Dieppois elan

We emerged from the boat blinking and sore after yesterday's hard journey, into a bright warm day in Dieppe.

It was a late start;  porridge at noon. The facilities sanitaire were a third of a mile from the boat so the walk to the showers woke us up. 

With just a day to savour the delights of the town,  we headed for the chief attraction. Another chateau. But this time, it looked the part with round towers and massive walls. The museum inside boasted a melange of artistic offerings  including Pissarros and Sisleys and Braques.

The view from the chateau across the crooked roof tops of Dieppe was a joy. 

We dawdled in an authentic cafe bar for coffee and baguette while a gaggle of older ladies did a crossword at high volume. 

Then back to Sirena IV to plan the rest of the trip with our huge Channel chart. Tides and distances, vectors and headings. ..you know the thing. Decision?  Back to Blighty tomorrow,  weather permitting. Then work our way West to Poole to leave the boat there for a few weeks. But with sailing,  a plan is only a plan. 

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Thrash to Dieppe

Finally a sailable day, or so we thought from the forecasts and we were very keen now to move from Boulogne. Up at 6 and off the pontoon by 0730 with a passage plan to have foul tide for 4 hours and fair tide for 6, arriving Dieppe 1800 just before the tide turned against us again. We expected to motor sail into the wind for the first leg out to sea to avoid sand banks (alluvial deposits from the Somme and other rivers), and then sail close hauled down the deeper channel (shades of Thames Estuary).

As with all good plans it was a framework within which to manage variations. The seas outside Boulogne for 2 miles were very confused with waves traveling in both directions - almost like being in a race.  Luckily we were smart about getting the main up with 1 reef in whilst still in the outer harbour.   The wind was the top end of the forecast F5 and continued to build through the day to F7.  The direction was not the promised Westerly either, but WSW backing SW as the day went on, so we spent the whole day with the wind too close to the nose to sail free and too strong to set the genoa.  Yes, we need that No 1 jib we promised ourselves, but who thought we'd need it in July. 

10 hours motor sailing into 3m waves was mitigated by the boat which literally rose gracefully to every occasion, and the autopilot which did most of the helming for us. We arrived in Dieppe bang on schedule, very wet from the sheets of spray and not a little tired. Hosed down the boat and all our clothing to shift the salt and fell into the nearest restaurant. 

Chateau chagrin

Having sampled most of Boulogne's charms by now,  we ventured farther afield, on a local bus to Condette which is home to the grand-sounding Chateau Hardelot.  

The bus,  which cost a mere euro apiece, dropped us a kilometre from the castle. As we walked, Nic suffered a bout of dizziness probably allied to Menieres disease. At the same time the French heavens opened. It was a long and trying walk.  We got to the castle with 40 minutes to look around before they closed for a 2 hour lunch. 

So was it worth it? It was hardly your typical Chateau. It was very small.  Bought by an American in 1898 it had been tarted up as a homage to the British royal family and the Enteinte Cordiale! It was positively stiff with photos of the Queen, busts of Victoria and Albert and fans used by princess Alexandra. The decor was William Morris and there was a cabinet of curiosities including a stuffed badger, axe heads and a spiny sea creature. 

Our 40 minutes up,  we wandered into the adjacent restaurant and ordered a beef and Guinness pie (the English connection). The waitress told us the building under construction nearby would be a British theatre. 'The Queen had seen a model' she confided ' and we hope she will come here for the grand opening'. Weird didn't begin to describe our chateau experience. 

We took a 30 euro taxi back to Boulogne, did laundry and had large gins with Carl and Barbara,  a Swedish couple who had also been storm bound in the port. They had done all the Boulogne things we had except for the chateau. We didn't recommend it. 

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Furlough in Boulogne cont.

Oddly, with all this time, I forgot to blog yesterday.  The gales continue and so do our explorations of Boulogne sur Mer. So yesterday (Sunday) we got up a bit earlier and hussled out to the advertised Braderie expecting an antique market with interesting knick knacks from ancient chateaux ... sadly it was mostly modern clothing and shoes with just a handful of car boot stalls. We did get a couple of small things, and the rain held off until we were ready for a grand cafe au lait and brisk walk back to the boat. 

As we are filing these blogs by email we cannot predict the layout of multiple pictures, however I'm sure you can see which one is our French style lunch back at the boat. An afternoon then of little tasks about the boat interspersed with relaxation. As it is the day after, I can report great success with fitting snubbers on the mooring warps plus bits of plastic hose where the lines pass through the fairleads plus relaxing the lines and setting up a new one to hold her off the pontoon ... she rolls as she wants to with no jerking or squeaking, we had a quiet night despite the swell that finds it's way into the marina. 

There is a pic showing the sea breaking over the harbour wall, which is why we ain't going anywhere by boat today. 

Instead we spent many interesting hours in the Nausicaa which is a sea-life centre - great sharks! (See pic) Unfortunately all the small children in the region were there with us, but we rose above it as we trampled them underfoot. 

Now we are sitting in our cockpit watching the marina world go by, drinking tea and eating cake. As I look around, and despitethe extremely stiff breeze, almost every boat has someone huddled with a book and a mug in the cockpit - it's that time of day. 

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One window closes

Our weather window closed today. We are in Boulogne for a few more days as gales stream in from the Atlantic. We pored over tides and charts and weather websites. A small window existed of less awful weather tonight,  either to dart down to Dieppe or back to Dover. We looked at all the risks including heading straight into possible force 6 or 7 winds in rough seas at night. It was a judgement call. We are staying.

We trotted off to the teeming saturday market and bought sausages, roquefort and bread to make our stay in Boulogne more appetising. Sipping a grand cafe at an outside table in the square made the gales seem less terrible. We photographed Sirena IV from above;  after the torrential rain she looks quite clean!  However we bought some 'snubbers' at a chandlers which are giant rubber bands (30 euro each) to wrap around our mooring ropes to make them jerk and creak less. Last night we were both up at 3 unable to sleep because of the racket. The glamour of sailing! 

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Wet fish & Napoleon's hat

We love Boulogne, it's official.  The marina is friendly (perhaps they appreciated our brave attempt at French on the VHF), facilities excellent, wifi & internet PC & elec free. The town a little reminiscent of Ramsgate around the port, slightly run down but still bravely functioning, with new facilities from EU money. 

On the Quay opposite the marina is a row of 20 stalls where the wives of the fishermen sell the fish and crustaceans caught last night (see pic) - just exactly as Tom Cunliffe describes in his most excellent Shell Channel Pilot. 

As you walk inland up hill the shops and restaurants appear, and the old walled town at the top, only 15 mins walk, is a delight of quiet streets, old shuttered houses and small cafes. 

We rewarded ourselves with a slap-up Menu de Mer lunch in the square, a leisurely 2hr feast after which there was much thought of sleep, but no we must go onwards. 

At the top right of the old town is the chateau (other pic), housing an amazing subterranean passage displaying foundation stones going back to the Romans, and a shiny new museum where we discovered a hat and large diamond ring belonging to Napoleon - literally discovered, because the leaflet on the museum makes no mention of the ring, which is splendid, and only passing reference to the hat. 

We fell back into the boat late afternoon with excellent timing, assisted by forecast from xcweather.com, because the rain then descended big time.  We expect a bit of a storm up the channel tonight and tomorrow morning, so plenty of time for reading books ... oops, I mean doing jobs around the boat. Zzzzzz

Boulogne sur Mer

The day came. Sirena's first foreign trip with us as her owners. We left Ramsgate early, motor-sailing in little wind and warm sun. We ran the gauntlet of the Dover ferries and then as the wind freshened began a rollicking sail across the TSS, the two lane motorway for Channel shipping. We took our chances to hare across in between first the ships going left to right, and then right to left. The sun shone,  the sea was opaque green, and the sky a deep blue as we raced along. 

As we approached Boulogne the last 5 miles were lumpy and nasty but once in the large harbour it calmed down. Lesley guided us into a pontoon just under the entrance steps,  noisy but close to loos and other facilities. We walked into town to find a quick meal and lighted upon an eccentric gem called Estaminet Chez Tante Zabelle in Place Frédéric Sauvage. 

It serves massive plats of regional food, amid quirky decorations including vintage underwear hanging from the ceiling. We drank a toast to our lovely boat and to France. 

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Still in Ramsgate

Photo is Ramsgate western marina, with Sirena IV stern on in the middle, name obscured by our defensive ball fender. We left her here for a week and boats, mainly Dutch & German, come and go all the time.

Came back to the boat yesterday (Tue 22nd) on the train, having got back to Greenwich from Lytham cottage the day before, with the intention of leaving for Boulogne at 6am today.

We rushed about buying vittles and doing prep tasks ... while the wind howled and the yachts bounced ... until we read all the forecasts, British and French, and decided we didn't want F5/6 in the channel chops, possibly on the nose.

So instead we've had a gentle day, done some tasks so far down the list they don't normally see the light of day, the wind is howling in the rigging on and off though still yachts come and go through all states of the tide.

Last night we had lengthy chat (mostly listening) to our Dutch neighbour who was thinking about his plan to go across the Thames Estuary to Burnham - they seemed very casual about it, compared to our very detailed passage planning approach. We wished them fair winds though I suspect they got foul with a lot of foul tide and the Thames short chop as well - no doubt they will be tired in Burnham tonight.

So early to bed and up with the lark, the forecast looks better for tomorrow.

To Ramsgate

This is a catch-up entry in this new blog intended to cover our modest cruising in Summer 2015.  The plan is to do a bit of channel hopping.

From Gillingham on the River Medway, all sorties east or south start with a down-tide passage to Ramsgate.

We dropped the hook in Sharfleet Creek on Fri 10 Jul - that place beloved of weekenders, and we have been one such, more than a few times.

Bright & early on 11 Jul, HW-2 saw us up anchor and motor sail against the tide past Garrison Point and out into the Thames Estuary.  We had 18kn of wind briefly through the narrows, then it quickly dropped away and away to nothing.  So we furled the foresail, centred the main and motor-sailed in warm sunshine.  

Due to the clement conditions we took the 'overland' route which goes inside Margate Sands and with only a couple of metres of water under the keel.  Always an interesting exercise during a falling tide as an mistake would leave us stranded for 5 hours at an odd angle.  We had 5 other yachts following us, a rally we think from Thurrock Yacht Club.

Of course the wind got up as soon as we rounded North Foreland, and of course it was on the nose, and of course we didn't have time to waste before the tide turned against us. With the benefit of experience we had already dropped our mainsail when the only wind was of our own making as we motored at 5kn with 2kn of tide.

For once relatively calm conditions as we motored into Ramsgate with a deluge of other yachts and a 58ft motor cruiser up our bum - the marina easily accommodated us, though heard on the VHF from the marina was "you did say fifty eight?".

Sunday was terrible weather, wind & rain - European cousins complaining - had a lazy day and did a few jobs.  Monday was back home to Greenwich via train to Gillingham to pick up the car.  Work & family calls.