Young at Heart

Sitting in the wheelhouse enjoying a cup of tea suddenly I heard a call from the harbour attendant. "Can you help this yacht to moor up Pete as they are an elderly couple" I jumped on the pontoon to see a Vancouver 34 Pilot house approaching the pontoon. I took the lines and helped them to tie up and connect the electric cable. The couple on board were totally in control and handled the yacht like professionals. Once they had settled in I wondered over for a chat. Rhoda & Alan Cawthorne owners of the yacht named New Chance thanked us for the help and Rhoda explained that Alan had poor sight so usually asked for help coming in and tying up. Chatting to Alan I was very surprised to learn that they have sailed all over the place in New Chance as far as the outer Hebrides and the Caribbean up the Chesapeake and down the Mississippi. The big shock was when they told us their ages. Rhoda is 86 and Alan is 89. With Alan having problems with his sight Rhoda tends to do most of the sailing and navigation. Alan is a wonderful conversationalist and has so many stories to tell, you could spend all summer listening to them. Rhoda has a lovely ready smile and eyes that have seen so many wonderful places and people that they sparkle. We were invited aboard for tea and cake and so spent a lovely afternoon munching into Alan's home made Dundee cake,"quite the cook" Rhoda is certainly not a typical wife aboard as we discussed many projects she wanted to do on the yacht from replacing the teak decking to new spray hood and engine servicing. Of course they wanted to see our yacht so came aboard for tea and soon made themselves comfortable which we love. This morning we waved them goodbye as they were going to have a look at Herm and then Sark. We can honestly say that they have enriched our lives. We look forward to seeing them again some day. So keep an eye out for a Yacht called New Chance with a couple of sprightly youngsters on board and say hello.

A good trip to guernsey

We left Morlaix on the tide and headed down river for Chateau Torreau and the bay of Morlaix then headed NW for Treguier. We arrived in Treguier about half tide up so had a bit of fun getting on the pontoon and scratched Feels Good on the Stb side. We left Treguier at HW and headed down river again as the marina is 7 miles up at the top. Its a lovely trip in the morning with the sun shining and a fair wind for Guernsey. As we left the Heaux Lighthouse to Port and headed due East to round Barnoic East Cardinal mark to catch the northing tide for Guernsey. We usualy go West about the Roche Douvres which takes about 11 hrs but this time we had a fair wind and made Guernsey in 9 hrs. This was good as we had no auto pilot as we had sent ours to be repaired so this meant that we had to helm all the way. Sal is a very good sailor and is more than capable of taking Feels Good any where on her own so I had a chance for a sleep on the way. As you will see in the pics she stomped along at about 7 knots which under sail isnt to bad for a 50/50 and heavy. As we arrived in Guernsey we were met by the harbour staff with the usual smile and , (you know were to go Sally) and within a few minutes we were tied on the pontoon and the kettle was on for a cuppa. Since arriving we have had visitors every day which is nice so we can catch up on all the news. We went to dinner with Dave & Dawn good friends of ours last night and came home well fed after a lovely evening. They asked us to go to Dielette today for the weekend but we have three other dinners to go to so perhaps next time. I have now repaired the scratches on the hull so looking good again. I think we have just about replaced all the equipment on the boat since we bought her in 2005 so perhaps we can relax a bit now. Well thats it for Guernsey. Next stop Binic which we last visited about 3 years ago so keep looking and I will try to do justice to Binic. Be happy and have fun thats what life's about.

farwell party

Well we all arrived in Guernsey about the same time and once again Claude decided that a farwell BBQ would be good. So we all went to the careening hard to set it up by Claudes boat. We all brought some food and of course wine and beer. As it is still May the temps were a bit cold but the BBQ soon brought the tem up. We had a good time and plenty to eat. This morning Dutch & Brenda in Ilsham our old yacht and Clive & Jenny on Veronica set out at 04:00hrs for Brixham. The sun was out and the winds fair for their trip so they expected to be in Brixham about 20:00hrs tonight. We must say we were realy sad to see Ilsham go as we have many fond memories of sailing her all over the place in all sorts of weather, but you have to move on as they say. We hope that when they reach Den Helder that they will be happy there.

leaving with a little drama

We decided to get a few pics of the boats leaving so went down river to see them all off they made a lovely sight steaming down river on the last of the ebb tide then all of a sudden we saw Claude and Sue turn back. They had lost a fender overboard and decided to pick it up. Claude brought Pet up to the fender ready to pick it up when THUD damn were are in the mud. ( I know I should be a poet) Claude had miss judged the level of water on the side of the river and had well and truly grounded Pet. Typical Claude No panic just put out a leg and wait for the next tide.
I cant shout too loud as I once grounded Feels Good in the Trieux River and had a free 4 days in freezing weather, but as they say thats another story. We went down at the next high tide as the yachts for the Tresco Race were all leaving and we wanted to see our friends passing (see the little blue yacht in the pic) just as the last yacht passed, along came the Yves Salaun an old SNSM life boat that lives in Morlaix and goes as a guard boat on the Tresco. In typical lifeboat fashion they took a line from Claude and pulled him into the centre of the river and they were on their way with no damage and having had a good rest. Later we received a call from Clive to say that they had all arrived in Binic safely. We are hoping to see them again on their way up to holland as we will be in Guernsey when they pass ( so more tears)

parting is such sweet sorrow

Well it had to happen we said good by to three lots of friends and Ilsham our old gaffer on Tuesday. Clive and Jen on Veronica an old scottish fishing boat, Claude and Sue (Sal's cousin) on Pet a 106 year old lugger and Dutch and Brenda on Ilsham our old 6 ton Falmouth Pilot. They all left together for the festival at Binic a three day event for old rigged boats.Clive and Jen had been here for about 3 years and we looked after Veronica for them. Claude and Sue on Pet had been here for a year and we looked after her. Dutch and Brenda on Ilsham had been here for 5 years as they bought her from us when we bought Feels Good in the med in 2005 and yes we looked after her as well. with three boats and ours to look after we were keept busy but it was a real pleasure as they are all good old wooden boats. Getting them all ready for the off was a bit of a squeeze as Clive was roped in to help Claude and Dutch with fixing their wind Pilots on and checking them. But he performed the tasks with his usual sense of humour and a few cups of coffee. Brenda in the Pic was off to do all the laundry and by the size of the sack I mean ALL the laundry. So with all the work done and all the boats ready we saw them out the locks in Morlaix for the last time and I must admit we had a few tears as they are all such good friends and of course to see Ilsham go was heart breaking as we have had so many adventures in her it would take a book to tell them all.