Severance now has a modern working toilet that doesn't have some of the woes that kept the last one from being the least bit endearing.
A small job (that of course turned into a major project)...but a big step forward!
And, we can now empty the holding tank (what the heck was a piece of glass doing in the macerator pump...hope some crew member doesn't have a lacerated intestinal tract!). Of course, France fully supports pump out stations and I actually saw one in the smallest marina we visited to date (which was of course later than I needed it).
That puts France one pump ahead of the Azores!
By the way, for the curious, it is true that the best marine head is a bucket...
As I write this, we are attempting to address a vexing drive line vibration problem that goes away after a period of time.
I lucked out and found an English speaking mechanic and the yard worked me into their schedule. We decided to tweak the angle of the strut to improve the alignment, the shaft was binding in the cutlass bearing. The alteration did allow the shaft to rotate much more freely,but the vibration problem was not solved, so we've ruled that out but have no idea what is causing the problem. I'm still convinced it is the transmission, but supposedly they work or don't and never cause vibration problems.
So, we plan to just live with the problem (it goes away after a bit of running and things warm up) until we find someone that can determine what the problem is.
I really did leave before a proper break in of many new things, but I did feel pretty good when another long term cruise told me you just need to leave and deal with things as you go. Many people never do push off and I'm really glad to be over here, even if the boat has some “A” list things I need to work out.
Anyway, enough about boat problems...we finally pulled things together and got out of Brest, so we're moving along (even though the boat is on the hard as I write this)!
-Scott
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Tides – Timing is Everything
The English Channel (Le (la?) Manche on this side of it) has a reputation as a tough place for boating and I'm learning why.
Brest was my 1st introduction to major tides...Eric and I went for a walk (2am after many days at sea) and he marked a spot on a piling when we left the boat. When we came back within the hour, the spot was about 3' “lower”!
We watched the depth sounder for a bit and watched in amazement as it changed!
The marina had a wide ramp which was used for “careening”, boats would tie up at high tide and do a complete bottom paint job on the low tide and sail off on the next high.
Very impressive, but it turns out that the tides in Brest (about 17' now) pale in comparison to those I was yet to experience.
In Paimpol, the tides now are running 25' right now!
And, time of the month (moon phases) have up to a 15' difference!
Neeps have the least tides and spring have the most (we're in spring tides right now).
So, arrival and departure times from ports becomes quite significant.
Aside from the depth issue, currents run anywhere from 2-5 knots, changing direction every 6 hours.
Beside the obvious inflow\outflow from the bays and rivers of ports, it turns out the entire English Channel changes direction every 6 hours!!!!!!
So, planning a port change turns into a bit of a math problem.
Not only do you need to take into account the departure and arrival times, you need to determine which direction the current is flowing between the ports.
It may well turn out that the best time to depart for the correct current just happens to be at low tide, when there is (literally) no water to get from the marina to the ocean!
Some plans end up requiring a departure to an anchorage for a wait. Or, arrival at a destination with an anchorage wait.
Ports are either on “natural” rivers or bays or are only accessible for a few hours twice a day.
Brest and L'Aber W'rach were natural harbors, but Morlaix, Ploumanac'h and Paimpol are not.
Ploumanac'h has a wall that dries at around 6'. Which means you need to arrive on a tide with 11' to get over the wall.
Morlaix and Paimpol have locks and you need to know when they operate.
Paimpol leaves its locks open for about 2 hours around high tide, and then it operates them for 2 ½ hours on both sides of the high tide (24 hours a day).
In Morlaix, we arrived on a high tide around 10pm, expecting that the lock would operate at each high tide. It is 3 miles up a river that dries up and it turned out the lock only operates if the high tide is during “normal” working hours!
We had 2 choices, one was to cut and run back out the river for an anchorage or tie up next to the lock and await the next high tide.
We choice the later, even though we thought the spot might dry out (we prepared the boat to lean against the wall if that happened).
We were stuck there with one other unhappy person (who we became great friends with over the next few days).
So, we went down and back up (had a close call with getting a lifeline snagged on the way up) and locked through in the morning.
The lockmaster explained that he doesn't work at night....except that the next night he opened for boats to come in!
The other (French) boater was furious and apparently has contacts...he kept saying he wasn't “done” with this!
Anyway, we're learning a great deal about boating in high tides.
We will cross the Channel from Cherburg, which has the greatest tidal currents.
Interestingly enough, a yachtsman that has made the crossing many times and has done all sorts of calculations says you just keep a constant bearing and let the tide carry you one way and then the next.
He related a story about someone that corrected for currents on both sets and ended up taking 28 hours to do a crossing that should only be half that!
I'll let you know how it all turns out...unless it goes badly!
-Scott
Brest was my 1st introduction to major tides...Eric and I went for a walk (2am after many days at sea) and he marked a spot on a piling when we left the boat. When we came back within the hour, the spot was about 3' “lower”!
We watched the depth sounder for a bit and watched in amazement as it changed!
The marina had a wide ramp which was used for “careening”, boats would tie up at high tide and do a complete bottom paint job on the low tide and sail off on the next high.
Very impressive, but it turns out that the tides in Brest (about 17' now) pale in comparison to those I was yet to experience.
In Paimpol, the tides now are running 25' right now!
And, time of the month (moon phases) have up to a 15' difference!
Neeps have the least tides and spring have the most (we're in spring tides right now).
So, arrival and departure times from ports becomes quite significant.
Aside from the depth issue, currents run anywhere from 2-5 knots, changing direction every 6 hours.
Beside the obvious inflow\outflow from the bays and rivers of ports, it turns out the entire English Channel changes direction every 6 hours!!!!!!
So, planning a port change turns into a bit of a math problem.
Not only do you need to take into account the departure and arrival times, you need to determine which direction the current is flowing between the ports.
It may well turn out that the best time to depart for the correct current just happens to be at low tide, when there is (literally) no water to get from the marina to the ocean!
Some plans end up requiring a departure to an anchorage for a wait. Or, arrival at a destination with an anchorage wait.
Ports are either on “natural” rivers or bays or are only accessible for a few hours twice a day.
Brest and L'Aber W'rach were natural harbors, but Morlaix, Ploumanac'h and Paimpol are not.
Ploumanac'h has a wall that dries at around 6'. Which means you need to arrive on a tide with 11' to get over the wall.
Morlaix and Paimpol have locks and you need to know when they operate.
Paimpol leaves its locks open for about 2 hours around high tide, and then it operates them for 2 ½ hours on both sides of the high tide (24 hours a day).
In Morlaix, we arrived on a high tide around 10pm, expecting that the lock would operate at each high tide. It is 3 miles up a river that dries up and it turned out the lock only operates if the high tide is during “normal” working hours!
We had 2 choices, one was to cut and run back out the river for an anchorage or tie up next to the lock and await the next high tide.
We choice the later, even though we thought the spot might dry out (we prepared the boat to lean against the wall if that happened).
We were stuck there with one other unhappy person (who we became great friends with over the next few days).
So, we went down and back up (had a close call with getting a lifeline snagged on the way up) and locked through in the morning.
The lockmaster explained that he doesn't work at night....except that the next night he opened for boats to come in!
The other (French) boater was furious and apparently has contacts...he kept saying he wasn't “done” with this!
Anyway, we're learning a great deal about boating in high tides.
We will cross the Channel from Cherburg, which has the greatest tidal currents.
Interestingly enough, a yachtsman that has made the crossing many times and has done all sorts of calculations says you just keep a constant bearing and let the tide carry you one way and then the next.
He related a story about someone that corrected for currents on both sets and ended up taking 28 hours to do a crossing that should only be half that!
I'll let you know how it all turns out...unless it goes badly!
-Scott
Bretagne (Brittony)
I came here in total ignorance of France and the different provinces, but I'm getting a real education on the Bretagne region.
First, don't call them French!
The French coast guard sometimes decides to enforce the requirement that ships fly their national flag on the stern...many of the boats here fly the flag of Bretagne from the stern!
For years, the French government banned the teaching of their language and has tried to make them French. From what I can see it isn't working!
The food is excellent and the region has a lot of things like sausages and cheeses that are made only here.
They can't make wine here but do make very good whiskey.
We made a good friend in Morlaix who introduced us to the delicacies of the region along with wines from Bordeaux. Tremendous good fortune on our part as the variety of choices is really overwhelming.
I was really pleased to have him rate my cooking at 2 Michelin stars after having him to dinner on the boat twice. He was amazed at how well we ate on the boat.
The weather has finally turned and we're getting sunny days and warmth. It is always cool here ( a nice break for a Floridian) and tends to lack sunshine, but our rain\cold experience in Brest was unusual for the region.
Nights require a jacket and the water is quite cold but we do see people at the beach with some swimming. We're typically bundled up when sailing. But it really is very pleasant when the sun shines, and it has been the last week.
We're in the season of festivals. Last night a Bretagne band played and it was very interesting to see all the young people singing and dancing to the traditional music. I've never experienced anything like that in the US. Perhaps because they are (defiantly) maintaining their independence and heritage, it appeals to all ages.
And there is virtually no police presence. Whether it is sensitivity to peoples desires not to have authoritarian visibility or just that people here can manage their own affairs without authoritarion intervention, it is noticeably different. You feel really safe and not seeing the police makes you feel safer.
Another positive observation is that they seem to accept personable responsibility for things like falling off a high sea wall onto a dock. There are no railings on any of the dock areas. In the US, it would be inconceivable to have a huge city center with a 20ft high ledge that someone could easily fall over (and there is nothing to prevent cars from going over the edge either).
Children are present, but I haven't seen one take the plunge yet (smarter or more attentive parents?).
I've asked a few people about it (really trying to find out if they lack lawyers or their courts are just more reasonable)...the response typically is that you should just not fall off the wall!
-Scott
First, don't call them French!
The French coast guard sometimes decides to enforce the requirement that ships fly their national flag on the stern...many of the boats here fly the flag of Bretagne from the stern!
For years, the French government banned the teaching of their language and has tried to make them French. From what I can see it isn't working!
The food is excellent and the region has a lot of things like sausages and cheeses that are made only here.
They can't make wine here but do make very good whiskey.
We made a good friend in Morlaix who introduced us to the delicacies of the region along with wines from Bordeaux. Tremendous good fortune on our part as the variety of choices is really overwhelming.
I was really pleased to have him rate my cooking at 2 Michelin stars after having him to dinner on the boat twice. He was amazed at how well we ate on the boat.
The weather has finally turned and we're getting sunny days and warmth. It is always cool here ( a nice break for a Floridian) and tends to lack sunshine, but our rain\cold experience in Brest was unusual for the region.
Nights require a jacket and the water is quite cold but we do see people at the beach with some swimming. We're typically bundled up when sailing. But it really is very pleasant when the sun shines, and it has been the last week.
We're in the season of festivals. Last night a Bretagne band played and it was very interesting to see all the young people singing and dancing to the traditional music. I've never experienced anything like that in the US. Perhaps because they are (defiantly) maintaining their independence and heritage, it appeals to all ages.
And there is virtually no police presence. Whether it is sensitivity to peoples desires not to have authoritarian visibility or just that people here can manage their own affairs without authoritarion intervention, it is noticeably different. You feel really safe and not seeing the police makes you feel safer.
Another positive observation is that they seem to accept personable responsibility for things like falling off a high sea wall onto a dock. There are no railings on any of the dock areas. In the US, it would be inconceivable to have a huge city center with a 20ft high ledge that someone could easily fall over (and there is nothing to prevent cars from going over the edge either).
Children are present, but I haven't seen one take the plunge yet (smarter or more attentive parents?).
I've asked a few people about it (really trying to find out if they lack lawyers or their courts are just more reasonable)...the response typically is that you should just not fall off the wall!
-Scott
Brest
Brest is a very nice, modern small city and is probably the biggest boating center in France.
WWII was not kind to it. It was, and is, a French naval port. The Germans bombed it first and the Allies later when the 3rd Reich used it for a sub base.
So, things are newer and it lacks the charm of the other small cities in the region.
The current marina is way outside of the city center and there is little around there.
The maritime festival was truly amazing, around 2000 classic boats.
The weather was so bad for the first 2 weeks we were there, which colored the visit.
Our departure got delayed by a last minute discovery of a fuel problem (seawater in the aux tank...long story there), so we felt trapped in the end.
Glad to have visited but very happy to have moved on.
-Scott
WWII was not kind to it. It was, and is, a French naval port. The Germans bombed it first and the Allies later when the 3rd Reich used it for a sub base.
So, things are newer and it lacks the charm of the other small cities in the region.
The current marina is way outside of the city center and there is little around there.
The maritime festival was truly amazing, around 2000 classic boats.
The weather was so bad for the first 2 weeks we were there, which colored the visit.
Our departure got delayed by a last minute discovery of a fuel problem (seawater in the aux tank...long story there), so we felt trapped in the end.
Glad to have visited but very happy to have moved on.
-Scott
L'Aber W'rach
A small town on a natural river.
Brand new marina facilities and the restaurants and bars are right there, including one of the oldest bars in the province.
I did a great Jerry Lewis impersonation (they love the man in this country) trying to get off a bus with groceries and some lumber, way past the official stop... It took several people to get my bags and me off the bus.
I decided to leave the next day lest I run into any bus patrons.
-Scott
Brand new marina facilities and the restaurants and bars are right there, including one of the oldest bars in the province.
I did a great Jerry Lewis impersonation (they love the man in this country) trying to get off a bus with groceries and some lumber, way past the official stop... It took several people to get my bags and me off the bus.
I decided to leave the next day lest I run into any bus patrons.
-Scott
Morlaix
I met a couple in Brest that were attending the festival on their classic boat. They keep a boat in Morlaix and summer on it, traveling to various ports in the region. Based on talking to them I put it on the must see list.
It turned out to be absolutely phenomenal.
The town is beautiful, very old (the only thing bombed in WWII was the bridge) and the dock is just on the edge of town.
I could easily have spent a month there...I'm regretting the days lost in Brest.
-Scott
It turned out to be absolutely phenomenal.
The town is beautiful, very old (the only thing bombed in WWII was the bridge) and the dock is just on the edge of town.
I could easily have spent a month there...I'm regretting the days lost in Brest.
-Scott
Paimpol
Very similar to Morlaix, I'm not sure which I like better.
Similar to Morlaix, the marina is right in the downtown (actually more so than Morlaix in that it is ringed by buildings).
We spent two nights “on the hard” (lifted in the marina), which was an interesting viewpoint of the city.
The young mechanic introduced us to his parents and sister, and we went to dinner at their house.
His father, Neil, helped me out tremendously by helping me construct new hatch boards. My beautiful teak ones were lost at sea when I had temporarily set them down on a cockpit seat just before we were hit by a large wave.
So, that's another big project down.
We had the family to dinner last night and we ate 4 dozen oysters that I had secured through some local contacts (16 Euro!).
I'm in no rush to move on, but we're burning summer days and will need to move on down the road soon.
-Scott
Similar to Morlaix, the marina is right in the downtown (actually more so than Morlaix in that it is ringed by buildings).
We spent two nights “on the hard” (lifted in the marina), which was an interesting viewpoint of the city.
The young mechanic introduced us to his parents and sister, and we went to dinner at their house.
His father, Neil, helped me out tremendously by helping me construct new hatch boards. My beautiful teak ones were lost at sea when I had temporarily set them down on a cockpit seat just before we were hit by a large wave.
So, that's another big project down.
We had the family to dinner last night and we ate 4 dozen oysters that I had secured through some local contacts (16 Euro!).
I'm in no rush to move on, but we're burning summer days and will need to move on down the road soon.
-Scott
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