No escape again for the fleet at Dives sur Mer
Restless but Re-fuelled
Position 49° 17.644 N 000° 05.853 W
Port Guillaume Marina, Dives sur Mer
It had been a restless night for the fleet, the gusting northwesterly wind had howled through the marina all night long; lined wrenched and boats buffeted. Only a few lucky ones slept through the night.
The main job of the day was to get the fleet re-fuelled, so if the time came all boats would have enough to get home. MBM’s Claire and Richard co-ordinated the fuelling of 9 boats, and with the help of the participants and friendly Dives Harbour Master Christophe Loyer, in fairly windy conditions the job was done by lunchtime.
The Team have been amused by the daily translations of the Meteo France forecasts, phrases such as ‘the sea is agitated becoming beautiful with grains’ have caused a chuckle. To give you an example, here is the Meteo French Forecast in for today, as translated on website BABELFISH:
FORECASTS FOR the AFTERNOON OF TUESDAY 26
WIND: of the North-West in west, forces 5. SEA: little agitated with agitated. TIME: variable, with breaks and rare downpours. VISIBILITY: higher than 5 miles
In between the rainsqualls it was genuinely settled in the marina this afternoon, everyone was convinced that it might be ‘a go-er’ when the gate opened later. After a briefing by Neale at 1700 boats were singled up and shorelines were taken in, ready for departure. At 1820 the tidal gate at Port Guillaume opened.
Despite two looks outside the harbour, Neale aboard Time Flies said it was a ‘no go’ for this evening. The fleet would spend another night in Dives. The stillness and lack of wind in the marina had been deceptive; outside it was a different story. The sea was still very ‘agitated’ (French translation) from last night, waves were still breaking over the shallow water in the channel entrance. The plan tomorrow is look at morning move to Deauville; radios on at 0730, first boat to depart at 0745 hrs. Again Time Flies will go out first to check conditions.
Photo captions:
Sunshine on fleet at Port Guillaume
Briefing at 1700 hrs
A photo doesn’t do it justice – The angry shallow water as Time Flies heads back in
