17 & 18 August



A mug-shot at the Cafe de l'Etoile

Friday 17 August

Sunbathing on deck

Another scorching day, the hottest yet! A great day for sunbathing, strolling, sightseeing –so what’s new?


Saturday 18 August



Street art gallery in Cherbourg

Grand-daughter Alice is 13 today, and on holiday with her family in Turkey.

Another Saturday market experience still provides delight.



Centre dock at sundown

Close quarters manoevring

The bustling bread queue

Technical notes: Service battery fluid levels check OK. Bilges clear (some fresh water output from fwd bilge, after recent rains)



14 to 16 August

Tuesday 14 August

Cherbourg by night

After almost a week of doing nearly nothing, today we finally managed to do absolutely nothing. Strolling around the marina, a quick ride to the supermarket, sunbathing – it’s all about being, not doing...

The Church illuminated

Wednesday 15 August
A change in the weather marked the start of our second week in cherbourg. Quite heavy rain and strong blustery gusts kepy us in for the morning - reading, writing, music, etc.  The big adventure of the day was in the evening - the obligatory mouleset frites at a corner cafe, then desserts at "Le Bowling"

Dessert at The Bowling (spectators only)

Thursday 16 August

We are paid up for another week here, and things are going well, even if there isn’t anything of significance to enter in the blog. Today, the gas ran out, and a new cylinder was fitted during the dinner preparation. Reading, writing (coming on well), a bit of music practice, and a touch of “Napoleon’s Revenge” for Tom...

Garaging the bikes

Monday 13 August onward

Monday 13 August — 

This was planned to be a very quiet day (again, says you?), catching up on blog, laundry, some odd jobs, etc.  However, a phone call mid-morning announced the return of Roger & “Valkyrie” from Alderney.

Note the special sink!

 This time, Roger and Jack had brought 2 friends with them, and they all accepted an invitation for a light lunch.   As it happened, Gordon, one of the friends, was indisposed, so we proceeded with the 3 guests, and had a very jolly few hours swapping yarns, tall tales and adventures.

Roger, Jack & Gill, and Tom

It rained in the later afternoon, but not enough to wash out a trip to the supermarket for fresh supplies. (Each time we pass the inner harbour, I keep looking at “Lascia Fare”, a large private motor yacht which is falling into a sad state of decay.)

The unloved "Lascia Fare"

 After a gentle dinner on board, we took a stroll around the town, and were pleasantly surprised to encounter our Yacht Club members Malcolm & Jay of “Sea Jay” in one of our favourite restaurants “Sel et Poivre”. We stopped for a coffee, and that was the day...

Friday to Sunday 10 to 12 August — Lazy Scorching Days .

Friday 11th August

Off tothe shops

Very little to blog about today, but lovely!  A great night’s sleep uninterrupted by the  gas alarm was a great start.  Yesterday the vacuum cleaner had successfully removed any vapours from the underfloor, and the excitable alarm was silenced. Gas alarms are very susceptible—even on occasions reacting to a spilled beer bottle, but it’s better to err on the safe side (?).

A stroll at twilight

According to the local press, it was “seasonal weather at last”, and we baked  contentedly in the cockpit all afternoon, with the odd spell in to make a drink, read, do a bit of writing, or snooze to background music.

In the morning we had ventured out . The bicycles emerged from the hold in fine working order, and it was off to the mammoth “Carrefour” on the other side of town. As you would expect, perhaps, we detoured to our coffee spot on the way back to enjoy an hour of people-watching. Cherbourg seemed a lot quieter than usual, perhaps August holidays?

 Maybe we’ll do something active tomorrow….

Saturday, 11th August.

The inner harbour at Cherbourg

 ...We didn’t!  It was a brilliant, sunny, hot, Summer day. Just right for lazing, reading, sunbathing, snacking, snoozing, and just one little outing to the Saturday market for some fresh food and a pavement-side coffee. This could become a really boring blog.

Sunday 12th August. 

The Liner Terminal (now a museum)

The relaxing bliss continues, interrupted by getting out “the Sunday Best” for an extended and magnificent lunch at “The Vauban”. This has changed hands—the food and value are still as good, but we missed our proper “Maitresse d'hôtel”.  And a nice long stroll in the early evening, watching endless yachts trying to pack themselves into an already-crowded marina.

Catching up on the medal table on the (mute) TV in the Yacht Club, a stroll,  a few rounds of cards, bed, ho hum– another great day.

9th August - A Surprise meet-up in Cherbourg

Do you speak Garlic?

We woke late (unusually) to blazing sun, blue sky, zephyr breeze and snatches of passing French conversation.  Breakfast was leisurely, finishing off in the baking cockpit with coffees, teas and sunblocks, before setting off for our re-introduction to uptown Cherbourg.

We checked out our favourite restaurant “Le Vauban” on the way to our chosen coffee-spot- the “Café del ’Etoile” where a ringside table was available as we arrived.  Cherbourg is the place to be on a sunny Summer market day, and as ever, we marvelled contentedly at the shapes, sizes, fashions, and diversities of the constantly milling crowds.

Fast food-don't mind the smoke

The market was its usual delight— no matter how often, it is a real treat to wander amongst the stalls large and small, all over-burdened with every type of produce.

On board "Valkyrie"

On the way back to the boat we were surprised to see that “Valkyrie” had berthed nearby, so we went  to greet our friends Roger and Jack from Yarmouth. We had a great welcome on board, and an impromptu cheese and wine party to boot.

Valkyrie was en route to Alderney, about 25 miles west, and Roger showed us the still-live lobster he was taking to a friend.

As they were leaving, using superb boat-handling skills, Roger manoeuvred  his 42-ft boat around to “Middle Watch” to collect an ensign passed to them in a fishing net by Gill.

Passing the flag

The rest of the day was mostly relaxing in the sun, with a trip to the shower block and a little refreshment at the Yacht Club while taking in some  TV action of the Olympics. A great day!

Middle Watch Blog 2012

Wednesday 8 August Yarmouth to Cherbourg


The Murky Needles

 At last the weather was looking favourable. We had been watching the forecasts in between the very exciting Olympics programme, and although it looked better on Thursday than on the Wednesday, we had decided to go when we had the chance. So we loaded the boat, shut down the house, and had a nice dinner “in port” in the Yacht

Not to be argued with

ub at Yarmouth before settling down on the boat for the night.On waking around 6am, we saw that it  was very misty at first, but this cleared partially to a drizzly overcast, with a light wind, so we were off!

Fuel 3/4 each, water 1/2, engines 942

.0710 Exit Yarmouth. Radio check OK
.0725 Hurst.  2500 15 knots over ground (sog)
All OK (aok) Rain  Visibility 2m  No traffic
.0740 Needles  Sea moderate  Dry 2800rpm
17.6 knots log / 16sog  Aok

Caught napping in Cherbourg

 .0845  On track 183T at 50.22.19N Fog
 Choppy. Vis 1/4m  15.6 sog AOK
.0915 Occasional slam Clearing 19/17sog AOK
On track at50.14.72N
.0945 On track 27m to Cherbourg Rain AOK
3 Ships at 2m  Lumpy 15 sog
.1015  Gas alarm (cleared on opening door)   From recent maintenance?  ModOvercast 
.1105 Alter course around container ship
.1115 3m to Cherbourg. Aok.

The tranquil end to a perfect day

.1130 At Fuel dock. 1 hour! 330ltr E467 £373Berth E99 pw 
.1300 Tied up on N pontoon Wash down Fill wa ter Connect up  Lunch Laze Snooze Phone calls Internet setup. An afternoon of sunny bliss. A quiet evening on board, then an early bed, interrupted by the pesky gas alarm..

.2400 Temp fix (not a gas failure). Sleep.

Sunday 28 August - The Homecoming - Southampton to Yarmouth

Southampton Town Quay to Yarmouth is a short hop of about 17nm, first followingnthe buoyed channel to the Bramble Bank, then 10nmor so at 237deg to yarmouth entrance.The forecast was W F3/4, but the winds had been blowing stronger than forecast, so an examination of tidal streams suggested that wind over tide could be avoided by leaving around 0945. Our fuel was 1/2, 5/8, water 1/2, engines 911.
The morning was fine and sunny, and we saw that a couple of new cruise ships had docked overnight.We saw Hayley off at 0930, made ready, and we were off on the last passage of the trip.

.0950  Cast off, sort fenders & ropes, exit marina. Bright; ripples; 2700=, 15sog, AOK. Little traffic.
.1015  Calshot Castle. AOK.
.1045  Off Newtown Creek. AOK. Running against 1kn foul tide, despite what Imray s/w says. Sea still slight; dry; 14.5 sog; bilges (note: discovered later that fwd pump not working)
.1100  Approaching Yarmouth entrance. Mayhem! Bank holiday fever, with yachts, cruisers, dinghys, jamming up the fairway around the ferry and fuel dock.
.1110  On berth, to a flags and bunting welcome, with tea, from Dave & Zoe, with Sue & john standing by to ferry us to Westward. A fantastic finale, especiaslly since we would be attending a barbeque next day, an outing on Wednesday, and a dinner party on Thursday.

And this, dear reader, is the end of the Blog. Thank you for your interest and support. See you next year?

"Middlewatch" out.