Look out

Ahoy,

I will explain the pictures at a later point, for now I hope you enjoy them? It's beautiful weather, nice and hot, just how I like it. Unfortunately the WiFi bar is a very long walk, as such my mind has gone blank. I will write up the posts on the Ol' Girl and possibly deliver them soon.

Punch Drunk

Ahoy,
a lethargic start to the day, it all started last night with a trip to a local restaurant, I never made it. Passing the Donegan pub I heard the call "Dr. House" and not wishing to be rude I popped in to say hello, within minutes I had been invited to a birthday party. Joyeux Anniversaire rang around the bar whilst a rather pleasant fruit punch was passed around freely. It is due to the rather sly nature of this punch that today has started a little slower than I intended. It was a simple blend of mixed fruit juices, with sliced orange, pineapple and apple together with Rum from Martinique and sugar. The first batch of which was light and fruity with a hint of Rum, however, each successive bowl became an entirely different creature, sill fruity yet not quite so suitable for your Maiden Aunt. Needless to say as the witching hour approached I felt I should say my farewells and return to the Ol' Girl.With due care I set several alarms for an early rise and fell into a comfortable sleep, with the Ol' Girl bobbing up and down gently in a very soothing way. The digital wake up calls won the battle against the Punch in the end, bookies would have been on evens. Morgat is around twenty six nautical miles away, the wind is not ideal and it may rain this afternoon, maybe I will stay one more day after all.

Der Man Push Off

Ahoy,
the times I may doubt the outcome are never my best prophecies. I met with the Anne the Harbour Mistress this morning, she could not have been more understanding, in fact, as it now seems to be summer here she suggested I stay for a few more days. Sooo tempting as the rate which has been applied to the Ol' Girl is exceptional, I left it open. I really want us to push on tomorrow but you never know.

After such a pleasant meeting it was time to buy the sundries for Vicking the Ol' Girl, water, oranges, potatoes, canned butter, canned Gaz, canned anything. A baguette, Lapin pate and an apple for lunch on the harbour wall. Then maybe a couple of small beers in the local Irish pub The Donegan, a careful trip back to the Ol'Girl and an early night. Looking forward to waking early, filling the water tanks and pushing off.

Dam Right

Ahoy,

today was almost the same as last night, nothing went to plan, in fact, everything if there had been a plan went in completely the opposite direction. The aperitifs soothed my shoulders and I even tried to have a game of pool, make that a few games. Finding myself relaxed and in fine company in a spectacular port, all I could think of were the words of a friend of mine, Richard in Amsterdam, he would say on occasion " how good would you have it be?" on my face was a grin that could not have been much bigger, whilst those very words tripped through my mind. Of course had I have known how the night would end...... That's a story for another time.

So as I set off today(after fixing the outboard, again!) to finish vicking the Ol' Girl and say my good bye's, having gritted my teeth and walked, all be it extremely slowly to the supermarket, I discovered it closed a national holiday, Ascension or some such thing, everywhere apart from the bars and restaurants, closed. As I buy my fruit, veg and bottled water at the last minute, another day in Camaret seemed to be certain as I do not want to leave without them. This means another trip, cap in hand to the Harbour Mistress attempting to be as charming and apologetic as possible having not left when I said I would. Whats the French for intentions? Of course the Harbour office is closed, a brief reprieve till tomorrow.

"Dr. House"

Ahoy,

almost time to leave Camaret, we will be very sad to leave. The Ol' Girl has enjoyed bobbing around on the bubble and I have enjoyed the company, local and fellow ensigns, Andy and Pam, we had a couple of drinks last night, maybe I had a couple more with the pate lapin and the strong local cheese we had aboard there wonderful boat Felice. Shhhh, don't let the Ol' Girl hear us. Today no worse for it I went shopping for a weeks worth of food, only having about 3 days worth left on board I thought it wise. I also bought some fuel for the outboard and paid my dues, Anne and Delphine have been remarkably kind and have given me a very sweet deal.When I first met Delphine she explained her name was Dolphine's with E's, an image I have not been able to get out of my mind since. On my way to the local Super U, I happened to meet a local artist M. Tonnellien, who after saying I was "Dr House", drew some cool pictures for me, at that moment I realised he was of some local fame, at least, and not wanting to be rude joined him for a small beer. His skill with pen, pencil, brush and paint seemed to a vagabond like me, impressive. Some have been inset in the blog. Tomorrow will be another day of chore's, washing, cleaning, packing and fuel, I might even have a shower. I should have one this evening, as I have a rendez-vous with Anise, she was kind enough to give "Dr House" a lift from the super market, I didn't even have to stick my thumb out, Anise your a star (sorry, couldn't resist). Our next mission the Ol' Girl and me is to head for Morgat, were going to take the inside line through the Les Tas de Pois, a couple of high foreboding rocks sticking out of the sea, it looks a bit tight on the chart, I have been assured its fine once you get up close. According to many there is plenty of room to anchor around Morgat so I may get some practice in. After Morgat it's the Raz de Sein, this means two things, one I need to buy a few more charts, at least down to St. Nazaire. And two, I am beginning to chase the sun.

Distant Graze

Ahoy,
so it was early to rise, a bowl of porridge with strawberry jam and a cup of coffee. Its spitting a little but that was not going to stop me getting the dingy on deck and tracking down the source of the absconding air. After a bit of a struggle, the dingy was on board and I found the puncture with relative ease, as I have a repair kit and duct tape, fingers crossed all should be well. As for the outboard, it may brighten up, leaving me all afternoon to graze my knuckles, get covered in oil and cuss to my hearts content. My objective is to go ashore tomorrow under my own steam and have a petit noir and a pan au chocollate. (you never know)I'm not fairing well with my uptake of the French language, as soon as I discovered beard, sword and testicles are feminine, so to speak, I felt as though it was a language with in-built security features designed to repel English familiarisation. Despite my "Roast Beef" mentality to this very pretty language, I will persevere, maybe by the time I get to Spain I will be able to say a single French sentence fluently, then the program resets and I am back so square one, murdering the Spanish language instead.So I'm going to crack on with the dingy and outboard.Ok (that's not what I said), so the first patch didn't take, my fault entirely, I think I should have waited a little longer before I decided to inflate it fully.Now its raining, so a quick cuppa, some more radio a few words for the blog and a little more patience with the next patch.
I am getting used to bobbing around on this bubble, how strange that Radio 4 really does make up some how for the lack of human interaction,or rather in just over 56hrs of sitting with the Ol' Girl occasionally the feeling of being partially stranded has come upon me and Ol' 4 has consoled me.When I hitch off from the bubble, that's when I leave, I'm not prepared to go through the rigmarole of mooring to one of these bubbles solo without one of those clever duck poles. I have decided as soon as the dingy and outboard are fixed I will stretch the overdraft a little more and toddle off to the Chandlers. Whether the phrase "tub de Cannard" will help in any way remains to be seen, I can already envisage waddling round the Chandlers making quacking noises, repeating the the phrase and making clawing motions with my right hand, perhaps I will just draw a picture.As you may have gathered I have not seen much of Camaret, this means I have not found a free WiFi connection, in turn updates are a little tricky. There is a company offering connection to the boats here at a quite unscrupulous £4 an hour, due no doubt to those damn Yachties; someone should found the RBA, the Reasonable Boatie Assosician.
That's the second patch on, I reckon if it holds overnight its probably ok. If it doesn't, I'll either have to invest in a dingy repair kit or try and get it fixed on the cheap (fingers crossed once again). The Johnson has had the plug's cleaned for a second time, fuel tank emptied ready for fresh petrol and oil, the fuel filter looks clean enough and it's got a spark. No manual yet, so if these remedial measures don't work I'm rowing to the Chandlers, maybe the mechanic's too. That should work the patisseries off. I suppose today I come across as a little resentful towards the rich, this is not my true feeling, in fact quite the opposite, living with the Ol' Girlthough has shown me just how inflated (ha,ha) the prices are, due in the most part to Yachties, Yachties have other people fix things and seem to pay over the odds and don't mind, Boaties do it themselves and seem to be confused with the former all the time. I think I will grow a wiry beard and have an outfit I never wash, and wear it to Chandlers to see if that makes any difference when I try and score stuff for the boat. Time for a coffee, music and to muse over what treats are in store tomorrow. The sun came out and I couldn't resist a quick tinker with my Johnson, to my surprise it started, I only let it run for a second, literally, its wasn't in the water. The Dingy is as inflated as when I left it, so I'm going to to try them out. I sure the sun coming out had something to do with it, Tony a friend of mine in London reckons the sun IS magic, I think he may be right.

Life's Just A Camaret

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.

Leave Brest Alone

Ahoy,
so its off to Camaret-sur-mer, by all accounts an extremely pretty place.
I am hoping to anchor in order to save some money. As such its a very busy day so this is a very short pos

Crew 'ell Times?

Ahoy,

how glad I am that I was only a little worried, it would have been a waste of fine worry had I been very worried. The arrangements with Marina Du Chateau seem to have headed in the right direction. Although outside its protection at the moment, the sea state is that of a small washing machine all be it on a delicate cycle. I may be here a couple more days, due to the weather not bureaucracy. I am pleased my external mantra of everything is alright in the end seems to have done no harm.

Today I will be asking for crew for the Bay of Biscay passage, (I really don't want to, even though some human interaction and experience would make a delightful change), the insurance company is insisting.
Again I would be happy to sail without insurance, its a question of legality and I do want to be legal.
To think soon it will not be just the Ol' Girl and me but someone else too is a complicated thing; this insignificant adventure in a global sense always seemed big enough due to the single handed bit, however as I contemplate the addition of another person aboard it seems even bigger. Water and food for two,(having said this it may turn out to be food for three, this is not due to little feet just potential calorie intake) a greater responsibility bandwidth, real or imagined and of course an audience to all my petty novice mistakes. I also have to remember to eat fewer onions otherwise it will be an ill wind to Vigo.

If this is what it takes to proceed, then this is what must be done.

Also the donations meter has not increased in a little while, so despite my enjoyment and improvement, maybe I have neglected ¨The Children's Hospital¨ side of things and this will be afforded a little more time to pull it into tow. It would be more than a bloody shame to get all the way to Gran Can and then complete the passage to St. Lucia only to raise no money.


If anybody out there would like to contribute please feel free to do so.
www.justgiving.com/nomadadventure

Oh No Chateau

Ahoy,
in the absence of light only darkness prevails, thankfully there are lights all around.
I have been getting increasingly concerned about the money Marina Du Chateau will require for my stay. As each day passes the total increases, I had the intention to have left by now and be on my way to warmer and less fiscal waters, alas until this is resolved we are stuck in a vicious circle. I begin to worry, not too much though.
Now on a lighter note, yesterday I had an invitation for dinner from two splendid chaps on Marcita a 31ft Buchanan sloop, a pretty wooden boat with lot of character or is that characters and a beautiful dinner it was.
They are off to The Golfe du Morbihan maritime festival in Brittany that takes place in Ascension Week, it sounds fantastic and I have already mentioned to them that the Ol' Girl and me may well see them there.
Also I think I may be able to get third party cover for the Ol' Girl, if this is the case we will not have to take on crew and can continue on our own.

Heathens Kicked me in the Johnson

Ahoy,

I so want to have a rant. I will try and keep it short. Heathens Kicked me in the Johnson, I only have cover to Saint-Nazaire, after which I am requested to find crew for the passage to the Canary Islands or have no cover, not even third party.
The news from such an organisation supposedly synonymous with the ethos of our maritime history and culture, that they have no time or care proposals for independent, adventurous sailors is disappointing, frustrating and feels disingenuous to say the least.
So as our contract is almost over, I am considering jumping ship.
Of course I will be trawling Google for better organisations, who we hope will grant the minimum of cover for the Ol' Girl and me.

Brest Fortune

Ahoy,
today I awoke a little later than normal, 08:30hrs, this was not due to alcohol or late company, this was because of some very excited fishermen having a contest of some sort. With a lot of whooping and fussing they ran up and down the pontoons with fishing rods with spinners on, trying to catch a type of fish that I never did find out what it was, or why they felt the need to run about so much. They were so busy and jolly with it all that it was a little infectious, so I became an audient for quite some time, hence my late rise today.
The day before yesterday I greeted two gentlemen who's ensign was as familiar as my own, they arrived on Isabella, a Bavaria 33 that was so clean and tidy it looked but a few hours old.
To my great pleasure and surprise, yesterday we met again, this I can say was a moment when the goodness in human kind shows through. They had for me a large bag of food, fresh pasta, tomato and carbonara sauce, bread, butter, soups, eggs, milk and fresh orange juice, superb. The last tin of corned beef knew I had been eyeing it up, it now breathed a sigh of relief, a stay of consumption, I have gorged myself for 2 days and I think tomorrow will be the same.
So today I may try and take a bus to Brest, that is if the walk to the bus stop is not so far away that I lose interest altogether. Walking is a much stranger adventure for me than most, especially when public transport is involved it seems.
Tomorrow I hope to talk to my well established insurers, a company synonymous with yachting insurance to find out if they will extend my range in the policy, in my mind they are only going to offer third party, best not mention it to the Ol' Girl I don't want to worry her. Best not mention it to Brest don't want to worry them either.

Thigh or Brest

Ahoy,
so I have turned a corner, the Ol' Girl and me are now in Brest. The passage through the Chanal du Four was exciting and very picturesque, we did not manage the turn of speed that I had thought possible with the tide, although the wind was on our nose nearly all the way. Originally I had decided to Anchor in a small bay called Le Chat, it had been described as quiet and peaceful with very little going on, I wonder how long ago they visited it, now it is full of small boats, jet ski's and wind surfers. Not wanting to practise my anchoring technique amongst such a hustle and bustle I continued on to Brest, Marina Du Chateau. Some construction work is still ongoing although it is not visible. The staff are polite and helpful, even to the point of trying to establish if the grand financial masters of such a place will be able to offer some sort of concession, as it may only be €25 a night to some, its 1 weeks groceries a night to me and the Ol' Girl, so as this is for charity as well as for me, maybe it will work out, everything does in the end.
Now the worrying part, I still have not heard back from my insurers about cover for our passage either across the Bay of Biscay or round it, everything will have to wait till I have confirmation.