May

Camaret-sur-mer

So here we are, in Camaret-sur-mer. And very glad I am too, I have to say It’s been an insane month!

First we had the regatta in Turkey , 2nd to 9th of May. Fantastic time, there were 10 boats, all eager to kick arse in the racing, and I have to say we did OK, 5 races, and Hakuna Matata (under my chaotic leadership) came 6th, 6th, 6th, 3rd and 1st. Devilish numbers, I tell ya. So the most important race we thrashed everyone by about 20 minutes. Result or what!

Here are some photos from the Kabestan Turkey 2009 regatta:

All up until the regatta, and for a few days after that we were frantically packing and moving stuff to my parents and Tingara. We now have SO MUCH STUFF on the boat, but it’s all useful. I think

Then, finally, on the 13th of May we set sail from Dartmouth and 31 hours later arrived into Camaret-sur-mer. The sail was ok, we motored most of the way, with just the main and the mizzen. The reason being that there was a storm coming and we really needed to find shelter and not hang about. We just made it too, as we were on the final approach to the pontoon, the gusts were quite impressive. I’ve also come to seriously love the shipping lanes. Because ships move about in there in a predictable fashion. Sailing through the English channel to the West of the lanes was a nightmare, ships everywhere, 30 knots, totally random directions and a thick fog. I hate fog. AIS is the best thing I ever bought (it shows big ships and where they are heading)

At the moment it’s blowing force 8, gusting 9, outside, which is an improvement on the force 10 we had yesterday. We set off tomorrow afternoon, across the Bay of Biscay. That’s not a grammatical error as far as I am concerned, I’d spell it ‘BAY’, quite appropriate.

My “Welcome aboard” mat just flew off into the hills, whatever next.

We’ve been repairing stuff. Apart from the engine being a bit funny and needing two bleeds (air somewhere, I’ve been through every nut twice), a ripped out midship cleat (no flimsy arrangement, I assure you) and a burned out steaming light, we seem to be ok. Oh, and the ‘Welcome aboard’ mat. With these winds I am expecting it took someone’s head off, heavy PVC arrangement it was.

And the wind generator has been a success, some photos attached. I am getting 10 amps out of it with this crazy wind.

Hope all is well with you all, Tingara out.