Jul 14, 2014 | Flotsam
Leaving the ‘Welcoming Club’ was a little sad…
last day of our first ‘Loop’ adventure.
We had a relatively early start
…a short wait at the last lock at Sainte-Anne de Bellevue…
…37.75 feet clearance…
and we need 37 feet…
…not a lot of wiggle room…
…we made it without incident…
the French National Day…
…and we came storming into our harbour as though we were storming the Bastille…
5.2 knots at our maximum,
genoa only, close hauled.
…a fitting way to close the Little Loop…
407 nautical miles…
54 locks…
30 spectacular days…
Happy Fête Nationale
to all our French readers
Jul 14, 2014 | Flotsam
Trying to slow the passage of time…
We could have made it back to our boat home today,
but we weren’t quite ready to close the loop.
Using the excuse of wind and storm warning,
we decided to spend one more day at the ‘Welcoming Club’.
and my daughter decided to spend some time with us
on her way to and from work obligations…
(a very good reason to stay)
…we dined…
…oysters with lemon and hot sauce…
…grilled shrimp (not nearly as good as yesterday but almost),
grains with wild mushrooms and Capresse salad…
…fresh fruit and yogurt…
we caught up,
we drank some wine,
we enjoyed
we said goodbye (for now)
…we caught one more night of the (almost) full moon…
Jul 13, 2014 | Flotsam
Today a friend dropped by
and offered to take us to the supermarket for some much needed supplies
then a quick stop to her boat club farther up the lake.
Provisions all stashed away,
the three of us headed out to the ‘sandbanks’
a small area of Lake Saint-Louis where the water is shallow
and the bottom soft sand.
…on days such as this with negligible winds,
this is where boats come to anchor…
…some of them real characters…
…some to join other boat friends…
…we swam, we cleaned the boat hull, we dined…
I have to say that of all the clubs we have visited,
this one gets the R.E.D. prize for the most friendly and welcoming.
Greeted by the harbour master,
visited by the bosun,
someone even stopped by to ask if we needed a supply of dry ice.
We were invited to join the club members on the balcony,
dined on our friend’s delicious shrimp tapas,
grilled some trout filets
and enjoyed the club’s salads…
(my mouth is watering just thinking of those shrimp)
…we closed our evening sipping a scotch in our cockpit…
…watching the rise of the full moon…