Thames stroll

Arriving early for some meetings I took a short stroll along the Thames Path along the river, the Thames at this part is tidal with strong currents on both the ebb and flow.

Docklands as it's name suggest are the old London docks, the ships are long since gone as are many of the wharves and warehouses, replaced by expensive flats and at the huge mega bank towers.

At low tide layers of history are occasionally revealed, here showing the remains of at least 3 previous wharves and who knows what other debris, some of those rocks would be from a recent demolition or left over from the building of the Tower of London who knowes.

A hundred years ago or less this creek would have been full of small lighters and other craft, dried out on the mud, unloading or loading. It's good to see some of the warehouses still preserved alongside the new flats.

I tried to find out some history of Molines Wharf, but other than the price of flats there wasn't much found by google, this stretch of the river has been docks and wharves since the time of Elizabeth I and Sir Francis Drake so probably some interesting history.

The Grapes, to echo the previous paragraph, has been a pub since 1583.

Finally I took a stroll around Limehouse basin, there's a lock to enter and leave dependent on the tide height out in the main river. Seems like quite a few live-aboard boats and certainly makes for a nice "pad" in London.

This is what you do if you live in a hi-rise but really want a garden with a view of the river, very neat and I imagine very expensive.

 

Festival de la Mar

Le Treport is seaport with a long history of fishing and more latterly tourism on the "Alabaster coast" of France. The town hosts a biannual event in July August each year to pay tribute to the sailors who have lost their lives at sea.

 The fishing fleet turned out dressed overall and decorated for the parade together with a navy vessel, the lifeboat and a few other large local craft out in the bay.

On return the fishing boats took up a water fight, drenching each other with their power hoses at close quarters in what what is clearly a regular and popular part of the festivity.

It wasn't long before the boats came close alongside the harbour wall to wash down the assembled festival goers. There was in all probability alcohol involved

It's clearly a major local event, the town was packed with visitors and locals on what was a perfect summer's day.

 

Autumn Equinox

 The Autumn Equinox is upon us, the nights draw in earlier, the rate of change in the seasons is at it's height.

With the changes come contrasts which bring out some dramatic scenes and fantastic colours. Perhaps with a better camera and more application I could capture photographs which do justice.

 The words of Henry Wordsworth Longfellow seem very appropriate

Thus alone can we attain 

To those turrets, where the eye 

Sees the world as one vast plain, 

And one boundless reach of sky

 

Down on the spit

Itchenor is a delightful village in Chicheter harbour, plenty of space for hauling out but I can imagine that's a windy, cold and in hospitable spot for doing winter maintenance.

 

Club Nautique Creil Sur Mer

Creil Sur Mer is a village at the eastern end of the Normandy coast nestling between tall chalk cliffs, the Club Nautique has a small clubhouse/workshop and a secure compound for cars, boats and trailers.

The coast here is challenging, the nearest safe harbours are Le Teport to the east and Dieppe to the west and launching is across a wide and steep shingle beach

Added to those challenges the tidal range is around 8 meters, so the club had laid this heavy duty runway and a cable winch for launching and recovery.

It all seems to work pretty well, our neighbor (of the house we were staying in) was out fishing most days taking advantage of the settled weather.

 

Luggers

Selection of small luggers passing by the balcony in Fowey.

These two relatively small boats both with a foresail and mizzen in additional to the lug mainsail are very much is the tradition of  working boats, the sail plan keeping the working area clear, but has the opportunity to set a large sail footprint. The short and wide hull form was something seen on both sides of the channel.

A simpler rig just main and jib, looks a very relaxed

Modern interpretation the Nigel Irens designed high tech, 37 foot lugger Roanna is simply lovely, I managed to speak with the owner who had long admired and  purchased when the boat came up for sale from the original owner a few years ago.

 

Echo 90

The French have some interesting training and day boats, this example is an Echo 90 spotted in Le Treport recently.

The Echo 90 is a 9-metre ketch rigged day boat, with twin rudders and open transom.the builders claim it proves to be efficient and fast, thanks to a large sail area and an asymmetrical spinnaker while the modern design gives it great stability and allows it to navigate safely even in strong winds.

Operated in Le Treport by the sailing school Sensationlarge.com, it can take up to six sailing out in the Baie de Somme

LOA	9.14 m
Width	2.92 m
Draft	1.05 m
Weight	1,400 kg
Sail area	37.3 m2

Built by A.C.B Chantier Naval Brittany  , they also have other interesting boats in build - the Maraudeur, La Caravelle based on a Morlaix boat which is described as "rustic boat is somewhat reminiscent, all things being equal, of Citroën 2CV" and the MiniJi a 1/7 scale replica of the 12 Meter JI from the America's Cup

Fishing

Interesting fishing boat, good cover come rain or sunshine, low draft and a nice stable hull.

 Twin outboards are each relatively small but give redundancy. Looks like they have three rods deployed.

End of Summer

August bank holiday and US Labour day holiday weekends have past, the rate of change of daylight hours is racing toward the dark winter evenings ahead. 

 There's normally a noticeable temperature change around mid September so make the most of the next couple of weeks if the weather holds.