Slipway holdup

I guess this would have been an ideal Slipway Saturday post, but it was actually a busy Thursday morning.

Check out all the boats waiting along the road, I counted 9. It was about mid morning on a very foggy and settled day, so I guess the combination of tide and settled seas brought everyone out for some fishing.

More Cool Rides

I've owned a few interesting/quirky French cars in my time including two Citroen 2CV's (one of which was a positively glacial 405cc version), a top of the range Renault 16 (don't ask, it was very cheap and frankly a very good car) and a Matra Bagherra, a cute little mid engined sports car with three seats side by side.

These days it's getting much harder to spot the really stand out cars but we saw a couple of interesting examples on our recent visit.

Appreciate this isn't a French car but come on, fastback Mustang, Steve McQueen in Bullitt, and it looks right at home outside this fantastic French country farm house -  tres chic.

You can't get more French than the Renault 4, clearly an automotive piece of art which is presumably why this cafe owner decided to stick it on the wall - the beer and burgers were very good as well as the decor.

Drying Out

I guess this is the difference between drying out and drying alongside.

Anyone who has dried out for a scrub will recognise how easily it is to get into this situation, our Endurance cutter Angelina always wanted to lead to starboard no matter how many jerry cans of water or other weights I hung on the port side.

There was a goodly crew of people on the quay helping out and presumably trying to take some of the weight off those timbers at the turn of the bilge, to prevent damage

Local boats

Local keel boats in the Port de Plaisance, Courseulles-sur-Mer.

Nice.

TLC needed

One of the problems with boats is having the time to use them.

Things could be worse, these two yachts don't look as if they have seen the right end of a deck brush or mop for some time.

Quick trip west

We had a quick and impromptu trip west to take Mrs BB to the Knit Fest in Totnes recently, so after dropping mum off at the event Joseph and I went down to Dartmouth for a look around and some lunch.

There were three traditional sailing vessels alongside the town quay, pretty much the perfect setting.

Down in the backstreets this gallery has a giraffe poking it's head out of the window, not sure what the rational behind it is but it made us stop and look so as publicity goes it clearly worked.

Cafe culture has really come to Dartmouth with an alfresco establishment just about on every corner. This one is an example of one of the more traditional cafes, where years ago my friend Stuart and I were left while our respective sailing wives went shopping or it might have been to get away from us pair of salty old sea dogs after an especially rough holiday "beat" down to the west country against the prevailing winds.

Although tourist retailing has taken over the town it's nice to see this shop keeping up the strong maritime tradition, selling the latest in essential sailing wear.

Dartmouth castle a familiar landmark at what is one of the most spectacular harbour entrances.

WOW

Not sure what to say about this, "only in France" springs to mind.

Some interesting features both wheel and tiller steering seem to be permanently set up andget those comfy looking outboard seats.

The hard dodger looks very useful and no one is going to mistake the colour scheme.

Cool Rides

Maybe it's because I'm relaxed and have more time, that I seem to stumble across interesting motorcycles when I'm on holiday and this one was no exception. Just down the street between the house we were staying at and the beach was this fantastic motorbike shop.

It was full of 1970's classics, Honda 750-4, Honda 500T and at the back what looked like a BSA Rocket 3.

Bad photo's taken through the windows - a Harley flat track 750 and a Vincent Black Something (Shadow perhaps, apologies to purists).

A Norton 850 Commando the last of the big British twins and behind another 4 cylinder Honda, the bikes that dealt the final death blow to the British bike industry at the time.

These bikes were the stuff of my youth, I got onto 2 wheels in the early mid 70's

Finally a Honda 750-4 custom cafe racer, I snapped this picture especially for my eldest son Duncan who's busy building a similar cafe racer restoration on a 1978 Suzuki 750 - can't wait to see it finished.

Autumn mornings on the beach

Where we live the beaches nearby are shingle, so while we've been away for a few days over half term, it was a real pleasure to wander down to the real, firm, sandy beaches stretching along the coast and observe the constantly changing scene.

Moody skies left over from a passing storm transformed the following morning into calm seas and low clouds.

Then a bright and frisky start to the day, some unexpected surf running.

And in complete contrast a sea fog which hung around all day when the tide was out you couldn't see the water from the head of the beach.

Love the autumn blues and a run along a deserted beach at first light.

Despite the cold wind, the sun and blue skies soon brought out more than a few holiday makers, children having fun digging and finding shells.