I'm back on dry land now, so here is an account of the sailing trip.
After a night train from Geneva to Britainy, France and a taxi ride to Port Le
Croustey, we were ready to start our sailing adventure. Philippe, Patricia and I
met Rob Walker near the docks, so the team was assembled. However, there was one
catch. No boat.
The rental agency was surprised that our boat wasn't there (they hadn't noticed
yet!), but mentioned that the previous renters had called up saying they might
be late. This is the same rental agency that had already thrown a monkey wrench
in our plans when we were told three weeks beforehand that the original boat we
were going to rent became unavailable. Instead of a 14 meter boat in the English
Channel for two weeks, the best replacement that they could come up with was a
11 meter boat in Britainy for one week. While we were discussing contingency
plans with the rental company, the boat sailed in.
We decided to use our first day to get our sea legs, and we just did a sail
around the bay, returning to Le Croustey for the evening. It was my first real
sailing experience, and it took me a little while to get used to traveling in a
vehicle tilted over at an angle of 30 degrees. This slant combined with being
tossed about by the waves made it very difficult for me to walk around the deck,
almost having to crawl on all fours. Our spry captain, on the other hand, didn't
seem to notice any of this, as he leapt around tightening a rope here and
loosening one over there.
Philippe made sure to include Rob and I (both neophytes) in the process. To
start out, we each took turns steering the boat which sounded like a pretty
simple operation. However, keeping the boat sailing in the right direction,
keeping the wind in the sails, and dealing with the tossing and turning motions
of the waves all made it challenging and interesting.
Helping also included raising, lowering, and adjusting the sails, and I now
understand why Popeye had such big forearms. It had nothing to do with the
spinach. It was from pulling on all of the ropes!
We returned to dock that evening, and prepared to spend our first night on the
boat. We had a small kitchen at our disposal, and it was fun to be able to do a
bit of cooking again. The bunks were extremely comfortable, and I really enjoyed
sleeping on the sea. The gentle rocking actually seemed to lull me to sleep.
The agenda for the next day was to head up the coast, visiting a small island
for a lunch break along the way. We woke up to what would normally be considered
a perfect day. Warm, not a cloud in the sky, and no wind! Unfortunately, for
sailing this is not so perfect. The lack of wind caused us to change our plans.
Instead we sailed (or should I say motored) just to the island. The low wind did
allow Rob and I to get the hang of sailing under calmer conditions, including
testing out a large sail called a spinnaker. With the afternoon winds picking up
slightly, we slowly cruised to the island.
We ate dinner on the island, and sampled the regional specialties of buckwheat
crepes, apple cider, and a delicious type of cake called "far".
We woke up the next morning to more dead seas, so we took advantage of being on
a pretty little island to rent mountain bikes and do some exploring. We rode
into little villages, through a golf course, and along some sheer sea cliffs
with nesting sea gulls and sparkling blue water below.
The wind picked up slightly in the afternoon allowing us to sail without the
motor most of the way to the harbour at our next island destination. The nightly
docking of the boat often reminded me of trying to find a parking spot at the
mall on a Saturday afternoon. There were often no spaces available, and in
European style, the boats are simply parked next to another boat effectively
boxing them in. One would just hope that the neighbour was not leaving at 6am.
The next few days followed a somewhat similar pattern with late starts while
waiting for the stronger afternoon winds, and then late sunset arrivals at our
destination. On one of the afternoons, the increasing winds caused a little
excitement. I was down below checking out the map when the boat began to tip at
an unusually large angle. At the same time, I began to hear French words that I
had never heard before be shouted excitedly from above. We had been using the
low wind spinnaker sail, and I guess the wind got a little too strong for it.
When I ran up above, the spinnaker was flapping around dangerously close to
being in the water. I grabbed the wheel while the others frantically gathered in
the sail, trying to keep the boat upright and the sail from getting wet.
On our second to last day of sailing, we tried something different and entered a
large harbour with lots of islands. The navigation was fun, and I enjoyed being
at the wheel. The tides made it especially interesting as they created lots of
little currents in all directions that added an extra dimension to the steering.
Philippe warned me to be especially careful, and the next day we were shown what
carelessness could bring when we saw a big boat shipwrecked on a large sand bar.
On our final day of sailing, the weather did a turn for the worse. There were
high winds, high waves, and intermittent heavy rains. As it was not very
inspiring for sailing, we simply motored our way back to Le Croustey. Philippe
figures that the gusts were probably up to 40 knots.
Philippe and Patricia generously invited Rob and I to stay with Phiilippe's
parents that night, and we graciously accepted. The house was a gorgeous mansion
in a little town called Marans, 25 km outside of La Rochelle. It was decorated
with antique furniture, and was situated in a beautiful garden complete with all
kinds of fruit trees. Rob slept in a 1850 bed, and I slept in a beautiful four
poster. Philippe's parents were great hosts, and we were treated to some gourmet
cooking from his mother. The amazing food was washed down with wine from the
wine cellar, including an 86 Burgundy and an 88 Bordeaux. However, the best part
of the whole experience was the warmth of the welcome we received, and the fun
conversations that I attempted to carry out in French.
Philippe and Patricia also took some time out from visiting family to show Rob
and I around La Rochelle, after which we had a great seafood dinner. We then
parted our ways as Rob headed off to enjoy the sun and beaches of the Cote
d'Azur while I headed down to check out the wineries of Bordeaux.
In Bordeaux, I bought a ticket for a tourist office full day wine tour which
included a wine museum, lunch, and a bus ride to visit a few wine chateaus. It
was fun learning about the history of Bordeaux wines in the wine museum, but the
wine tasting was a bit of a disappointment. Unlike the huge variety of wines
that I have tasted in Napa wineries, all we got to taste was a 96 and a 95 red
which were both considered "not drinkable yet, but we expect to be a good
one". However, the lunch made up for all that. The lunch was a four course
meal that was washed down with four different bottles of wine. The strong
Bordeaux wines went especially well with the third course which was an all you
can eat buffet of over 200 cheeses from the basement cellar. I was like a kid in
a candy store!
From Bordeaux, I headed to Montpellier where I spent a few days relaxing and
taking care of various admin tasks. Tomorrow, I will be getting on a bus to a
Tibetan Buddhist retreat near here, where I will be spending the next two weeks.
As a result, I might not be accessable by email for a while.
