How many of you find that your mood is affected by the weather? I have a very definite tolerance level for wind, rain and cloudy weather - it's LOW! I left warm and sunny skies in Australia to pursue an 'endless summer' and so far have experienced mostly Aussie winter weather - okay, so it's not snow and ice but it's still miserable. Mother Nature was kind this week, however and sent us some sunny afternoons, with a couple of really warm days at the end of the week just in time for Tad's son, Patrick's arrival from the USA.
Progress has been slow (or so it seems) with Tad and me making regular visits to our favourite chandlery at the top of the boat ramp. It's probably worth mentioning that Thierry from Accastillage Diffusion does give boat-buyers a great deal - he offers bulk-buying discounts as well as assistance for VAT refund on purchases. His patience with us has been endless, although it has to be said that the same has also been the case - he is another case of 'tomorrow' when asked about our supplies supposedly ordered (and deposit paid) back in March!
It is important to understand that buying a new boat is not like buying a new piece of clothing, a bicycle or a car - you don't just go to a shop or a dealer, choose your make/model/size/colour and then walk/ride/drive off having paid in full. Boat-buying is rather more complicated! Of course, had we chosen to spend a great deal more money, we might have contracted an agent in Australia to do all the 'hard work' for us, and then employed boat preparation people to unpack, check and fix everything for us. Alternatively, many Aussies use their preferred agent to purchase their boat, spend a small fortune having the vessel shipped back to Australia and then have the work done there.
Our decision was to have a certain amount of work finished by the factory, a small amount of post-factory work completed by "Uchimata" (see previous blog post), and Tad and myself to do the rest (well, mostly Tad as he is the handy-man!). While being financially more lucrative to do things our way, the compromise is time… and time is something we are reluctant to spend in La Rochelle, pretty town though it is. But the decision was made and we are up to our eyeballs in wires, cables, conduits and even holes in various parts of the boat (none below the waterline I hasten to add).
The good news is that I was able to clean and organise most of our possessions rather quickly so that we had access to clean clothes, a comfortable bed and of course fresh food from the market. Our first meal on board was grilled fish from the market with some sliced tomatoes - nothing flash but very tasty. The bicycles we had ordered had not arrived, but with a little pressure on Thierry, a couple of rental bikes were suddenly found and this made moving around a great deal easier. The boat is presently moored on the 'professional pontoon' (where work is constantly being done on all the boats around us) which is noisy but also more conveniently located to the Old Town and the shops than the pontoons in the main marina area. The compromise is that we have another Helia owned by fellow Aussies rafted up to us and they need to traipse across our bow to reach their boat - including hauling their daily purchases which are not few.
More good news came in the way of a brief taste of summer - three days of sunshine and warm weather - shorts and t-shirts came out and we finally had the chance to christen "Bisou" with a bottle of Veuve Cliquot obtained while in transit in Singapore on our way here. Tad had marked the boat earlier in the week but we wanted Patrick to join in the celebrations and for the weather to be a little more appropriate for the pouring of the champagne.
Sadly, the warm weather did not last and was followed by more strong winds, cool weather and rain which has stayed with us. The locals have reassured us that this is not 'normal' weather for May, and others around Europe have expressed similar sentiments, so we are not the only ones longing for summer to arrive.
The Bad: along with the extended lunch hours and Sunday closures, the month of May has this year been the unwelcome (to us anyway) bearer of more than its fair share of public holidays - worse still, the public holidays are predominantly falling on either Thursdays or Mondays, and as you would expect, this means that Fridays are generally taken as holiday as well in order to create a long-weekend! There will have been three of these in May alone! April was apparently almost equal with Easter and something else disrupting people's efforts to get their boats readied for departure. We are smilingly reassured by various locals that June will be much better - we do not wish to be here in June!
In spite of the Downright Ugly weather, we are cosy and safe on board "Bisou". While on shore power, we have good hot water supplies for showers and washing up; we also have a good gas supply for cooking both on our Aussie BBQ (www.marinebarbecues.com.au) as well as the oven and stove inside the galley. So while I whinge like a princess about the weather, it's really not that bad…or am I getting used to it?
One of the pluses of our many visits to La Rochelle has been the unique friendship we have forged with a widow (we had met her late husband on our first visit to the area) here - she has been so incredibly helpful from providing information for us via email, to offering her late husband's workshop and tools for Tad to use should he need them. She was even kind enough to chauffeur us about in her car last weekend to various shops which were both out of reach of our cycling abilities (not to mention our carrying abilities while on our bicycles); in addition she accompanied me to the markets and introduced me to her favourite vendors while also pointing out various cuts of meat and poultry and how to cook them. Her coup de grace was inviting us to a dinner at her home - she is a marvellous cook and was thoughtful enough to remember my taste for 'lapin' (rabbit) which she prepared for our main course. The appetisers and dessert were equally delicious, and together with champagne to start and a bottle of St Emilion (red) with the meal, we were all pleasantly happy by the end of the evening and fortunately the streets were empty for our ride home on our bicycles!
As I write this week's offering, Tad is busy providing entertainment for the assorted boats and nationalities surrounding us by drilling holes in our roof! The holes are in the canopy covering the cockpit area (outside) and are to accommodate the cables for the solar panels; the holes will ultimately be covered and water-proofed, however the spectators are not to know this for the time-being and are bemused by the actions of the strange Aussies who appear to be destroying their brand-new boat in front of their very eyes. I, on the other hand, look out the window at the large black clouds scudding our way and am hopeful that the holes will be at least temporarily stopped up before the next squall comes through.
"Bisou" on the pontoon
Our first meal on board
Sunset at 9:45pm!
Progress has been slow (or so it seems) with Tad and me making regular visits to our favourite chandlery at the top of the boat ramp. It's probably worth mentioning that Thierry from Accastillage Diffusion does give boat-buyers a great deal - he offers bulk-buying discounts as well as assistance for VAT refund on purchases. His patience with us has been endless, although it has to be said that the same has also been the case - he is another case of 'tomorrow' when asked about our supplies supposedly ordered (and deposit paid) back in March!
It is important to understand that buying a new boat is not like buying a new piece of clothing, a bicycle or a car - you don't just go to a shop or a dealer, choose your make/model/size/colour and then walk/ride/drive off having paid in full. Boat-buying is rather more complicated! Of course, had we chosen to spend a great deal more money, we might have contracted an agent in Australia to do all the 'hard work' for us, and then employed boat preparation people to unpack, check and fix everything for us. Alternatively, many Aussies use their preferred agent to purchase their boat, spend a small fortune having the vessel shipped back to Australia and then have the work done there.
Our decision was to have a certain amount of work finished by the factory, a small amount of post-factory work completed by "Uchimata" (see previous blog post), and Tad and myself to do the rest (well, mostly Tad as he is the handy-man!). While being financially more lucrative to do things our way, the compromise is time… and time is something we are reluctant to spend in La Rochelle, pretty town though it is. But the decision was made and we are up to our eyeballs in wires, cables, conduits and even holes in various parts of the boat (none below the waterline I hasten to add).
The good news is that I was able to clean and organise most of our possessions rather quickly so that we had access to clean clothes, a comfortable bed and of course fresh food from the market. Our first meal on board was grilled fish from the market with some sliced tomatoes - nothing flash but very tasty. The bicycles we had ordered had not arrived, but with a little pressure on Thierry, a couple of rental bikes were suddenly found and this made moving around a great deal easier. The boat is presently moored on the 'professional pontoon' (where work is constantly being done on all the boats around us) which is noisy but also more conveniently located to the Old Town and the shops than the pontoons in the main marina area. The compromise is that we have another Helia owned by fellow Aussies rafted up to us and they need to traipse across our bow to reach their boat - including hauling their daily purchases which are not few.
More good news came in the way of a brief taste of summer - three days of sunshine and warm weather - shorts and t-shirts came out and we finally had the chance to christen "Bisou" with a bottle of Veuve Cliquot obtained while in transit in Singapore on our way here. Tad had marked the boat earlier in the week but we wanted Patrick to join in the celebrations and for the weather to be a little more appropriate for the pouring of the champagne.
Sadly, the warm weather did not last and was followed by more strong winds, cool weather and rain which has stayed with us. The locals have reassured us that this is not 'normal' weather for May, and others around Europe have expressed similar sentiments, so we are not the only ones longing for summer to arrive.
The Bad: along with the extended lunch hours and Sunday closures, the month of May has this year been the unwelcome (to us anyway) bearer of more than its fair share of public holidays - worse still, the public holidays are predominantly falling on either Thursdays or Mondays, and as you would expect, this means that Fridays are generally taken as holiday as well in order to create a long-weekend! There will have been three of these in May alone! April was apparently almost equal with Easter and something else disrupting people's efforts to get their boats readied for departure. We are smilingly reassured by various locals that June will be much better - we do not wish to be here in June!
In spite of the Downright Ugly weather, we are cosy and safe on board "Bisou". While on shore power, we have good hot water supplies for showers and washing up; we also have a good gas supply for cooking both on our Aussie BBQ (www.marinebarbecues.com.au) as well as the oven and stove inside the galley. So while I whinge like a princess about the weather, it's really not that bad…or am I getting used to it?
One of the pluses of our many visits to La Rochelle has been the unique friendship we have forged with a widow (we had met her late husband on our first visit to the area) here - she has been so incredibly helpful from providing information for us via email, to offering her late husband's workshop and tools for Tad to use should he need them. She was even kind enough to chauffeur us about in her car last weekend to various shops which were both out of reach of our cycling abilities (not to mention our carrying abilities while on our bicycles); in addition she accompanied me to the markets and introduced me to her favourite vendors while also pointing out various cuts of meat and poultry and how to cook them. Her coup de grace was inviting us to a dinner at her home - she is a marvellous cook and was thoughtful enough to remember my taste for 'lapin' (rabbit) which she prepared for our main course. The appetisers and dessert were equally delicious, and together with champagne to start and a bottle of St Emilion (red) with the meal, we were all pleasantly happy by the end of the evening and fortunately the streets were empty for our ride home on our bicycles!
As I write this week's offering, Tad is busy providing entertainment for the assorted boats and nationalities surrounding us by drilling holes in our roof! The holes are in the canopy covering the cockpit area (outside) and are to accommodate the cables for the solar panels; the holes will ultimately be covered and water-proofed, however the spectators are not to know this for the time-being and are bemused by the actions of the strange Aussies who appear to be destroying their brand-new boat in front of their very eyes. I, on the other hand, look out the window at the large black clouds scudding our way and am hopeful that the holes will be at least temporarily stopped up before the next squall comes through.
"Bisou" on the pontoon
Our first meal on board
Sunset at 9:45pm!
Ahoy there, Looking forward to your updates. We're in discussions about a boat in the caribbean. Are you still planning on doing the ARC this November. Hope the weather looks up soon, had a fantastic but cold day sailing in boston last week. Keep in touch. xx
ReplyDeleteHi Birdy (is that you?) - ARC will be in 2015 if we don't decide to spend longer in the Med. This first season and our Schengen restrictions will determine when we cross to the Caribbean. Weather has improved with sun and less wind but still cool (60s F/17-19C). Strong westerlies forecast for the next couple of days as well as rain so a good time to work on indoor things!
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