Month: August 2021

First Trip Away

August 27, 2021 / fiandadrian

By Adrian and Fi

It was time to leave the dock on our first adventure. Sitting at the dock waiting for work on the boat to be completed was not satisfying, plus there is the age old adage of letting go of the dock vacuum, so we set a date and made a plan to head 35 miles around the coast to St Vaast La Hougue. The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, or engine throttle push as the case may be.

On a grey and overcast day we cast off the lines and Fi accurately negotiated our marina exit which has barely more room than the length of the boat. We set sail as the showers loomed and we pondered if the radar was going to be helpful. Thankfully the showers stayed onshore, the winds freshened and we zipped along the coast helped by over 3 knots of current at times. The sun even decided to grace us with its presence. Speed over ground was 10.5 knots.

Sailing Away began to feel familiar, in a way – Addictive had really prepared us for this moment. No longer was Away this massive heavy scary beast, rather it became much like my (Fi) first car, simple and reliable, easy to drive and responsive. A familiar friend who we could trust.

By late afternoon we approached St Vaast harbour and managed to negotiate a small berth without crushing too many boats… phew. We did learn that tying up docking lines is very hard when the boat is in slow forward. Oops. Thankfully there are loads of wonderfully friendly locals who are more than happy to lend a hand.

St Vaast turned out to be that picture perfect French seaside town. Fishing boats tied to the wharf, fresh fish sold on the dock and a suitable number of shops selling blue and white stripped knitware, and yellow raincoats. There was even a music festival on, and what’s not to like about a Dutch bicycle band serenading the port each afternoon. Of course in order to hear a whole song, you also need to be on a bicycle…

Our bikes and a Bernie trailer allowed us to cycle a few miles up the coast to a beach side lunch spot, and a suitable Bernie beach. A yacht dried out on the sand next to the restaurant… maybe us someday soon!

We found an old fort on a dog walk around the coast and even walked out to an island that is only accessible at low tide. The tides transform from oyster beds at low tide to sail training areas at high tide.

We enjoyed our stay so much we extended a few days, but eventually it was time to leave and so we quickly headed out to deeper water away from the crab pots. Away ate up the miles delivering us back to familiar Cherbourg late afternoon.

For other new owners picking up boats in Cherbourg we would recommend a trip to St Vaast. There are some challenges as the the race off Barfleur needs 5-7 miles clearance or cross it at slack tide as we did. We saw the race from land during wind against tide conditions with breaking waves miles out from the lighthouse.

St Vaast harbour is only open for a few hours around high tide (times on their web site). We tried booking a berth online and got no response. A quick phone call confirmed that there was space and to select our own berth on arrival.

Its a great way to stretch your sail legs as sailing to St Vaast means you are going around a corner. For us it meant that we tested almost every point of sail. We clocked 9.2 knots boat speed close hauled going into St Vaast in flat water. It was awesome fun. We did reef both the Genoa and the main at one point as the apparent wind increased around the corner towards St Vaast.

Tidal flows around the Barfleur race were over 3 knots and this pushes the crab pot markers under the surface so keep a good lookout. All quite manageable with some prep and St Vaast is worth the effort.

Its also perfect as a first trip because timings from Cherbourg usually mean that you hit the race at a good time, and then you will also be in St Vaast at the right time for the gate to be open. The reverse is true going back to Cherbourg.

Make sure you visit Maison Gosselin for some great wine and in house roasted coffee beans, and eat some oysters. The market on Saturday is great. Eat all the food is our main recommendation. Walk out to both forts as the views are spectacular and walking through the oyster beds is a real experience.

So yes, St Vaast as a first experience cruising on our new boat was perfect.

Getting Away

August 15, 2021 / fiandadrian

By Fi

I’m genuinely not sure that the puns using the boat name are ever going to stop… but I expect they will have to because there are only so many variations using the word “Away” that my brain can compute.

Again, its been a while between posts but for good reason! We got Away! And its been hectic. I’ve taught the boat yard folks doing the handover with us a new phrase – “Drinking from the fire hose” – because that is how it has been feeling.

Our first two days on Away (Thursday and Friday), entailed getting to know the boat a little so we could sleep and cook and do the necessary. We also moved all our belongings (12 boxes plus suitcases) on to the boat and tried to get as much of it put into logical places. Easier said than done when the lockers are all different shapes and sizes, and also there is storage under storage, under beds, under floors etc.

We learned about the systems and did a lot of testing. Then we had the weekend to really unpack and settle in, and take the 25 minute walk to the shops over and over again for supplies, and the supplies we inevitably forget. I promise I will include some nice inside photos in a sec.

Day 3 and 4 were spent on the harbour here in Cherbourg, hoisting sails, testing the single line reefing system on our mail sail (used to reduce the amount of sail for windy conditions), testing the stay sail, the solent and the gennaker. All working so well and we love how the boat sails (thank goodness because prior to now, we didn’t actually know how it sailed).

Here you can see our beautiful red gennaker looking fabulous against the ocean and our black hull.

We also spent time doing some “close quarters manoeuvring” – or in other words, trying not to hit other peoples boats while we try to dock ours.

I was up first for close quarters work, and with the help from Kevin (our handover specialist) I parallel parked the boat a few times, using the bow thruster and getting the feel for the dual rudder system. I wasn’t allowed yet to reverse the boat into our slip, mainly because neither of us had seen it done before, and the space between the dock on one side is about 20cm, and the neighbours boat on the other side is about 20cm, so you can imagine Kevin preferred to show us how it was done, prior to either of us giving it a bash – literally. Apparently this is as tight a slip as we will see anywhere, so if we can reverse into this slip, we’re going to be well set up.

Here is Bernie and I happily looking out for crab pots while I helm on our first day sailing. Needless to say there are no photos of us doing close quarters manoeuvring we’re a little busy (read stressed).

Adrian was up the next day (our last day) to practice some manoeuvring as well, and we had a chance to ask some final questions. Not to be outdone by me, Adrian was this time allowed to reverse the boat into our slip, and did so like a champion. I have dubbed him the official reverse parker of the boat now. To be fair, a few days later I would have my own chance to reverse the boat in and would do so successfully.

Here we are after some successful docking practice. Successful meaning I managed to lasso the cleat on the dock by throwing the docking line over it from the boat while Adrian, driving the boat towards the dock, didn’t hit anything. Oh, and Bernie didn’t jump off the boat mid docking manoeuvre to say hi to everyone. Happy days.

So after completing the final systems check, both of us having helmed, docked and sailed the boat, we signed the paperwork and Away is officially our home. The next few days we spend working with Garcia on a few items that needed correcting (to be expected when building a new boat), fitting out the boat with our safety gear, moving our belongings around and around and around finding the best spots for things, and buying storage boxes – lots of storage boxes.

Again we didn’t think that would make interesting photos so here we are sailing again.

And we buy sheets and plates and storage boxes and towels and cookware and dog food and storage boxes and tools and glasses and baguettes and storage boxes and spices and a board for my magnets and hooks and storage boxes. Tiring stuff!

We also now have a book for the local area and the charts, so looking at the weather, we hope to be out exploring more of France next week or very soon thereafter. It will be excellent to get off the dock. The Fastnet race has been in town and Bernie INSISTS on jumping off and saying hello to every sailor that walks past. Horror for his introverted parents but he is having the best time. A lot of people also want to talk to us about Away and where we are from, if we like France and where we are planning to go. We feel quite popular, but it can get very busy.

Here are some nice photos of the interior and our first few days on the boat – hope you enjoy!