Snork Maiden redux

The Sevre Niortiase at Sunset Here's the sun setting over the River Sevre the day before Al arrived.  The river is very, very tidal - here's an evening high tide, so all the boats are floating.  There's a small summer-only restaurant, La Ponetere, under canvas (apart from the kitchen).  This is the view.  Their speciality is seafood, particularly mussels from the region.  They say that this year is particularly good for mussels, because there was so much rain in the winter.  It makes them plump and juicy.  Snork Maiden's Beautiful Stern   The survey was pretty good, all things considered.  Now waiting to hear from the insurance company.  The biggest job is dealing with the headlinings.  It took just over a week for me to bite the bullet and decide that I have to strip out the old stuff from the aft cabin and start from scratch.  The forward cabin is fixable.  I washed the lines and half of the hull, and the stern - you can...

The River Sevre Niortaise - Philippe's boatyard is just to the left This will be a short blog - the first few days are always a kind of settling in period.  This trip is different since we don't know what the survey report will require us to do before we can launch.  I have an idea, but realistically we have to count the cost of the work, and the time it will take, then weigh up whether we launch or not.       I am getting back in there with Snork Maiden - re-acquainting myself with the instruments etc.  We have a problem with the wind indicator - an early NEXUS.  It looks as though the sensor (windvane) part at the top of the mast is broken - unsurprising given the  5 winters of gales it has endured on this exposed coast.  I am waiting to hear from Nexus if the kit is still availabel.  I guess we can always sail without it.  The forecasts are generally good and we have primitive Windex indivcator at the top of the mast....

This blog is a bit of a mix.  So here is Snork Maiden looking not at all bad for her survey yesterday.  In the photo it looks as though she's wearing her sails in the cockpit, but it's just a pssing cloud. Really. One of the amazing things about the Vendee is the incredible 360º cloudscape and the variations in the clouds themselves.  This afternoon is blue sky with an almost complete border of cumulus.  Oddly enough, the flat landscape can also give me a feeling of claustrophobia.     Yesterday we had the boat surveyed by one of the 2 Lloyds qualified, English speaking surveyors in France (the other one is on the South Coast).  He liked our boat - that's always good. He thought she was very well-equipped (she is).  Of course there are things to put right, as always, but nothing too big or too serious.  The engine started, third time of trying.  Not bad. I need to get a fuel filter - I think I can do that in La Rochelle.   The ...

So - I am sitting on Snork Maiden and it's June 2018.  We have made flying visits during the last couple of years but I am sad to say that we haven't managed to sail her since 2014.  We made a deliberate decision to skip a year in 2015.  We felt that it was time to have a different adventure and we deided on a road trip to Sardinia.  It worked well, and that, together with a delivery trip from Turkey to Portsmouth, persuaded me that I wanted to see more of the Mediterranean, and what better way than in our own boat.  So - a new plan was born. But, as they say, no plan survives encounter with the enemy, or in this case, just life.  That's why I am looking at  major, although mainly cosmetic, clean up, 4 years later. We also have to have a survey before our insurers allow us to get back in the water - that's happening on Thursday - the day after tomorrow.  Yacht delivery S/Y Ono approaching the bridge across the Gulf of Corinth. This delivery starte...