Ahoy,
the Ol' Girl and me have been in Camaret for a couple of days, instead of being on a nice posh pontoon we are at
a visitors buoy (bubble). As I wanted to visit the port I unpacked the dingy and after not too much effort, as its a beautiful new Narwhal, a great gift
from a friend, thanks CAS, it was inflated. I think as with all beauties it was a little resentful of being ignored for so long and showed it by deflating
the starboard side very slowly.
This I did not notice as I was tugging furiously on my Johnson, to no avail, it would not start not matter where the choke was
how much fuel it had or how much effort or skin I invested.
After a few choice words, I gave up and wondered what had changed, my beautiful dingy was looking rather pitiful on one side, more choice words.
This was not the pleasant trip to the Port I had been looking forward to and the wind had picked up, making doing anything practical very awkward, what
with wonky leg's, a wonky dingy, a wonky Johnson all I needed was a wonky donkey and I would have had a full house.
I decided to remount the outboard on to the Ol' Girl and leave it well alone for the day, as I hoisted it into position on the transom, I lost my balance and
dropped the engine, luckily it hit me in the head allowing me to catch it and stop it from falling in the sea,
it was attached with a line but I didn't want it to get that wet, I don't think it would have helped.
Frustrated, wet and stranded with bubble 44, only Radio 4 and the Ol' Girl for company it was time for a glass of wine and some Pate Henaff.
The following day I awoke early so as to catch Phil, who checks for new arrivals on the visitors bubbles and try and get a lift ashore,
he's a good man and after pointing to my half inflated dingy and showing him the blisters on my hand and the bump on my head whilst I said
"stupid roast beef" he welcomed me on board with a firm handshake and a broad smile, he offered me a return journey too.
Straight away I went to the Harbour office and met Anne, luckily she spoke English so well I did not have to murder any more French words, she offered to
help and had even received a call from the previous Marina( I must thank them) so with that I was on my way to find a puncture repair kit, just in case, a wifi connection to download a manual for the Johnson and hopefully
a cheap bottle of rose and something for dinner.
Camaret is a very beautiful little port, although to be fair most of the little port's in Brittany are, however the supermarket is even within my walking distance, a rarity I assure you.
That night is was a strong 6 and the Ol' Girl bobbed about whilst I had a small glass of wine, listened to the shipping forecast and wondered if the
following day would be pleasant enough to fix the dingy and the outboard.
Well, its been raining and blowing a bit all day, not exactly the ideal conditions to clamber into a half deflated dingy or take the outboard apart. I could
fix the Johnson below deck but this would only stink the place up with petrol fumes, so more radio, some light reading and an early night.
Tomorrow weather permitting the dingy will either have an ugly patch somewhere about it or I will discover it is nothing more than a sticking inflation valve, as for the Johnson, I already
checked the plug's and they have a good spark, I felt it, twice. A friend of mine thinks it may be stale fuel, I can only hope its that simple. As much as sitting here on the Ol' Girl is very relaxing
looking out at Camaret, it would be nice to visit it under my own steam.
PS. hooking up to these visitors bubbles on your own is no joke, I found it impossible, and enlisted the help of a fellow Ensign, thank you Andy,
as soon as I can afford it I am going to invest in a Duck pole or whatever they are called, a handy device Andy showed me that automatically clips onto the bubble, all
nice and easy, probably.
the Ol' Girl and me have been in Camaret for a couple of days, instead of being on a nice posh pontoon we are at
a visitors buoy (bubble). As I wanted to visit the port I unpacked the dingy and after not too much effort, as its a beautiful new Narwhal, a great gift
from a friend, thanks CAS, it was inflated. I think as with all beauties it was a little resentful of being ignored for so long and showed it by deflating
the starboard side very slowly.
This I did not notice as I was tugging furiously on my Johnson, to no avail, it would not start not matter where the choke was
how much fuel it had or how much effort or skin I invested.
After a few choice words, I gave up and wondered what had changed, my beautiful dingy was looking rather pitiful on one side, more choice words.
This was not the pleasant trip to the Port I had been looking forward to and the wind had picked up, making doing anything practical very awkward, what
with wonky leg's, a wonky dingy, a wonky Johnson all I needed was a wonky donkey and I would have had a full house.
I decided to remount the outboard on to the Ol' Girl and leave it well alone for the day, as I hoisted it into position on the transom, I lost my balance and
dropped the engine, luckily it hit me in the head allowing me to catch it and stop it from falling in the sea,
it was attached with a line but I didn't want it to get that wet, I don't think it would have helped.
Frustrated, wet and stranded with bubble 44, only Radio 4 and the Ol' Girl for company it was time for a glass of wine and some Pate Henaff.
The following day I awoke early so as to catch Phil, who checks for new arrivals on the visitors bubbles and try and get a lift ashore,
he's a good man and after pointing to my half inflated dingy and showing him the blisters on my hand and the bump on my head whilst I said
"stupid roast beef" he welcomed me on board with a firm handshake and a broad smile, he offered me a return journey too.
Straight away I went to the Harbour office and met Anne, luckily she spoke English so well I did not have to murder any more French words, she offered to
help and had even received a call from the previous Marina( I must thank them) so with that I was on my way to find a puncture repair kit, just in case, a wifi connection to download a manual for the Johnson and hopefully
a cheap bottle of rose and something for dinner.
Camaret is a very beautiful little port, although to be fair most of the little port's in Brittany are, however the supermarket is even within my walking distance, a rarity I assure you.
That night is was a strong 6 and the Ol' Girl bobbed about whilst I had a small glass of wine, listened to the shipping forecast and wondered if the
following day would be pleasant enough to fix the dingy and the outboard.
Well, its been raining and blowing a bit all day, not exactly the ideal conditions to clamber into a half deflated dingy or take the outboard apart. I could
fix the Johnson below deck but this would only stink the place up with petrol fumes, so more radio, some light reading and an early night.
Tomorrow weather permitting the dingy will either have an ugly patch somewhere about it or I will discover it is nothing more than a sticking inflation valve, as for the Johnson, I already
checked the plug's and they have a good spark, I felt it, twice. A friend of mine thinks it may be stale fuel, I can only hope its that simple. As much as sitting here on the Ol' Girl is very relaxing
looking out at Camaret, it would be nice to visit it under my own steam.
PS. hooking up to these visitors bubbles on your own is no joke, I found it impossible, and enlisted the help of a fellow Ensign, thank you Andy,
as soon as I can afford it I am going to invest in a Duck pole or whatever they are called, a handy device Andy showed me that automatically clips onto the bubble, all
nice and easy, probably.
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