Snork Maiden redux

--> July 7 ARS-EN-RE GETTING THERE Well, we left La Rochelle with the usual (for this year) NE 3 – 4. Number 2 foresail & full main, and a lovely tack under the Re bridge. We made good time – in fact, too good since we sailed past our waypoint with a good 90 minutes in hand.   Now the problem was how to ‘park’ the boat – well too deep to anchor.   Made a couple of attempts to heave-to, nether very successful as the number 2 pulled too hard – also a fairly strong incoming tide.   In the event we made a couple of reaches under the mainsail only – and, of course, had lunch.   We then raced for the waypoint – 2 reasons for this (1) to have enough depth when we reached our target marina (LA CREE) and (2) to make sure we got a place, it being on the run-up week to Bastille day, and sunny with it.         The approach to Ars can be a bit tricky for the first time.   This was our second but apart from remembering our ‘aground ...

--> 29 JULY 2013-07-29 The Beaches of Agnes (and us) Agnes Varda, as some of you know, is a talented and influential French filmmaker, a central figure of the New Wave who is still working in her eighties .   She was married from time to time (‘a love story with a hole in it’)to Jacques Demy (Umbrellas of Cherbourg; Les Demoiselles de Rochefort)    The Beaches of Agnes uses the evocative powers of beaches to tell a story of her own life, and Demy’s. (For a review, check out http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/oct/01/beaches-of-agnes-review)      Agnes used the evocative power of place, and in particular beaches, to tell us something about her own life and internal processes. This summer we (Al and I) have been reflecting on many aspects of our lives and beaches are a good place to do that.         For me, there is an additional resonance.   When I was around 5 years old I was diagnosed with TB and that resulted i...