Arrived in Arzal on 28 April to fit out Follyfin for the new season's sailing. Appalling weather which delayed our preparations. However Skipper managed to de-rust and anti-foul the keel whilst First Mate (moi) just managed to give the hull a final polish before launch. Here is the view from the hatch whilst still on dry land.
Then it was a quick trip up the Vilaine River to Redon to meet the Rigging Team (Ivor and Marina) who would join us for the Bank Holiday weekend.
Here they are rigging the foresail, or jib, having got the mainsail on the night before - we don't believe in giving our crew a restful time! Luckily the weather was set fair and sunny so we had an excellent run down to Le Pouliguen, next to the better known and much more glitzy La Baule. Enjoyed excellent moules frites with local cider in small creperie on Saturday evening. Sunday morning dawned sunny and warm so it was time to attach the new bowsprit and dig out the new sail.
And here is the Team, hoisting the new Gennaker sail. Which looks absolutely great! It can only be used in light winds, so conditions were perfect for testing it out on Sunday in La Baule bay.
We were lucky to get a beautiful sunset on Sunday evening. Monday morning early saw us all walking to the station in Pornichet so the Team could get back to Nantes in time for their flight to Southampton. It was great to have their company (and crew help) even for such a brief time. We stayed in Pornichet for another day to recharge our batteries (human and boat) before setting off south again.
This post is being written 5 days after we said farewell to the riggers. There are not enough hours in the day ... and always something else to do on a boat. The next post will fill in what we have been doing since!
I love that new Gennaker sail - very stylish, and looks Swedish!
ReplyDeleteLooks like you guys are having a Baule...! One of the riggers told me about a veritable wine lake slooshing around under the galley, can we have some pictures of that please?
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