Encore À Donf!
Wednesday 9th September, 2026 – Days 59 – 61
The trip to Portsmouth seemed tediously slow this time – the A35 being terribly clogged up and we didn’t have any speed ’til we hit the New Forest – the first time of driving through following a devastating car fire which had caused the road to be closed for about 3 weeks during the summer. What did we forget? Bob suddenly remembered we were meant to bring our folding ladder – too late to go back – we’ll have to work something out (there’s bound to be a ladder we can beg, steal or borrow).
We arrived in Portsmouth around 1315 and awaited in line to be called through checking in control/passport check. It was then that we had a conversation about applying the anti-glare stickers to our headlamps; OK… the instructions were fabulously complicated, and it rather depends on the make & model of your car as to where you put them, and whether or not it’s the teardrop sticker or only the circle sticker, and then where to adhere it. Onto the internet – more confusion, stress increasing – let’s have a walk and see what other UK drivers are doing to their cars. Not a single UK car had put headlamp/antiglare stickers on, so we didn’t either.
Finally on board, we located our cabin on the 7th floor – not that this was an overnight crossing – but the cabin came included so we said “yes”. This time we have changed our route to do Portsmouth – Caen (Ouistreham) @ a staggering £65 for the crossing including 2 passengers, car and cabin thrown in – what’s not to like?
We watched as we set sail in the afternoon sun at 1500 – seemingly low water and we passed the Prince William (aircraft carrier) looking rather the worse for wear – I thought it was quite a new ship (NOT boat – in the navy it’s always ships – only a boat if it’s a submarine).
All sorts of work going on here!
We passed Spinnaker Tower and Gun Wharf Quay – no 72’ Challengers in port from the Tall Ships Youth Trust today and made out to sea leaving the Isle of Wight to the west on the Guillame de Normandie. We sat on deck and enjoyed the afternoon sun for a while, as the coast receded.
Time for a cup of tea, and you guessed it, a game of Scrabble. Disastrous for me – rubbish letters and picking up the Q on the last go – Bob was triumphant with his 289 beating my 211. We had a bite to eat and I was grateful for a nap. We arrived in Ouistreham in the pitch black and disembarkation didn’t take too long.
After a wrong identification of our (very cheap) hotel, we found the car park full to brim, although I found a space to squeeze into, and then the booking-in fun began! There were plenty of folk around, so it was easy to get into the building, but no check-in desk… on returning to the front door, there is a computer – enter your booking number and surname – all good; enter any other guests – easily done – but then… the system wouldn’t proceed. So, call the help-line – wait, wait, wait for an answer (seemed like a long wait – but probably only 7 or 8 minutes) – then the guy on the other end of the phone is remotely taking over the computer screen and, as if by magic, suddenly you’re given your room number and another code to get into the room. Success – we were tired and grateful to get in. Room was clean and shower welcome.
Day 60 – Thursday 10th September
After a good sleep we went to find out about breakfast. You can only have breakfast there if you’ve ordered it the night before (which we hadn’t) so soon we were off to a nearby boulangerie/café place adjacent to a supermarket that open as we arrived at 0830. Basic brekky – croissant, banana and yoghurt and three coffees between us was good (and cheaper than if we had had the breakfast at the “hotel”. Then we were on our way to La Roche Bernard, sharing the driving – it took about three hours. We drove straight to Boni and an adjacent boat had an unattached ladder, just waiting for us to use it. We dis-attached our dinghy, which usually hangs off the stern, and so were able to clamber up and eat the rest of our packed lunch from the day before with a drink of water.
Lots to do before the launch on Friday: put our gear on board, grease the propellor, dinghy inner-tube sealant were our priorities, as well as abrading the under-water hull – such lovely jobs!
The greasing the propellor was as messy as it could ever be; starting with Bob getting the disgusting blue coloured grease everywhere apart from in the correct orifices on the propellor. A tad stressful, as the greasing gun has to be filled then the nozzle should squirt out the grease (the nozzle is very small and wasn’t having any of it – blocked) – did I have a pin – well of course – the sewing kit had the necessary needle and the blockage remedied – phew! Then it didn’t take much longer to complete the job. I can recommend this blue grease – does wonders for your skin!
Next was the dinghy, inner-tube sealant regimen. Step 1: deflate the dinghy. Step 2: fill each area with special sealant. Step 3: re-inflate the dinghy Step 4: roll the dinghy over and over and over and over in as many different directions as possible for about 15 minutes. There – job done. A bit later we lifted it, using the topping lift (this is the rope that goes from the mast head to the back of the boom) we hoisted the dinghy on board, where she awkwardly sat awaiting the launch.
Abrading the hull was done pretty swiftly – all the bits that really needed doing at least – I think our get up and go had long gone!
This time we were not spending the night on the boat on the hard standing (as it isn’t strictly allowed), but were booked into the Auberge Bretonne Hotel for super and overnight stay. Oh my – what a lovely hotel!
Perfect accommodation with more bathroom space than you could imagine and a view over the town and a piano in the bar (which gave me a little piano fix).
Appetizer – have you ever eaten mushroom mousse?
The meal was something else with 6 different courses including pre-starter and pre-dessert. Beautiful china and solid silver cutlery – how the other half live! It was truly a gorgeous meal and this was helped by a birthday present gift token from Richie and Amy-Rose – here are some of the dishes:
Calamaris Starter, Bob’s was special Oysters!
Dory with Raspberry Coulis
Veal sweetmeat
We slept soundly and had to find room for another sumptuous meal – breakfast which included croissant, fruit, home-made yoghurt, egg, cheese, ham, baguette and the piece de resistance: a crepe including orange zest – just beautiful!
Breakfast including the orange zesty pancake!
We had to tear ourselves away to get on with the next major bit of work on Boni – we were expecting to be lifted at 1400; however, on meeting with Alexi, who was busy trundling other boats around the place – he wanted us in at 1100 – eeek! Too early we said – so we negotiated and agreed 1200 (midi).
Before
and after:
Before
And after
I got the most satisfying job, but possibly the hardest work of cleaning the water stains off the top hull using Oxalic Acid, which has to be painted on and left to work it’s magic. Then, wash this down with clean water. After that, apply a coat of polish and then, guess what? – Yes – polish it! I finished the work by 1135 and Bob returned from the supermarket with most of the items, only omissions were eggs and tonic water – what? No tonic water? No worries – these items could still be got.
Soon after 12noon, Alexi appeared with the tractor and low-loading/lifting gear and Boni was in the water within less than 20 minutes – these guys are so good at what they do. So I left Bob on the pontoon, post launch, and dashed off the supermarket for essential eggs and tonic water (plus a few other extras) and called Bob when I was on A pontoon at La Roche Bernard, having parked the car in the car park there.
Along he came to collect me and we were off up river to La Folleux (or Foleux) even they spell the name of the place differently. The river was calm and we passed some stunning properties and interesting places to go fishing en route.
I called the Capitainerie up to ask where to moor – all entirely in French – and were given the end of the pontoon to moor on. We launched the dinghy to visit them once we had looked over the facilities on our side of the river and a visit to the U-Ship chandlery – Bob was happy – a good stock of everything there!
We ate on board – prawns and salad, all washed down with a nice bottle of Muscadet sur Lie and didn’t take much rocking!