La Moira - preparations

Morbihan,  19-26 August 2011

Sunday 14 August: This charter has been booked since last November, so naturally we have less than a week to prepare. Skipper has been poring over the pilot book (in a language we understand, this time, which takes some of the fun out of it) without, apparently reaching any conclusions about where we should go. I begin to wonder if, after 20 years’ valiant resistance, he has caught my commitment phobia and horror of making plans with the absurd intention of sticking to them. The Mate is responsible for the galley equipment and provisions, and also, incongruously, for swotting up on tide calculations. La Moira is a Bavaria 33, quite palatial compared to the Folkboat, so the packing lists are expanding accordingly.

Monday 15 August: Skipper has profited from a bank holiday here to prepare a cruising plan for the week. Meanwhile, I have been making lists, and the packing of clothes and provisions is well advanced.  I have read all the tide and weather stuff. I am beginning to see a pattern here: I have never been so well-prepared for a trip in my entire life, and Skipper is baulking at the idea of making a detailed plan: if this convergence continues, by the time we are 70 even our best friends won’t be able to tell us apart…

Friday 19^th August: Finally on our way to Brittany, after a last minute panic over who would look after Monty the cat, who still needs nursing care after his illness last month. The car is crammed with all sorts of indispensables, such as an extra fender and a bag full of ropes of various types and lengths. We also have buckets, a fog horn, and a traditional sail-mending kit. Well, you never know.

After a trouble-free drive in fair weather and light traffic, we arrived in Morbihan in time to visit the only Nordic Folkboat dealer in France. This turned out to be run by a pair of English brothers, who brought a Folkboat in from its mooring buoy at Port Blanc for us to look at, and answered some questions for us. It was a warm, sunny afternoon, and I was captivated by the beautiful view across the gulf to the Ile aux Moines, and getting increasingly eager to get on a boat and start sailing.

La Moira at La Trinité sur Mer

We arrived at La Trinité sur Mer and found that the boat was all ready for us. We stowed our copious luggage and went in search of supper. There seemed to be nothing between touristy brasseries on the waterfront and very expensive seafood restaurants. The most tempting place was full, so we vowed to book there for our last evening, a week later. In the end we ate decent if rather unimaginative grilled fish and made ourselves comfortable for our first night aboard La Moira.