Puffin - a 1937 Hillyard sailing yacht

Yours for 7k ono

Beautiful sunset this evening Bai D’Alicastre

1 Attachment

Sailing down the Golfe de Saint Tropez might possibly be the most terrifying bit of pilotage I have ever undertaken! Dodging super yachts, RIBS, powerboats, jet skis and various other watercraft, getting swamped by the wash and thinking that the next giant wave to crash over the bows was going to sink Puffin. Decided to visit here as I’ve never been and thought it would be interesting…. Idiot! 5am departure tomorrow to try and avoid the madness.

2 Attachments

Dawn departure to avoid the madness!

2 Attachments

Rich people being rich... At least the sunrise is stunning!

So nice to be out on the water at sun rise.

You seemed set on sailing towards St Tropez,
when all the more secluded islands past Porquerolles were so close!
Porquerolles was protected since the 60's, it's a national park.
It's nice to hear it still shows even with a lot of traffic.

I'd love to sail to Corsica ,
I red a bit about it,
it seems to be either very very slow, or brutal.

Another dream crossing is from the Tuscany coast to Corsica.
It seems dotted with tiny islands when standing on top of the peaks close to the eastern shore.
In summer, the Italian coast is hazy but the Alps are clearly silhouetted across the horizon.
Seems like Puffin territory to me.

Also sailed to Port Cros and Ile du Levant. Very nice. Made it to Antibes yesterday just before the massive storm.

2 Attachments

Puffin is on sale, just saw an ad.
No more virtual sailing,
I enjoyed the journey,
thank you.

You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed. If the boat doesn’t sell, there will be more next summer, most likely back down the coast to Sete, then through the canal du midi. Seems like selling a really old wooden boat isn’t easy so this is looking increasingly likely. Also, I really fancy going through the midi, supposedly the best of all the French canals.

A windy sail from Antibes to Villefranche today, 25 knots of breeze, flying along under headsail only

1 Attachment

Just been through the whole thread again - an excellent read and great pictures. There's something so satisfying about arriving in a new place under your own steam, which I guess is similar between cycling and sailing (using outboard also counts - I'm talking about no cars/planes etc). The whole adventure looks so good, and there's also a serious amount of elbow grease in all the maintenance work. Impressive.

Probably obvious question - do you have to present yourself to the douanes or someone with your passport when you arrive in France having crossed the Channel from the UK? How do they check/know who's coming and going?!

I've just read this - lovely. Any idea if a book was actually published by either the old man or the couple narrating? Could be a fantastic winter read.

Tried to check in with customs in Dieppe when we crossed the channel, they weren’t bothered so boat is here unofficially and will stay that way - much easier! Was supposed to notify uk borders when we left but didn’t. I think if you have a fancy expensive boat then all sorts of paperwork is involved but doesn’t seem to be an issue with small old boats. At every port/marina I have to show insurance docs and boat registration (small ship’s register) but that’s all anyone wants to see.

Rishi and Patel would be furious.

.

1 Attachment

Villefranche

1 Attachment

Back at the boat after leaving it alone in the south of France for 5 months. Lots of rainwater in the bilge, a fair bit of mould and some damage to the bow toe rail from a line chafing. Otherwise all ok. Going to give it a good scrub and go for a sail at the weekend when the sun comes out

2 Attachments

Current plans are:
A) sell boat, it’s been good but I can’t really afford it anymore! Also don’t have time to sail enough and boats rot in port!
B) if I can’t find a buyer, find someone who wants to borrow boat for a year or 2, or some sort of boat share.
C) sail down to Sete during May half term, anchor on the Etang and leave boat there til July, then into the canal du midi and back through France, eventually on to Cornwall.

Went for a sail, was more of a drift, very little wind! Both the marina fuel berth and local petrol station were shut so had not much fuel for the outboard which meant that motoring wasn’t really an option. Was very lovely even though we didn’t get far!
Should really get around to making a sculling oar for no wind/no fuel/broken engine situations

1 Attachment

Very nice. Shame you need to sell it but that's life I guess.

To avoid the problems after winter, I suppose taking it out of water and storing is very expensive unless you have your own space (and trailer)? Or are some issues like mould more because of lack of use?

Love it there

As it’s a wooden boat, much better to leave it the water over winter so that the planks don’t shrink. The mould is mainly through lack of use / poor ventilation when leaving it all shut up

An update…. Currently in Antibes waiting for a mechanic to come and have a look at the outboard. It’s cutting out at low revs, have replaced filter and spark plug and using new fuel but that doesn’t seem to have fixed it. Hopefully it’s not the fuel pump as that could be pricy. Really want to get out of port and onto anchor as it’s 30 degrees and there’s no breeze in the marina! Plan is to spend the next 3 weeks slowly cruising up and down the coast, will probably go to Porquerolles

1 Attachment