Dream Times
Portsmouth 16-08-1999
On Tuesday the tenth of August the course was set for Dieppe about 70 nautical miles further down the French coast. The wind was fair and Flemming at one time reached 9 knots.
There was a heavy sea and the old lady heeled over which made Mikkel´s cooking somewhat troublesome.
At 2 am we arrived safely at Dieppe. Now we were to experience the total solar eclipse that everyone was talking about. It arrived at 12.16 and everything turned dark. The birds were
confused and didn´t know how to react. The street lights were turned on and people were clapping their hands. Champagne was offered everywhere. But shortly after the solar rays returned and Dieppe was again covered in light and heat.
A jarring sound at the helm had been noticed. Flemming put on a total diving equipment and went on his first underwater search using oxygen bottles. The defect was only minor. In the evening we played beachvolley.
Thursday morning the crew woke up to an idyllic French town basked in the sun. The laundry had accumulated immensly during the 12 days at sea and Flemming and Michael commited themselves to the laundry washing. This was a nice and easy task because a little and cosy inn was located just opposite the laundromat and after 2 games of chess and 4 pints of beer the laundry had never been more exquisite.
The next day the course was set for Portsmouth, a trip of about 100 miles. But 14. August turned into a nightmare.
The chain that connected the rudder to the wheel fell off and we had to use the tiller alone
The jib was raised but without foresail.
At daybreak René climbed the mast and dismasted the hook to the foresail which was not easy due to the wind.
Only one mile outside the marina the engine misfired and an English policeboat showed great hospitality and pulled us to the port. The engine is now fixed. The defect was only caused by a filled fuel filter.
Written by
Special thanks to our correspondents in Denmark:
Tonny Oestergaard og Gunnar Bech Moeller, for their help with this homepage.
F. Krabbenhoeft Pub Mary House II Niels Peter Thuesen Portsmouth, England