Amersham, Bucks, UK

I've been very lazy regarding this blog but quite industrious in many other ways. Callisto is in La Rochelle in France and I have just returned to the UK to visit with the Admiral who is still busy with looking after her aged parents.
So let's pick up where I left off in the last post. We had a very nice visit to Bruges, Lots and lots of tourists but a wonderful place for a day trip.
The weather was not wonderful but we thought we might be able to slide down the north coast of Belguim towards Calais and then cross over to Dover. Light headwinds were forecast and we thought we could make it in a day without too much problem. All went well until about noon, when we got into 25 kts. on the nose and the going was very difficult indeed. We did finally make it into Dover late that night and while docking, managed to pick up a line the wrapped itself firmly around the prop.
Fortunately, the marina patrol boat was active and they helped us onto the dock. The next morning we had to get the boat hauled as no diving was permitted in the harbour and removed the line.
We dropped Marie-Luce off to go home and Ian and I carried on toward Guernsey.
It was a nice mild, clear night with a nice breeze and we sailed nicely down the south coast and then turned left toward the Channel Islands. We stopped off in Cherbourg for the night as the tide through the Alderney Race was not favourable. We watched the Bastille Day fireworks from the anchorage and left with the tide the following morning for St. Peter Port. Guernsey in July is a bit of a madhouse but we had to go there to export the boat out of the Eurozone and also avail ourselves of duty free diesel at 54p. a litre.
We left the next day and that takes us to Belle-Ile at the end of the last post.
Belle-Ile is much recommended and we spent a couple of days there before going on to La Rochelle.
The Amel Yard was very welcoming and they got to work immediately. We had some minor gel coat work done, and had all the major systems checked out. Daniel from Amel Yard replaced the motor mounts and serviced the prop shaft brake and generally brought the engine room back to spec. We had the charging system and  the alternator bench tested and all the grounding circuits checked and tested.All running rigging has been replaced.
Thorough cleaning and polishing throughout and the boat was really looking very good. All this came to a grinding halt after the riggers report came through. The mast step pad on the main mast has deteriorated quite a bit and the riggers were very concerned about it. Although they did not find anything major wrong with the rig, there were a number of small things and that combined with the fact that Callisto has traveled more than 50,000 nautical miles in the past nine and a half years, they recommended replacing all the standing rigging. I did have the option of fixing all the small things and that would have saved some money but I opted to do the whole job at  this time. At least I will know that the job has been done correctly by riggers who know the boat well.
Apart from the considerable expense, the next problem was logistical. All of France disappears for the month of August and it is very difficult to get anything done. We went over to the old port in La Rochelle and the masts were removed and are now in the riggers' shop and all the new running rigging is on order. The mast removal process was very slick and I am very confident that these guys really know what they are doing.
Callisto does look very strange as a motor boat.
All the exterior polishing is now done and I'm taking a break in rainy and cold England until the end of the month.
At that time, I will have the dubious privilege of compounding the masts and doing some sanding and painting and then polishing, prior to the arrival and fitting of the new running rigging.
We estimate that we will get going again in mid September after this major refit. We hope that the Biscay weather will behave itself when the time comes to leave delightful La Rochelle.

entering the harbour at Oost Vlieland in a near gale

some of the statuary in Bruges

Belgians like their beer and so do we

beautiful Belle-Ile

Crane lifting the mizzen mast

laying the masts flat

very sad looking

and now a motor boat. surprisingly good visibility+

endless chores. 

Belle-Ile, Brittany, France

We are almost at our destination in La Rochelle and we are moored outside Le Palais on Belle-Ile waiting for favourable winds to take us the final 120 miles. The weather now is perfect and Belle-Ile is certainly tres belle.
The voyage has been difficult since we left Cuxhaven in Germany for Den Helder. We were doing very well motor sailing quite nicely until the wind back onto the nose and then steadily built to about 20 kts as we were coming around the the North West corner of Holland. That was not too much of a problem until the tide changed and it is very disconcerting to see the heading lines on your chart plotters turn around and the navigation marks that you can see in the distance, slowly recede.
We turned around and went inside the Friesian Islands, that we might make it to Den Helder on the inside. That was not to be either as the winds had built to well over 30 knots and we took shelter in a tiny marina in Oost Vlieland. The place was very interesting and the marina was full of huge Dutch barges. The staff were very welcoming and we rafted up to a large motor cruiser.
By the next morning the weather had settled down and we had some nice sailing down the coast to Scheveningen to wait for some weather to cross the North Sea.
The Admiral got the news that her dad was quite ill in England and found a flight from Amsterdam to go and take care of him.
There was no favourable weather to cross the North Sea to the UK for at least a week so we decided to try to sail down the Dutch coast past Belgium and France to get a better shot at reaching the UK to drop Marie -Luce off.
We left Scheveningen one evening passed through the Rotterdam traffic system and arrived at Blankenberge in Belgium the following morning. This was a rather strange Belgian holiday resort which had two things going for it. One was excellent mussels and the other was its close proximity to the city of Bruges, which was visited on the following day. (to be continued)

Cuxhaven, Germany

We are now in Cuxhaven in Germany after a long run down the Kiel canal. The weather over the past few days can only be described as bloody awful. we have had at least three inches of rain and the temperature has not been over 70 degrees.
The sailing from Bornholm was the usual Baltic mixture of breeze from every direction and velocity. We did get some sailing done early on and athe end but it was mostly a motorthon. We have not been too lucky with the breeze on this cruise. We got to the Kiel Fiord the following morning in 20 knots of breeze and passed through the lock and did about twenty miles to the town of Rendsberg and stayed for two nights. Despite the weather it was quite nice and needed a bit of a rest.
On the following morning we traveled the last 40 miles of the Kiel canal in intermittent showers and mostly headwinds. Quite a difference from our trip north over a month ago.
we went another 15 miles west in the Elbe Estuary in very squally conditions up to 35 kts with very poor visibility to Cuxhaven marina and we will wait for a weather window to take us back to Holland.
We spent the day wandering around Cuxhaven but did not find it exceptional.
It looks like we will leave tomorrow in the company of some new friends on an HR48 called Northstar. The weather does not look ideal but there does not appear to be anything better for at least a week so we will see what we get.
Next stop Den Helder in Holland.

Svaneke, Bornholm, Denmark

the peculiar, three legged water tower in Svaneke

the tiny, almost natural harbor in Svaneke. would be difficult to get in there

svaneke, very pretty place

The five sisters smokehouse where we had a nice lunch

bucolic scene with windmill in Arsedale. Unfortunate name

another harbor in Svaneke

Danish cannon to keep the Swedes out

Ronne, Bornholm, Denmark

Painted panel, St Nicolai Church, Ronne

Cobbled streets in Ronne

Main square,Ronne. Nice lunch in the restaurant on the left

Nexo, Bornholm, Denmark

St. Nicholas Church in Nexo. Votive ship top left. St. Nicholas is the patron saint for sailors

We left Visby at 0400H which is well past the crack of dawn. The mis summer here is amazing as it never gets really dark. It's still broad daylight at 11.00pm and starts to get light at about 2.00 am.
We had very little wind initially but did get some nice sailing in during the last hundred miles to Nexo on the Danish Island of Bornholm.
We are berthed in a nice little marina and we will stay for a few days.

St Nicholas, Nexo

leaving Visby

Visby, Gotland, Sweden

The other Scandinavian mermaid. This one is in Kalmar, Sweden

After Kalmar, we had some excellent down wind sailing to Visby on the island of Gotland. We arrived in the afternoon with a twenty knot crosswind which made berthing difficult in the very crowded harbor. We found a spot next to the fishing boats and moved into the marina the following morning when space became available. Visby is a very beautiful, ancient walled town with interesting architecture. It was full of tourists, mainly Swedish from the mainland. We have actually seen some summer but the weather can change here three times a day. Perfect sunshine one minute and then pouring rain the next.
We spent the day wandering around the town, seeing the sights. There are a hundred churches in Gotland and ten in Visby dating back to the 12th century. We didn't see any of the actual Visby rams and ewes but there are many statues of them dotted around town.
Midsomer day was celebrated on Friday, June 22 and it is a national holiday in Sweden. There was a parade and  an exhibition of folk dancing around a flower bedecked pole, a band and community singing.
The weather did not comply and it rained during the first half of the proceedings. The locals did not seem to mind much and the sun come out later in the afternoon.
We need to get some work done at the Amel yard and it would appear that nothing can be done during the month of August in France. They have kindly agreed to help us during the last week of July so we have to be there by the 24th of July.
It's a thousand miles from here and the winds at this time of year are mostly westerlies and guess what, for te most part we are going mostly west, so we will have to wait for weather windows.
For this reason we have decided to not go as far north as Stockholm and its archipelago and we will go back toward France tomorrow.
We leave at 0400H for Bornholm in Denmark.

Callisto backing down into a berth in tight quarters in Visby

Part of the ancient wall around the town of Visby

St. Maria's Cathedral, Visby

Astride the famous Visby rams

View from a tower on the Visby wall

Midsomer parade in Visby

Local dancers sheltering from the rain at the Midsomer celebrations

Midsomer dancing

Visby Marina

Spry old dude and partner having a Midsomer knees up

local family, Visby

Callisto in Visby