn’t sucking water up properly. That sinking feeling in my stomach as I heard the hollow sound of the exhaust with no water gurgling out.    “I can’t do it” ...  Why?” I ask Susie.  “Oh its my nails!” Her grin gave away the wind up. 

Armed with the knowledge gained from Pete up the Fal (a bottle of wine well spent) we soon diagnosed that there was weed stuck up the intake pipe- so there was nothing else for it but a blow job.  My blow job didn’t turn out to be good enough to dislodge the blockage- just a sad trickle of water  coming out, but the electric dinghy pump soon had the blockage cleared. What one does for a cup of tea.

The very nice Will Hayward is couriering out a new pipe for the gas, so we should be back in action soon, and off on our way to L’Aber Wrach.

 

Back to Terenez

Last day in Morlaix proper - and a great trip to the market to look at wonderful French produce in profusion. We succumbed to buying various goodies including local saucisson and cheeses, as well as some nice veggies. Artichokes are in profusion, so we’re going to introduce John to them later.

Through the lock, and down the river in a parade of boats towards the sea, but we turn right and head for the bay of Terenez again. There’s a slight sense of relief in seeing Anna Maria safe and sound on her anchor, so we drop ours close, and settle down for a couple of days whilst John finalises plans.

Stuck in the mud

Anna Maria has no engine so we decide to join ships - John comes on board Wild Bird for a trip to Morlaix proper. Hopefully we’ll meet some people who can help John out.

Our very careful pilotage plan took us up the 5 miles up the river to Morlaix on a rising tide- or at least up the river to within sight of the lock gates. Mistaking the channel markers for mooring bouys we left them to starboard. Oops - big mistake!  We suddenly realised we were not moving... STUCK in the putty.  After some choice words, scratching of heads, then some manoeuvring and wiggling with the bow thrusters and lots of reverse, out we popped back into the channel.  PHEW!

Its seems strange to be back in a marina- especially one where the berths are tight (to say the least). We managed to squeeze Wild Bird in by breathing in as we approached, and can just reach the short, narrow and slightly bouncy pontoon fingers from the centre gate. Our next door neighbour is rubbing shoulders with us. 10 feet in front of us is a busy road and on the other side of the river another road and very noisy and dusty road works.  ARghhhh.. give me anchorages any day!

Still, there are benefits - a good restock of provisions at the “Geant” supermarket/shopping mall (much to Susie’s delight- have you ever met anyone leap up and down on the spot “Oh I’m so excited” and nearly go orgasmic about visiting a shopping mall? Maybe 4 weeks at anchor in the Scillies has gone to her head!). A few beers at various bars in Morlaix looking at the lovely medieval buildings and  some Moules Frites or Steak frites depending on your preference. Not to mention the more mundane things of washing, cleaning the boat, refilling the water etc. etc....

We've left England!

Engine checks done, water replenished, passage plan completed, the day dawned for our escape across the channel. A quiet motor out on the high tide past St Mary’s and then sails set for a beam reach right across to Morlaix.

Very soon we realised that we would have to reduce sail- not because of excess wind but because John was rapidly receding into the distance behind us. A shame, as Wild Bird was humming along sweetly at 6 -7 knots in the 12 knot breeze and sunshine.  Staysail removed, Yankee reefed and main depowered, we managed to drop her speed down to 4-5 knots, and then heaved to and sailed back to meet John.  John had decided to resort to the engine, as Anna Maria was going rather like a slug in the slowly dying wind, and we soon had to join him- at least for a short while.  Then we played bunny hop – john putting on the engine to catch up and overtake us, as we sailed on nicely, if a tad slowly.

I can’t quite remember when it happened, but John radioed to say that  he was in trouble- the prop shaft was no longer working. He’d revved the engine- after a whir and clunk the engine made different noises  and the boat stopped...  Oooopssss. Turns out the shaft between the gear box and engine had sheared at the coupling with the gear box.  He decided to sail very slowly on, so we decided to reef right down and shadow him through the increasing heavy shipping going across between the two TSSs .

Of course, as these things go, the wind died right off, and we both ended up wallowing around in some quite big atlantic swell; nothing for it but to put on the engine on Wild Bird as we were losing steerage - not good when you are being borne down on by a 857ft cargo ship going at 20 knots (there are times when AIS gives me too  much information!). We dodged more shipping for an hour or so, including calling a couple of boats up to warn them of our presence (phew- all had picked us up on radar, so the sea- me works) but then as dawn broke, motored back to find John, who was still wallowing around and drifting sideways.

Time to rig up a tow line and make better progress towards Morlaix.  This took a little while and three passes before we managed to connect the two boats together...  and then of course the line dropped under John’s keel – bugger!  Engine on full throttle but no progress as Johns boat was acting as an effective sea anchor... hmmm...   We finally managed to manoeuvre to get the rope out of the other side and start o move off with Anna Maria under tow - but  then the next blow- Wild Bird started to make different noises and puff out white smoke/ steam. Arghhhh... engine overheated.

The cockpit started to fill with steam from the engine cooling fan, and the engine made that ominous hollow sound of no water coming out of the exhaust. Switch off and rethink strategy!  

Make cup of tea.... wallow around in 12ft swell  hoping we don’t bump into Anna Maria to whom we are still attached.  Feel despondent. Make another cup of tea, whilst the engine starts to cool, down.

Then a loud and strange sound of expelling air—What The F is That?  A whale surfaces next to Wild Bird and slowly circles us - clearly intrigued by these two wallowing boats. Having satisfied himself that we were not some interesting sexy female whale,  after about 10 minutes of circling he swims off.

John slides across on the dinghy attached to the tow line and we start to investigate. The raw water filter is clear, there doesn’t appear to be a leak anywhere, but there is clearly not enough water coming through.     The engine is still far too hot to do much more examining, and by this time the wind has come up again. We’ve now been 24hours at sea , still a fair way to go to Morlaix and Skye is crossing his legs.  We decided to sail  onwards and give up the tow idea.

So now we have two boats effectively without engines- time to rework the passage plan and find an anchorage we can easily sail into without power.   The bay off the point of Terenez looks suitable given wind and tide – and after several more hours of sailing we arrive safely.  The engine has cooled down enough to check- all the fresh water has boiled off.. and now the filter is full of slimy gelatinous green weed- completely gunking it up- it must have been stuck in the sea cock when we first checked. 

All cleaned and restored to working order, very minor leaks sorted, filters cleaned, impellor changed- the engine starts and runs fine – PHEW!  And Skye must have gone PHEW too, when he finally reached the beach after 30 hours of sailing.. ...

Burning on the beach (6 & 12 june)

We’re starting a tradition of BBQs as the weather is good, though Pete tells us the environmentalists may be on our backs. A fire pit was already made in St Agnes, so we didn’t feel so bad, but we had to build a new one from scratch in green Bay a few days later. Much food eaten (a lot of it by Scilly Pete- where does he put it all?) and wine drunk – sitting round the fire as the sun goes down on balmy summer evenings is just the ticket. Roll on more BBQs and new friends as we travel southwards.

The weather looks set fair to go across to France this coming weekend- and John has decided to come with us for a few weeks exploring Brittany. So the Green bay BBQ is a farewell to friends old and new before our jump across the channel.

Gardening

We couldn’t leave Scilly without a visit to Tresco gardens. Armed with water, an amazing picnic lunch courtesy of John, and cameras we did the touristy bit and enjoyed all the exotics, as well as the more mundane but delightful sparrows in the restaurant garden.

Still in Scilly

Yes, we are still in Scilly, and it has been still: at times, very still.

Beautiful days and sunsets to die for. St Helen’s Pool has been like rippled silk, with not a breath of wind, and no noise other than the natural sounds of faintly lapping water and the cry of seabirds.  Oh and the occasional sounds from other boats - noticeably the French boats who came and anchored incredibly close to us when they had the whole pool to choose from (Why?).

I’m still taking advantage of the weather. Yesterday whilst Susie and  John fished, Mike and I did a near circumnavigation of St Martin’s interrupted by pots of tea and carrot cake in Arthur’s cafe. It was a baking hot day, and I think the dogs started to suffer, but we managed to have beach cool down interludes.  A good 4 hours walk in the end, interspersed by lots of philosophical chat about life the universe and everything.

Susie and john managed to catch (and then lose part of!) our supper (see susie’s blog!), so we settled down to a nice feast and another beautiful sunset.