The circled symbols indicate wrecks; some classified dangerous and some not. 

They all seem to be at least 60 feet underwater so I’m not sure why they would be dangerous.  I do tend to go around when I see the symbols.  There just seemed to be a huge number in this area.  I believe the Samida was a Liberty ship sunk during the war. Sad.

http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?126 actually tells all about the Samida.

http://www.mypowerboat.com/charted-depth-criteria.html gives an explanation of dangerous vs non-dangerous wreck.

Off in the distance are the “white cliffs of Dover” with “blue skies over.”

Crossing over the Chunnel

DoraMac is circled in red.  The not circled black triangles are the ferry boats we had to dodge or who dodged us as they were moving faster so they avoided us. 

I think I’d prefer being in a boat passing over the Chunnel than under all of that water.  We’ll see.

Evening view of Ramsgate from our front window.

Normally I try to cover up the window because the light impacts my computer screen; but the view is just too nice.

Lovely sailing boat across the pier from us.

Something about the Langham Hotel says Agatha Christie to me.  Though I guess it really was Bertram’s Hotel and not Langham as the mystery was called At Bertram’s Hotel. 

I was on a regular bus both ways with a closed top.

Big hotels and small B&B’s lined the road across from the waterfront…smart idea rather than building on  the sea side and messing up the view.    Langston’s had a NO VACANCY sign.

Oxfam Book Shop

Lots of charity shops supporting a variety of agencies.  I bought something from 3 of them: YMCA, Oxfam, and Animal Welfare.

Camilla’s Books : www.camillasbookshop.com

Hundreds of book, thousands of books, million and trillions and billions of books!  Camilla was back behind the stack somewhere.

Next stop the Tea Shop : formerly Bumper Bookshop for Boys and Girls

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Bumper-Bookshop/72096453564

http://www.hive.co.uk   though they have now moved somewhat away from the book part and more into the tea shop part.  Kindle seems to be a culprit in the decision especially for their teenage market.  The link from their old site to the new isn’t working yet.  But if you are in Eastbourne, it’s 35 Grove Road between the Library and Camilla’s.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk has rave reviews and I agree.  Warm, welcoming, cheerful, delightful and that describes the two women who run? Own? The shop.

I went home with one of the raisin scones and a piece of amazing chocolate biscuit cake! to share with Randal.

Cappuccino and a book!   A lovely break in my travels around Eastbourne.

I believe this is Mrs .Doaks of the Mr. and Mrs. Doak’s Bumper Bookshop.

And this kind lady whose name I don’t know, made my wonderful cappuccino.

The Eastbourne Public Library!

Duh!  

I still can’t remember which way to looks so am grateful for the signs!

Eastbourne treasures

London : City of Disappearances  by Iain Sinclair from Camilla’s

  It’s an odd book, but I think I’ll at least like the East End chapter.

    “Balancing this, though, are some truly wonderful choices, instinctively themed to flow from section to section, often with recurring characters and events. Lost Yiddish poets and writers of the East End have their worlds lovingly recreated, as the hard lives of Stencl and Litvinoff are described by Rachel Lichtenstein and Patrick Wright in essays that capture not only their daily braveries, but the sense of enrichment they brought to London life. Kathi Diamant provides an account of her relative Dora’s absurd arrest as an alien, following the House of Lords’ wartime decision that "women spies are much more dangerous than men", and caps it with an exhilarating graveside conclusion. While Jewish lives were crucial to the character of the East End, vocational booksellers kept literature alive in the West End. Michael Moorcock unearths an evocative account of a life lost to pulps, comics and literary mysticism, while others recall working days passed in shops like Better Books and the legendary Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed SF store, late of Berwick Street, buried behind the market stalls.”

http://www.independent.co.uk

Reading in Bed by Sue Gee

One night I went out to dinner with two very old friends,’ she explains. ‘And, as I watched them walking away in the pouring rain, a line came into my head: “There they go, two clever women of 60, making their way through the wet towards the car.” I came home, wrote the line down, and thought to myself, “Maybe I can do something with this.”’  (it certainly hooked me for obvious reasons.)

That line, the image of two women in the rain, became the opening sentence of Reading In Bed. It’s a hugely ambitious book, a story of youth and old age; marriage and fidelity (and infidelity); caring for an ageing relative; concern for wayward children, and – inevitably, given Sue’s recent experiences – illness and bereavement. ‘It’s about how life subverts even our best-laid plans,’ says Sue. ‘How we have to continually question our own cosy assumptions.’

….but she keeps in touch with her rural roots by regularly visiting her cottage near the literary town of Hay-on-Wye in the Welsh borders – where the opening scene of Reading In Bed is set.  (Years ago I read the book Sixpence House by Paul Collins about Hay-on-Wye and definitely want to visit.)

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Two cute pitchers, the larger one says Biltons Made in England in raised letters.  Total cost of both at two different charity shops £1.50.  The other seems to have a paper label that says Trekers International  Labin and I’ve no clue about it but bor £.50 (50 p) it only has to be useful and cute.

http://www.thepotteries.org/photo_wk/156.htm

West End Village on the corner of London Road and Corporation Street, Stoke

Built on the site of the former Bilton Pottery Works, the complex offers assisted living – it was opened in January 2011.

The real British scone and decadent chocolate biscuit cake are from the Tea Shop (formerly Bumper Bookshop.)

Celly International

feedback@celly.co.uk for your comments

Definitely needs “products” of some sort.  

And locks of another kind…

Sovereign Marina Locks…some additional explanation.

“there are slots just onside each gate on each lock.  Every so often the rubbers on the gates have to be replaced so there is not too much water flow when the gates are closed.  Then only one lock is working and there is often some congestion.” This is from Bill Harrell whom we met on the work dock at the marina. He was with his buddy who owns a fishing charter boat.   Bill’s originally from South Carolina so was great fun to speak with.  He read my comment about the locks and added this info in an email to me.  Actually either lock can be an entry or exit lock; it just depends on what’s happening.

Almost to Eastbourne from Gosport.

White cliffs but not Dover.  We will pass Dover tomorrow on our way to Ramsgate, our next to last stop before London.

The lock into Sovereign Harbour

You call on Channel 17 to ask about entering the lock.

The lock was too full when we got there for us to fit in so we had to wait for the next time.

Lock closing

Boats leaving the harbor through the “outgoing lock”  There are two locks, one for going in and one for going out though I don’t know if they can’t be reversed if need be.

The locking system is to keep the level of water in the marina fairly even though there is a high level and a low tide but nothing like the tidal change outside the marina.  Sometimes the lock is open at both ends to “top up” the level in the marina which they did this afternoon.  I was on my way to the marina office to get another shore power card and had to wait about 15 minutes though it felt longer. While waiting I had a chat with a lovely older man and got some tips about our final anchorage before we reach London.  Normally you can walk over the closed end of the lock as only one end is usually open at a time.

DoraMac in the lock

You tie up just like you would along a dock.  Everyone was really welcoming and happy to see our American flag.  (Notice that the people on shore are pretty level with the boat.)

Randal readying our lines that we would use to tie to our berth in the marina.   Notice the front gates of the lock.  If the front is open the back is closed.  There are walkways that cross the lock and depending on whether the front or back of the lock is open you cross that bridge so you are never stopped by a lock from walking across to the other side.  The bridges that cross the waterways within the marina are another story; they open for ships and make pedestrians wait. 

This boat was tied to us because the wall space was full.

It was high tide in the bay outside the marina, a higher water level than that in the marina, so the water level was being lowered in the lock to match the water level in the marina.

Opening the lock to let us into the marina

Our spectators are now up a bit higher than we are.

The next day while out walking  I got caught by an open bridge.

Boat going under one of the bridges within the marina complex. 

My camera was on some funny setting so it looks quite odd.

It’s a huge complex of condos or apartments that line the waterways with a restaurant/retail area just behind on the right out of sight.  Our fuel tank cleaner told me that this was the biggest complex of its kind in Europe when it was first built.

Raymarine fixit guys!  See us all smiling!!!

We had more issues with our chart-plotter than had been fixed in La Coruῆa, so these guys came.  Now all seems in working order.  They came to our C 11 berth but to have the fuel tanks cleaned we had to move DoraMac to the work dock so the Expresslube guys could get their truck close enough to DoraMac.  We moved at 7:30 am the next day and there was only one man at the north bridge but he was happy to watch and wait.  Poor Randal spent just about all of his time here in Eastbourne working on DoraMac or interacting with the workmen.  I visited Eastbourne the second morning of the fuel tank cleaning. 

Moving DoraMac through the north bridge about 7:30 AM over to the work dock for the fuel tanks cleaning.

Getting ready for the Expresslube guys

DoraMac and the yellow Expresslube truck.  www.expresslube.co.uk

The truck not only carried all of the fuel cleaning equipment but also a kettle for making their tea. 

The cleaning system : the mechanical parts.  Chris and Gavin were the human parts. 

Chris and Randal

Gavin cleaning out one of the tanks

Gavin who came to finish up the job and tally up the bill.

Morning fog our second morning at the fuel dock.

It turned into a two day job.  The second day I took myself into Eastbourne which was lovely except for the part when I found a £9.90 haircutting place.  The jury is still out but, though I can still pull my hair into a ponytail, it’s a very skimpy one.

Lovely gift of chrysanthemums from Valerie that I will do my best to care for.

Our first stop was the parish church, where lucky for us, they were doing tea and cakes!

http://www.wilfrid-meon-pilgrimage.co.uk/

Front of the church

Organ with lovely pipes.

Looking back to the baptismal font that has a cover over it which is lifted with a chain

Hard to choose, but I did and it’s that small aptly named cupcake on the plate. 

Butterfly cake it was called because …….

http://www.cookuk.co.uk/children/butterfly_cakes.htm  will explain why.

It was just lovely sitting there having tea and cake.

Thatched-roofed home

   “This Hampshire village has a history dating back to the Iron and Bronze Ages.  Evidence of the Meonwara tribe living in this northern most part of the Meon Valley has been found locally.  In Lippen Wood there are the remains of a substantial Roman Villa. The village features in the history of the English Civil War being near to Cheriton and the churchyard is the final resting place for some well known names of English history.  Among them Thomas Lord the founder of Lord’s Cricket Ground, and another less celebrated figure from the 20th century, the spy Guy Burgess.”  http://www.westmeonpc.org.uk/index.php

I believe this was the Community Theatre building where Calendar Girls was being performed.  But it might not be….  It does look like the community theater building in Roanoke!

Mullioned windows and flower gardens.

England is definitely the place for walking.

Steve was explaining to us that if a path ran through farm land or fields, no dangerous animals were allowed to graze there and stiles had to be maintained for climbing over fences.  If no one walked a path within a certain specified time limit, the path could be disbanded so the walking groups keep track and make sure the paths are walked at least once each year and then recorded.

The path went past this home and through the field where a path had been cut through the taller grass.  I walked over and pat the horses behind the fence. 

The field was just beyond this shaded road.

Valerie and me; I definitely need a hair trip and shape.

The it was time for Steve to dare Randal to try some British beer.  Valerie and I took a pass, though I did taste Randal’s and it was quite nice. 

Helen and Paul visiting us on DoraMac

These are Helen and Paul whom we met in Cherbourg.  They were sailing right behind us watching as the French Coastguard boat circled us just near Cherbourg harbor.  They came into Cherbourg harbor and the marina just behind us.  We actually met them  later in the day in the grocery store when I asked Helen if she spoke English because I didn’t know if the package in my hand contained ham or some kind of poultry.  She told me she was British so spoke English and I was holding a package of sliced turkey breast as she could read/speak French.   We chatted a bit more and Paul came along and then Randal came and we made a plan for them to come to DoraMac the following evening for a beer.  They came at 6:30 and left about 11 pm.  We really enjoyed meeting them and hope to see them again.  They sailed to Gosport, their home port,  the day after we did because they needed wind and we picked the day with no wind. 

By the way, I marinated the turkey and pan fried it in about 6 minutes and it was really good and about 2 Euro per pound cheaper than the chicken. 

We were so glad to see this sign in the gray evening light after our very slow 15 hour, against the current, passage from Cherbourg.

DoraMac in Gosport.

Just outside the marina office this Swan and her cygnets who were really downy and curious.

View across the harbor is Spinnaker Tower which is lit up with red lights at night. 

Fact File

•The Tower has been a huge success and has received over 2 million visitors since opening.

•The high speed internal lift travels at 4 metres per second, taking you to the View Decks in just 30 seconds.

•The concrete used to build the Tower would fill five-and-a-half Olympic-sized swimming pools.

•The Tower is founded on 84 piles, the longest of which runs 50m into the ground – the equivalent of Nelson’s Column.

•The total weight of the Tower exceeds 30,000 tonnes.

•The 27m spire weighs 14 tonnes and was carefully lifted into place by crane.

•1200 tonnes of structural steel used to form the Tower’s distinctive bows is the equivalent weight of 12 blue whales.

•115 metres up and in high winds, the Tower can flex approximately 150mm.

•There are 570 steps from the base up to View Deck 3, The Crow’s Nest.

http://www.spinnakertower.co.uk/about/history-and-construction.aspx

HMS Warrior was just across the way.  It was the HMS Victory that Randal wanted to see but was included in the sold out Bank Holiday festivities so off limits to everyone else. 

Our first Gosport Ferry ride to IMMIGRATION

The Gosport ferry from High Street across to Portsmouth.  It runs so frequently that in 4 trips we only had to wait about 3 minutes to board.  They have an area marked Cyclists but motorbikes can ride too.  Fare is 2£ 90 unless you’re 60 and then it’s 1£ 90.  But I hadn’t read the sign until too late so didn’t ask and the ticket seller, who looked pretty senior himself, didn’t offer it. 

Opposite side of the car, opposite side of the road.

We caught a taxi to the International Ferry Terminal to meet The Immigration Man;  but as I wrote earlier,  it went smoothly and we have our official papers to stay.

Entrance to High Street which is a lovely pedestrian way with shops and restaurants. 

On Saturdays there are street vendors.

“Gosport was founded early in the 13th century. The name Gosport is probably a corruption of goose port, perhaps because wild geese gathered there. (In the Middle Ages goose was often spelt gose, so it was called Goseport but later the ‘e’ was dropped).” http://www.localhistories.org/gosport.html  for history of Gosport.

http://www.discovergosport.co.uk/ gives you lots of travel info

http://www.pukkapies.co.uk/

“In 1963 the Beatles were at number one, Mary Quant decided short dresses were cool and the rest of the population were discovering bell bottoms!

Thankfully, Trevor Storer our company Chairman, had other ideas on good taste. Quitting his day job he founded Trevor Storer’s Handmade Pie Company which started the smallest of bakeries and set about selling great tasting pies. His first creation was the Steak and Kidney Pie and it was Trevor’s wife Valerie who produced the recipe for the Chicken and Mushroom Pie which like all the pies, remains the exact recipe today. He baked the pies on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and sold them on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Trevor opened 13 accounts on the first day and sold 1,200 pies in the first week. By the end of the first year he employed just 12 members of staff. Pukka Pies now sell over 60 million a year and have 280 members of staff.

In a flash of marketing genius, one year later he renamed the company Pukka Pies and the rest as they say, is history. Trevor Storers pies tasted great and were an instant hit. Bell bottoms may no longer be with us but Trevor Storers pies most certainly are. Pukka Pies… Don’t Compromise!.”

One day I’ll have one just so I can say I ate a Pukka Pie!

Randal had fish and chips; I ordered mushy peas and breaded mushrooms and we had too much food.  Our favorite fish and chips place is DEKS in North Cyprus.   DEKS has better fish and chips and great calamari and even a Randal sandwich which you have to specially ask for from Denise.

USS Virginia; quite appropriate for us to be there to great her.

You can see the American flag flying

You can see part where parts of the sub are submerged. 

And how close other boats were able to get.  Usually military vessels have an escort to keep boats away but there’s not so much waterway here and lots of boats were going in and out.

Our first scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam and tea…. in England…this trip. 

Having lunch at the Fifties Diner : Randal’s beer wasn’t quite as huge or misshapen as it appears in this photo. 

Fish soup

It’s served with grated cheese, melba toast or croutons, and some pinkish color spread that we’re not sure what it is.  This was quite good and I ate every drop, but the fish soup in Brest was better.

We happen to catch the Thursday market located just near the Cherbourg Theatre.  We didn’t take the time to visit, but if we ever return to Cherbourg, by ferry from Portsmouth, we’ll tour the building.

The Cherbourg Theatre was built in 1882 in an Italian design and was decorated by the same artists who did the Paris Opera House.

http://cruises.about.com/

Tangent I just discovered while researching the theater.

“Let us return to Cherbourg, that rainy town in Normandy associated with transatlantic crossings and Demy’s plangent operetta sung so blithely. Even with their singing voices dubbed, Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo brought an innocence, a genuineness to a sad little story of true love. To avoid spoilers and wordiness, I’ll sum it up as boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Girl loses innocence. Each eventually gains maturity and an acceptance of how fate has separated them.

     Thirty-three years after The Umbrellas of Cherbourg came out, a man named Jean-Pierre Yvon founded Le Véritable Parapluie de Cherbourg (literally, the genuine umbrella of Cherbourg), taking inspiration from the title of the film (umbrellas do not, to my recollection, play a pivotal role in its plot). True to its name, each Véritable Cherbourg umbrella is made in Cherbourg, France and intended to stand that area’s very active “wind and tide” according to its brochure. Canopies are tested for wind resistance in windtunnels in St-Cyr and feature overlocked stitching for water resistance, with carbon steel ribs in certain of the top-line umbrellas…..

Le Véritable Cherbourg has also done special umbrellas, including a commemorative of the Normandy landings.

http://asuitablewardrobe.dynend.com/2012/04/umbrellas-of-cherbourg.html

http://www.parapluiedecherbourg.com/ is the website for  Le Veritable Parapluie de Cherbourg.

Just near the street markets this woman was braiding hair and selling scarves.

He was too shy to have his photo taken.

I saw him in a vendor’s truck and walked nearer to take a photo.  The pup turned around and went to sit in the corner behind the potatoes.  His owner called it to pose, but the dog really did seem quite shy.  Poor thing was torn between hiding from me and my camera and trying to keep an eye on its owner. 

An after lunch snack : passing up a bakery, “ Ce n’est pas possible”

Do kids in the US get to roam the streets anymore?

Stone buildings and narrow side roads.

The Tardi exhibit at the Hotel de Ville

I went to see it and was quite taken by the illustrations.  I will do another email about Tardi and the exhibit.  Randal took a pass and returned to the boat but I wanted to see the exhibit so stayed in town.  The exhibit opened at 2 pm so I went off to find some tea.  My first stop was that cute cow place but I was told they were only serving lunch and not tea.  Okay, fair enough as the tea places didn’t really serve lunch and this place was busy.  So I walked down the street and found a place that offered tea and coffee and pastries. 

I has just taken out my kindle and was looking forward to reading and relaxing when a lady sitting alone motioned for me to join her.  I really wanted to just sit quietly and ready, but one can’t refuse an invitation like that so I packed up my kindle and carried my coffee to her table.

Before she invited me over, I’d taken a photo of the tea shop  and she was in it. 

She was a retired elementary school teacher who spoke even less English than I speak French.  My dictionary didn’t seem to help either as nothing I read from it seemed to make sense to her.  But she seemed happy to have the company.  I asked to take a real photo of her, but she said no so this will have to do.  After a bit I asked if she would like to come to the Tardi exhibit, but she said no.  I gave her a boat card with our email and website, but she waved away the idea of using a computer so I wrote our street address.  Maybe there will be a letter waiting for me when we get home.

Not sure if I’ve ever seen a Socialist Party office at home.  But I’m not surprised to see them in France.

Shoe – Mender Jeannette

The zipper on the front compartment of my backpack had broken.  I thought I’d use some other closure but hadn’t figured one out.  When I saw the shop I went in and asked if anything could be done, maybe Velcro or a buckle, but Jeannette said she could replace the zipper if I could wait 10 minutes.  Sure!

She fixed the zipper so my backpack is good as new.  I wish she had spoken English as it’s not typically that you see women shoe-menders.   Somehow, to me, she looked the part. 

She also made and sold small change purses and such.  They were a bit more than I’d normally pay, but I was just so taken by the fact that she could do all of this work and had her own shop, that I bought one. 

Make up your own caption!

The breakwater wall that now protects the marina from weather rather than from invasion.

I can’t explain this odd photo any more than I could explain the funny shaped beer glass.   I didn’t walk out on the wall to see why the biker is up high and the person standing is so low.  Lots of folks did seem to take advantage of the long wall walkway for exercise and fishing.

DoraMac on dock H, a visitor dock just near the marina entrance.

The docks float up and down with the tide and you can see the variation on the piling; how much of it is under-water at high tide.

This is low tide.

At high tide the ramp is almost horizontal. 

The statue of Napoleon in the park just outside the marina

J’avais besoin de renouveler à Cherbourg les merveilles de l’egypte  or something that looks like that is written on the base of the statue. 

“I needed to renew the wonders of Cherbourg Egypt” is how Google translates it but I think it must be not quite right.  Maybe Napoleon needs to reproduce the wonders of Egypt in Cherbourg. 

“The statue of Napoleon has stood in Cherbourg for well over a hundred years causing little or no controversy. During the occupation the statue became a strange focus of early unrest for the Germans. The German General who was in charge of the garrison in the city at the time of the American entry into the war, was reported in the press as saying that Napoleon was pointing the way to the defeat of America.     Members of the Resistance painted onto the base of the statue that Napoleon was in fact pointing the way out of Russia for the Germans.   The Germans painted out the graffiti, but some days later more slogans appeared.   This went on for some weeks and finally the general lost patience and shot Napoleon in the leg with his pistol. Not content with that he also shot the horse in the neck.

You can still see both bullet holes to this day. This was not the only early defiance against the Germans. Three sisters used to regularly walk along the sea front on summer days wearing Red, White and blue dresses.  On one occasion a local football team turned out against a German team wearing Blue socks, White shorts and Red shirts.”

http://www.normandy1944.org.uk/napoeloen.htm

See the dark hole on the boot: perhaps the bullet hole

Basilica of the Holy Trinity

“Among the religious buildings, visit the Basilica of the Holy Trinity, which, according to tradition, was built by St. Ereptiole in 435, destroyed by the Normans in 841; then it was rebuilt and reconstructed in various ways over the centuries. The last large destruction took place during the World War II.

   The church, rebuilt after the war (very wide, 46 meters long and 28 wide) has three naves, with four large side chapels; the Tower, built in the First half of the 19th century, is over 20 metres high. It owns valuable and antiques paintings, such as "The Visit of the Holy Women at the tomb of Jesus" by Flemish painter Gaspard Crayer (1582-1669), and the “Adoration of the Shepherds” by Philippe de La Hire (1640-1718).”

http://www.francethisway.com/places/cherbourg.php

Huge organ

Light and dark

20^th Century Stained Glass Windows by Jean Gaudin

Reflected light and painted columns were my favorite part.

Garden of the small book shop where I bought the tiniest Larousse French/Anglais dictionary on earth that fits my palm. 

The music shop across the street

Pastries and Flowers : how French!

And outdoor cafes

The man to the far left enters our story below…

He saw us admiring his 3 wheeled motorcycle

Randal got to sit at the helm

Kids and fountains

Fruit cheese wine

How French… all she need is a bouquet of flowers and a baguette in her straw basket

AND A BIKE HELMET !!!

I thought this place was so cute when Randal and I passed by in the morning.  Later, about 1:45 when I stopped by  I was told one couldn’t order just tea as it was a restaurant, not a tea shop.  I found someplace else, but that’s a later story…

A tea shop; which often doesn’t serve lunch, but not where I had my tea

We thought hitting 10 knots was amazing

Then it was eleven knots!!!

12.7 knots was the highest we recorded.  We tend to average 6!   Of course at one point we were down to about 3 knots when the tide changed but that was just fine as it all works out.

One funny thing happened.  Spain seemed really unconcerned whether we checked in or not.  We tried in La Liῆea but no one would do it.  In La Coruῆa the marina just shrugged it off.  In Brest we had to remind the marina staff that the US wasn’t part of Schengen and we might need to check in.  But it was Sunday morning and the office of marine officials was closed.  It made no sense to check in Monday morning and then check out Monday afternoon as we were leaving sunrise Tuesday, so we skipped it there.  But here’s the thing, we took down our tattered American flag for me to sew and left Brest with no flag.  That, the French officials cared about.  As we were merrily cruising away from Brest we noticed a speedy pontoon type boat aiming for us.  They aimed right at us and grabbed a hold of our back rail and politely explained they were French customs and were coming aboard.  They had guns on their belts but it was broad daylight in the middle of a busy channel, so no problem.  (Like maybe they were really the bad guys rather than the good guys.  After the Somalia issue, you think of those things.)   These guys were very professional and polite and searched the boat over.     Certainly made me wish I’d dusted and vacuumed.  Randal went round the boat with them per their request.   After about 40 minutes they left.  They did tell us our ‘no flag” was a red flag to them and they strongly encouraged us to put it back up.  In Asia no one cared and because of “real or imagined” threats many Americans didn’t fly their flag.  As a guest you always fly the one of the country you are visiting.  These guys didn’t care that we weren’t flying a French flag.  We have one but customarily you wait to raise it until you are officially checked into the country and since we hadn’t been officially checked into anywhere since we checked out of Tunisia, our foreign flags are still in the drawer.

We planned to check in here in Cherbourg, but again the marina said there was no need.  So maybe we’ll put up the French flag along with our tattered American flag.  The flags just can’t stand up to ocean travel. 

Randal and his new pals.  They had just enough English; just enough and it took me a bit to realize that they were asking if we had a safe.  They kept asking about the bo???.  I thought they were asking about some kind of book but finally guessed that they were asking about a box.  They meant safe but didn’t have the word in English.  So it was kinda funny.  They also were interested in our huge fuel tanks which maybe could be used to smuggle.  They were discussing it in French but Randal guessed their concern so offered to take out the gage and show them it was fuel.  They took a pass on that.  At one point early on, the man just next to Randal tried to point out to me a French military boat near the shore but I just couldn’t see what he meant.  I finally said yes, I saw so he wouldn’t wonder how someone who couldn’t see the big ship he was pointing at could drive a boat. 

Departing from DoraMac

There they go.

Our friends Ed and Sue had their boat searched near Belle Isle and Ed was even wearing his Federal Atty shirt.  Today in the grocery store a British couple told me that we should ask for a certificate of inspection as you can get stopped all along the coast.  They were right about that…..

Sunrise came earlier as we were heading east our second day out.

As for being stopped more than one time by French officials…

We were coming up the coast about a hour short of Cherbourg when a French Coast Guard boat started to circle us.  They came on the radio and identified themselves and asked us to slow down.  They asked about us and the boat and then said they would board for an inspection.  Randal said that was fine but we had just been inspected coming out of Brest and had the photos with the men.  They “put us on hold” and then came back on, I guess having checked out our story, and said, “thanks, have a good jouney.”  And they left.  Next time we’ll ask for a certificate after the first inspection.

Looking at the map of the marina area and Cherbourg.  We’re sort of below the numbers 17.  The Carrrefour  where we walked this afternoon for groceries felt like a million miles away.  The city of Cherbourg  seems quite charming so I hope to walk back tomorrow for some photos because  if weather cooperates we plan to leave Friday for Pourtsmouth, England

Filling out the relatively short registration form.  Some countries go on for pages. 

The staff was very helpful and gave us two passes for the wifi so we didn’t have to share.