Forty_Two
Well-known member
Just returned after 85 very lovely days on my boat, drove down using the tunnel,
Absolutely no issues at customs either way. Only question asked was on the way back at the UK border & that was when did I leave the UK.
The French didn't stamp my passport going in or out. I was a bit concerned that would be an issue when leaving France but not queried at all. They took a few minutes with the passport going in & out so I assume they have already initiated their database checking at the tunnel.
I took a Qured LFD test with me, did a video call with them the day before coming back. Piece of cake, great system & no searching for somewhere local. Needs good Internet though.
I found everyone as friendly as ever in France, no animosity whatsoever. From a Covid point of view, apart from in the supermarket where masks were obligatory, you wouldn’t know Covid was about. I loaded the French “TousAntiCovid” app & scanned in my UK Vacc QR codes which were then recognised by the supermarket entry scanner people.
Groups of folks everywhere, packed boats off for day trips, hugging & kissing all as usual. I decided to only anchor this year having experienced the lack of social distancing etc last year. My late wife could never take anchoring in the Med, too much movement as it’s so busy. So I now have a new freedom to explore (as the song says, you got to look on the bright side).
Having been inspired by Hurricane & his solar escapade, I fitted 300w this year on top of my bimimi. What a revelation, cut my geny run time from 3 hours to 1.5h each morning & ending up with full batteries ready for the evening. Will increase it to 450w next year. Maybe my 14 year old Lifeline 1,100Ah AGM’s have another year or two in them yet. They still seem to have around 600Ah capacity which is amazing. Inverter on all night with 12” desk fan & anti mosquito plug-ins no problem,
Mounted & ready to lift the bimimi fully up
I spent the first three weeks fettling my 52 year old wooden boat but I really missed getting down in March/April when I normally do my fitout work. It was much harder working outside in the heat, but nothing beats varnishing on a lovely sunny morning with no wind. At least I have good AirCon for when I was working inside. No lift out this year, I only lift every other year so my local diver changed the anodes, cleaned the underwater metalwork & checked the hull & fittings.
Considering it was nearly nine months since my last visit it was good to have no issues due to the lack of visits. Bilge pump didn’t run at all. Everything worked, even the electric toilets! Anyone who says preventative maintenance doesn’t pay is nuts! Got to keep on top of it all.
I was grateful for my Raspberry Pi boat monitoring system during this time, knowing everything was ok. Getting a daily email with lots of data & pics was very reassuring. Having added the solar system I have left one panel on the fore-cabin & I can remotely enable the Victron solar charger if the shorepower goes off for any reason. My residual 12v needs are 1.1A so it would cover a prolonged power outage.
I seemed to have reached the point after all these years that I become part of the boat when manoeuvring, which is as well considering I have no bow thruster. I realised I don’t think about it but just seem to feel it. But Grand Banks are steady (20 tons) when manoeuvring as long as you understand what the wind will do to you. At least there is no current to take into account, unlike when we were in Jersey haha. So no disasters leaving or arriving at my berth single handed.
Furthest I got was Porquerolles, down Bouba's way which was as lovely as ever. Anyway now the important bit, some pics:
First trip, just love the Pink rocks in the Esterel
Agay a favourite of mine
Not bad for 52 years
Moving on
Pampelonne beach, always lots of biggies
More to come......
Absolutely no issues at customs either way. Only question asked was on the way back at the UK border & that was when did I leave the UK.
The French didn't stamp my passport going in or out. I was a bit concerned that would be an issue when leaving France but not queried at all. They took a few minutes with the passport going in & out so I assume they have already initiated their database checking at the tunnel.
I took a Qured LFD test with me, did a video call with them the day before coming back. Piece of cake, great system & no searching for somewhere local. Needs good Internet though.
I found everyone as friendly as ever in France, no animosity whatsoever. From a Covid point of view, apart from in the supermarket where masks were obligatory, you wouldn’t know Covid was about. I loaded the French “TousAntiCovid” app & scanned in my UK Vacc QR codes which were then recognised by the supermarket entry scanner people.
Groups of folks everywhere, packed boats off for day trips, hugging & kissing all as usual. I decided to only anchor this year having experienced the lack of social distancing etc last year. My late wife could never take anchoring in the Med, too much movement as it’s so busy. So I now have a new freedom to explore (as the song says, you got to look on the bright side).
Having been inspired by Hurricane & his solar escapade, I fitted 300w this year on top of my bimimi. What a revelation, cut my geny run time from 3 hours to 1.5h each morning & ending up with full batteries ready for the evening. Will increase it to 450w next year. Maybe my 14 year old Lifeline 1,100Ah AGM’s have another year or two in them yet. They still seem to have around 600Ah capacity which is amazing. Inverter on all night with 12” desk fan & anti mosquito plug-ins no problem,
Mounted & ready to lift the bimimi fully up
I spent the first three weeks fettling my 52 year old wooden boat but I really missed getting down in March/April when I normally do my fitout work. It was much harder working outside in the heat, but nothing beats varnishing on a lovely sunny morning with no wind. At least I have good AirCon for when I was working inside. No lift out this year, I only lift every other year so my local diver changed the anodes, cleaned the underwater metalwork & checked the hull & fittings.
Considering it was nearly nine months since my last visit it was good to have no issues due to the lack of visits. Bilge pump didn’t run at all. Everything worked, even the electric toilets! Anyone who says preventative maintenance doesn’t pay is nuts! Got to keep on top of it all.
I was grateful for my Raspberry Pi boat monitoring system during this time, knowing everything was ok. Getting a daily email with lots of data & pics was very reassuring. Having added the solar system I have left one panel on the fore-cabin & I can remotely enable the Victron solar charger if the shorepower goes off for any reason. My residual 12v needs are 1.1A so it would cover a prolonged power outage.
I seemed to have reached the point after all these years that I become part of the boat when manoeuvring, which is as well considering I have no bow thruster. I realised I don’t think about it but just seem to feel it. But Grand Banks are steady (20 tons) when manoeuvring as long as you understand what the wind will do to you. At least there is no current to take into account, unlike when we were in Jersey haha. So no disasters leaving or arriving at my berth single handed.
Furthest I got was Porquerolles, down Bouba's way which was as lovely as ever. Anyway now the important bit, some pics:
First trip, just love the Pink rocks in the Esterel
Agay a favourite of mine
Not bad for 52 years
Moving on
Pampelonne beach, always lots of biggies
More to come......
