We left the lock in Eastbourne at 05:00 (that's 'am' for you non-nautical types), thinking we would be alone ... only to find we were one of four boats heading out. It's always a good indication that we have correctly read the tides and the weather.
The breeze was light so we popped open the Code Zero - it's an awesome sail! Our speed increased until the wind died and the sails were then up for display purposes only. We furled the Code Zero and continued on using the iron sail.
 |
| The Prime Meridian |
We crossed the Prime Meridian and suddenly we are back in the Western Hemisphere! A little research and we discovered that the Prime Meridian is no longer the Greenwich Meridian. It was superseded in 1984 and The Prime Meridian is now managed by the very official sounding International Earth Rotation and Reference System Service (IERS). The new Prime Meridian, or the IERS Reference Meridian (IRM), is about 100m east of the old meridian. The main reason for this is measurement is geodetic-based longitude versus astronomical longitude (and we will go down this rabbit hole no further!) and a wee bit to do with plate tectonics. Yep, Greenwich is moving!
But the real story here is far more interesting - we crossed back into the western hemisphere!! And continued onto towards Cherbourg. We did get the sails back up, dodged a few ships and pulled in a reef before dark. And in what felt like no time at all, we were dropping anchor in Baie de Saint Anne inside the Grand Rade of Cherbourg.
 |
| Tricky to make out but there are five Garcias in this photo! |
 |
| That's a nice picture of Chinoo ... WAIT, that's too big! |
 |
| ... and that one is the right size, but wrong colour. |
 |
| ... this one is the wrong colour, too. See what we mean? |
As we are back in the land of Garcias, we have met up with Arriën, who was in the process of the handover (inspecting, testing) of his new Explocat 52.
 |
| Arriën and Maika's new Explocat 52. Lots of room. |
 |
| Moving in ... with a poor choice of tide timing |
 |
| Arriën unplacking |
Arriën was kind enough to invite us to celebrate with him most evenings, as a few-week delay in the handover process meant that his wife and teenage kids had to go back to Curacao, where they are currently living. We alternated between evenings of meals and conversation aboard Tokara (which is not fully set up) and Chinook.
 |
Moving day tradition - take-away pizza and beer!
Made even better by good company, sunshine and a HUGE cockpit area. |
The handover process happens over two weeks as there are many systems (rigging, propulsion, mechanical, electrical, comfort systems, etc.) that need to be fully understood by the new owner. Garcia does an excellent job of ensuring that each new owner has a grip on where every important control is and how everything is operated. Maintenance and maintenance schedules are discussed along with general care and handling. Each and every configuration of sails is demonstrated over the course of the handover.
 |
| Arriën and Christophe, head of GLS handover team |
 |
| We think this is where the term, "showing you the ropes" comes from. |
 |
| ... and there's lots of 'em. |
 |
| As roughly translated from French, this is called "the piano" in front of two very large, very powerful electric winches. |
 |
| Arriën getting familiar with one of his two new engines. |
 |
| Sometimes they work better if you give 'em a little cuddle. |
 |
| Under full sail, inside the Grande Rade. |
Kate and Sean both had a chance to sail on Tokara ... albeit on separate occasions. We needed to be aboard Chinook as there were many things that needed to be tended to due to this being our last chance to claim warranty fixes. Two very talented and multi-disciplined craftsmen came aboard to tackle our reasonably-sized repair list.
 |
| Alexis has no problem doing a repair that would terrify us to do. Hatch removed and re-Sikaflex-ed to stop a small leak. |
 |
| The awesome Alexis fixing all our issues |
 |
| Jmaiel in the crawlspace beneath the settee in Chinook. Talk about dedication to the job! |
 |
| Sean gets ready to pull cable for the Starlink installation |
 |
| ... and diving right into the aft watertight compartment. |
And we had a visitor! Deborah, Kate's friend from London, caught the ferry across and is joining us on the sail back to the UK. Deb was Kate's landlady when she lived in London thirty odd years ago. It had been a while since our last catch-up and it was fabulous spending some time together and swapping tales!
 |
| Tucking into some favourite cheeses for lunch |
Being back in Cherbourg usually prompts us to check in with friends and acquaintances that are there. We had been in contact with all the Garcia staff that we know, but almost forgot about one. Clothilde, Kate's Fastnet team-mate and captain. Clothilde has a small sailboat that lives in Cherbourg while she is off racing in her Mini or working at her job in Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue.
Her boat, Kiwi, was berthed across from where Arriën's new catamaran was tied up, so Kate took a picture and sent it to her.
 |
| A lovely response. |
 |
| A lovely chance to visit! Sean, Arriën, Clothilde, Kate and Deborah aboard Chinook |
 |
| Provisioning in France - a fully loaded Brompton |
In and out of all the other activities, we were progressively stocking the boat with all the important things from France! We are getting very good at balancing half a case of bubbles on the back rack for the four kilometres back from the supermarket, even in these ridiculously strong winds. Our record, with two bikes, is a dozen bottles of bubbles, six bottles of Alsatian white, two five litre casks of Rosé and a bag of groceries. Who need a cargo bike when you have a Brompton?
On Tokara, Arrien has room for some luxuries ... like an automated coffee maker. One morning when he messaged us and said that he had this wonderful appliance working, we made our way over ... across the marina rather than around the perimeter!
 |
| Got there as fast as we could paddle. |
 |
| Coffee maker tested - check! |
We drank endless coffees, trying out all the different programs on Arriën's machine and had some extra zip for the paddle home. We didn't even get wet going back!
 |
| Here we are on our way back to Chinook our new paddleboards. Much faster than going all the way around the marina! |
Christophe, one of our many contacts at Garcia and supplier of spares for Chinook, arranged for riggers to check out our rig. They certainly know their craft. One scampered up the mast in the time it would have taken us to get the harness on. They straightened our wonky spreader and declared our rig was "like new." This is most excellent news.
As we get ready to depart Cherbourg, the thought occurred to me (Sean), "We may never be back here."
That made me a bit sad.
Cherbourg has been a marvellous place to get to know. Our first visit here was one of excitement (seeing a REAL Garcia Exploration 45) and anxiety as COVID restrictions were in full swing and we had just signed the agreement for Chinook. We were trying to operate in our barely-transactional French and were bouncing from Air BnB to hotel, travelling in and out by train, where to rent cars, how to get around the town.
On subsequent visits, we learned what was available (different shops) and where they were. We deepened our relationships with the Garcia staff we had met, along with the other already- and potential-owners of other Garcias. We witnessed the chaos of the Inner Harbour Beautification project and the following butterfly that emerged from its dusty, detour-riddled cocoon.
We have sampled the local grocery stores, boulangeries and patisseries. We have had many wonderful meals (at restaurants and cooked by new friends) and hardly any average ones.
 |
| This lovely, lovely place. |
We have learned to admire you, Cherbourg. À la prochaine!
Importantly, we have learned some of the basics of how the French do business. When telling people how the build process was going, I was a bit unkind by mocking them replying to my requests, in an exaggerated accent, saying, "It is not possible." I now realize that they were trying to save me from myself. Garcia builds a remarkably well-built and high-value-for-dollar yacht. We spent the first few months saying, daily, "That is a really good feature." We are still finding signs of meticulous care in the construction and design of Chinook. Any time we found a valid fault or problem, the craftsmen at Garcia were eager to put things right.
You can tell that they are proud of what they create and maintain.
Chinook is in the best shape she has ever been. All the bugs are fixed, we now sport a water maker, an excellent sail wardrobe, StarLink and a healthy stock of French wine. We are ready for adventures - if only the weather would cooperate!
Comments
Post a Comment