Bay of Biscay Cruise

[Brian]

This is the Ile de Groix, it is about 5 miles outside of L'Orient and about 10 miles south of where "the" stuffing occured.
I guess if you are going to have one, there are worse places.......

[mstacey]

Glad Mike and Di are both safe.

Hope the boat gets fixed quick and they can move on to enjoy the remainder of the trip.

[Brian]

Double Trouble for our intrepid cruisers.

Well yesterday say Magellan Alpha being lifted out of the water and the arrival of the local rib tubing specialist company to survey the damage.
Unfortunately, they took one look at the size of the problem, snorted with that Gallic derision for which they are famed, shrugged their shoulders and walked off the job, refusing to have anything to do with it.
As you may imagine, this sort of setback does not phase Mr. G. for very long.
They all jumped into a taxi, went off and bought the necessary two-part adhesives and some rope and hypolon, an set to, to do the job themselves.
After slaving all day under the hot sun they managed to repair all of the external and visible parts of the damage, but they think that without removing the whole of the tubeset completely from the boat, they would unable to refasten the tubes at the bow, properly back into position. Consequently they have had to lash down the tubes at the bow, with a veritable cats-craddle of rope to stop it flexing up again.
They have now abandoned the rest of the cruise and are in "get you home mode". Mark has abandoned his planned route home and will shadow them back to Falmouth.
They are refueling this morning and going up to Morgat, which is just south of Camaret, for the night.
The challenge once they arrive back in the UK will be to get the tubes repaired properly by professionals, prior to their next outings, firstly to Deauville and then onto The Great Orkney SIB Expedition!!
Nick Gilbertson of Sealion has been invaluable in giving them his advice and valuable time, totally FOC, but his own business is so busy at the moment that he cannot take the job on himself.
Can anyone help once they are back in the UK?

[Alan]

Henshaws - Chris, I think it is who posts here. Or the tube guy who is part of ribeye?

[John Kennett]

Henshaw made the tubes, so are probably best placed to repair or replace them. It would be interesting to know whether the tube design on Magellan Alpha is any different to Spirit, whcih has survived very well so far (touch wood!).

John

[Christopher]

Whils't we are flat out at the moment, I am sure that with a bit of "burning the midnight oil" we could get the boat back in commision again fairly quickly. If you call me we can make arrangements.

Chris Hornidge
Henshaw Inflatables Ltd, Wincanton

[Brian]

Chris
Thank you immensly for your offer.
Ed at Olmec has also offerred his services and if/when I speak to Mike later today I will bring him up to date with everyones kindness in "rallying around".
I must say I don't envy them having to cross from the top left-hand corner of France over to Lizard/Falmouth with their tubes tied on with rope!!!!

[-<=[Tw18]=>-]

Thats a shame to hear that they are turning back, but in hindsight it is nice to hear that commonsense prevails even with soo much in store.

Such a shame but what doesnt kill us makes us stronger. So all the best for the repairs and the trip home

Lee

[Brian]

Latest update from French france.

Todays runup to Morgat went well, with the lashed down bow holding well.
So their plan tomorrow is to slowly come directly over to Falmouth as the weather looks quite good with light s/w winds (130-140nm). Hopefully the next call I will get will tell me they are safely back.
Mike will try and call Ed from Olmec early tomorrow and then on Friday morning leave Falmouth, with Mark in Jellygnite, and bring Mag A. up to Dartmouth for lift out and proper repairs.

[crazyhorse]

Sorry to hear about the problem Mike,at least your all well and safe.


Speak when your all back home.

Good luck and take care.

[Brian]

As at 09.00 UK time this morning, Mag. A. and Jellignite have exited the Chanel de Fort and are directly en-route to Falmouth. With another 90 miles to run I estimate they should reach there between 13.00 and 14.00 hours.
Will post again when I get their next call.
If everything goes OK today, they plan to run in tandem up to Dartmouth Friday morning.
Your intrepid reporter hopes to be on the spot there to record the momentous event on camera.

[mstacey]

Hope you've made it baclk safe MiKe and Di.

See u all soon when I've moved house and can go baoating again.

[Brian]

They are back!

Docking up just after 14.00 today all three of them are now enjoying a cold beer in Mikes house.

I will go over to Dartmouth tomorrow morning and take some snaps to post here.

[Richard B]

Three cheers for their safe return

[gingercoastie]

Hip Hip!

[Peter Smith]

So glad to hear they are back safe and sound.

Peter

[Mike Garside]

... a few pics will have to do for now before my shower and few homecoming jars...

The stuffing was a bit of a surprise. Sea was lovely, and so was the morning. I just failed to see the hole that opened up as we drove down hard into it. After we had cleared enough of the water to prevent too much damage to the electrics and to keep the engine running I donned the trusty Guy Cotten survival suit and was over the side to lash down the bow. Di grabbed the camera. I look pretty miserable but, actually, it was all quite fun...

[Mike Garside]

We headed for Lorient - the nearest major port down wind and, because the travel lift operator there doesn't work Mondays, waited to lift out next day...

[Mike Garside]

Soon we could see that the tube had detached 4 metres back from the bow. It's true, when it folded back on itself it almost hit the windscreen!

[Mike Garside]

With Mark's help, while the locals dozed in the afternoon sun, we worked in the manner of mad dogs and Englishman and by drinks time we were finishing off the glueing...