[2068]
...
One of the things I hadn't really understood before is what the MBM staff actually do on one of these cruises (apart from sip G&T on Calm Voyager) . The operation to get everyone in to Cherbourg was an eye-opener, with Calm Voyager shepherding the rear of the fleet, the RIB directing the traffic, allocating berths, and Richard helping out with the refuelling operation.
Also, despite the view out of the window looking like this...
...every morning Neale would send out the RIB round the Pointe de Barfleur as the "test rabbit", in F5-7 breaking seas, just to check that it really was very bouncy and uncomfortable, and you'd be getting air at 10kts, just as the forecast said you would.
So, Cherbourg it was. We started with the town centre, which is just a short walk across the park past Mr Bonepart.
We walked up to the Fort de Roule: not an attractive building, but an interesting one, and the view from the top is fab. There's a small and eerie museum inside, that takes you back in time and explains Cherbourg's role as the supply backbone for supplies and munitions after the D-Day landings.
Due to popular demand, on the way back we found a park with my favourite animal dipping his flippers in the pool (arrrp), and mini-dv discovered that heights are not an issue.
Redoubtable: a scary submarine. I didn't realise that if you turned the keys, you fire all the missles in one salvo. It wasn't designed to cherry pick the targets, just to wipe out all the important parts of a continent. It worked on me: I was deterred.
Just next door is the sea life centre, where we found my second favourite animal. I was wondering if there was a way to keep these at home? Swmbo baulked at the idea of having a 10,000 litre tank installed in our stairwell, but I think it could start a new trend.
The Chateau and gardens, a bus ride to the East. The gardens alone were worth the visit, but it was a shame that the house only opened much later in the afternoon.
Totally exhausted mini-dv, running from one piece of equipment to the next.
The only other event of note was the pontoon party, where it alleged that I had rather more of the fermented grape juice than was good for me. We did try and sink the pontoon, and I still haven't found the owner of the bowl of spicy nuts that I kidnapped. Swmbo issued an ultimatum to return by 20:30, or my dinner would suffer an undignified fate. In the end, I came back much later and a little wobbly to discover three plates, two full size, and one smaller, all with a light coating of crumbs from what had been on them /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
Anyway, it's still chucking it down with rain, there's a music festival firing up nearby, and the forecast for tomorrow is much better than it has been. The current plan is to to a 65 mile passage straight to Dives and miss out St Vaast entirely to try and catch up.
dv.
Also, despite the view out of the window looking like this...
...every morning Neale would send out the RIB round the Pointe de Barfleur as the "test rabbit", in F5-7 breaking seas, just to check that it really was very bouncy and uncomfortable, and you'd be getting air at 10kts, just as the forecast said you would.
So, Cherbourg it was. We started with the town centre, which is just a short walk across the park past Mr Bonepart.
We walked up to the Fort de Roule: not an attractive building, but an interesting one, and the view from the top is fab. There's a small and eerie museum inside, that takes you back in time and explains Cherbourg's role as the supply backbone for supplies and munitions after the D-Day landings.
Due to popular demand, on the way back we found a park with my favourite animal dipping his flippers in the pool (arrrp), and mini-dv discovered that heights are not an issue.
Redoubtable: a scary submarine. I didn't realise that if you turned the keys, you fire all the missles in one salvo. It wasn't designed to cherry pick the targets, just to wipe out all the important parts of a continent. It worked on me: I was deterred.
Just next door is the sea life centre, where we found my second favourite animal. I was wondering if there was a way to keep these at home? Swmbo baulked at the idea of having a 10,000 litre tank installed in our stairwell, but I think it could start a new trend.
The Chateau and gardens, a bus ride to the East. The gardens alone were worth the visit, but it was a shame that the house only opened much later in the afternoon.
Totally exhausted mini-dv, running from one piece of equipment to the next.
The only other event of note was the pontoon party, where it alleged that I had rather more of the fermented grape juice than was good for me. We did try and sink the pontoon, and I still haven't found the owner of the bowl of spicy nuts that I kidnapped. Swmbo issued an ultimatum to return by 20:30, or my dinner would suffer an undignified fate. In the end, I came back much later and a little wobbly to discover three plates, two full size, and one smaller, all with a light coating of crumbs from what had been on them /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
Anyway, it's still chucking it down with rain, there's a music festival firing up nearby, and the forecast for tomorrow is much better than it has been. The current plan is to to a 65 mile passage straight to Dives and miss out St Vaast entirely to try and catch up.
dv.
