September 26, 2007 -- We surveyed the weather situation and once again, it's too rough for sailing. The winds are averaging 25-30 knots with gusts up to 40. This makes for unpleasant sailing or motoring, so we'll stay put. We explored the Treguier market this morning and this afternoon, Con rented a car so we can tour the Tregor region for the next few days.



Last night, Con tried to catch mackerel for dinner without success. Brit and Kris had crepes.


September 24, 2007 -- Kris had a good taste of the Atlantic Ocean (literally) as he drove us to Treguier in very rough seas, which soaked him a number of times. We were experiencing gale to near gale rough waters that registered a Beaufort 7 (30 - 33 knot winds). These were some of the largest waves we've ever seen!

To add even more excitement to the day, with Con behind the wheel, we wound our way down the river bed toward the marina. Kris called out to Con "aren't those rocks a little close?" to which he slowed down to investigate when a moment later, our keel hit with a loud bang and jolt as we scraped over rocks beside the marker. We needed to enter Treguier at low tide, as the current is too strong otherwise, but that makes for tricky navigation through shallows.

When we tied up, we checked the temperature -- 19.2 degrees -- so Con put on his snorkel and went down to have a look. Unfortunately, the low tide created murky waters making it too difficult to see the keel. We'll check with the harbour master for an available diver who can go down and check it out. The near gale conditions are expected to remain for a few days, so we'll remain in this little historic town. Treguier's Cathedral dates back to 1339. St. Yves the patron saint of lawyers and defenders was buried there and his scull is on display.

Duke Jean V had this chapel built in order to be buried next to St. Yves. The church is surrounded by wooden 15th - 17th century houses a few bakeries and a dozen hair salons, but try to find a grocery store!

September 23, 2007 -- We've scouted our route out through the river bed once high tide rushes in (about 3:30 p.m.) and we'll make our way to Lezardrieux, a two-hour or so trip.

This morning, Brit, Kris and Con took in a catholic church service where 150 people participated.
Our overnight stay in Paimpol had turned into a 2 1/2 day visit, as Big Sky sank a foot into the silty shallows of the marina.

If there was a Brittany town to be "stuck" in, it's the maritime and historic fishing town of Paimpol.

September 22, 2007 -- An interesting little dilemma we're finding ourselves in... We entered Paimpol at the lowest high tide, our 2.2 keel is now sitting in 2 meters at the deepest part of the marina. We're hoping that later today, but more likely tomorrow the water level will rise and we can venture out to the sea.

We need to remain within the river that flows within the sea, so our route out to deep water meanders. This picture is at low tide.

Brit barefoot and nearly five months pregnant.

Seagulls will eat anything,
even chocolate right from my hand.
September 21, 2007 -- With dawn just breaking, (6 a.m.) Kris took the helm as we motored out of Saint Malo toward Paimpol for what we anticipated to be an uneventful sail.

About 10 a.m., Brit rolled out of bed to be greeted by the Border Patrol who snuck up behind us and announcing that they'd be "boarding immediately."

After going through all our papers, they were satisfied that our VAT (European taxes) have been paid and promptly left with a friendly wave. The scenery was beautiful, the wind was perfect for a good sail. About a minute and a half into the sail Brit was overwhelmed by the heeling and Con promptly took the sails down and we motored toward Paimpol.

Ironically, we were entering Paimpol at the lowest high tide of the year! At least three times, our 2.2 keel slugged through 2.1 meters as we stirred up the mud. Big Sky finally planted itself in 1.8 meters, but Con used the bow thruster and managed to get us through that one and into the lock. There was no need to hold tight inside the lock, as we barely entered and Big Sky stopped in 2.0 meters. With just one spot available, in the marina, we tied on. It's just about 2 p.m. and we'll have lunch and set out to explore the quaint little cobblestone town.
Paimpol is a working fishing port that once set huge cod and whaling fleets to fish off Iceland and Newfoundland. Boys as young as 12 years old went to Newfoundland's Grand Banks, returning as young men.
September 19, 2007 -- The waves were a bit too bumpy for Brit as we just set out from Granville to St. Malo, a 3.5 hour motor.



The last few days, the wind had been kicking up the water, so it wasn't a surprise that we met with one meter choppy waves. After about an hour of anticipating the worst, Brit relaxed and cozied up to a magazine.


Kris in his usual style, was curious about everything and he and Con chatted most of the way. Unfortunately, at the 3/4 mark, Kris couldn't escape the first round of sea sickness and remedied it by laying flat in the pilot house. St. Malo is the home of explorer Jacques Cartier who explored Canada.

September 18, 2007 -- I woke early this morning and headed to the internet to send Lindsey a birthday greeting. Happy 27th Birthday Lindsey!


Yesterday, Brit, Kris, Con and I spent the day touring Normandy by car. We drove to Bayeux, situated just behind the D-Day beaches, an incredibly well preserved small old town, with one of the most beautiful churches we've seen.



We drove to Juno Beach where on June 6th, 1944,
the Canadians experienced one of the most critical battles of WWII.


We followed up our visit to the Canadian cemetery, where row after row of white marble stones marked the deaths. It was so emotional to read the etching on the stones, many written by the mothers to their lost sons, so many in their early 20's.

Canada had declared War on Germany on September 10, 1939 and was terribly unprepared for any military conflict, but nevertheless, sent over 16,000 men. My dad's dad George Evans was one of those men. He was a farmer by trade and gave dedicated service in both WWII and WWI. Kris' grandfather was one of the survivor who landed on Juno Beach that June. We owe our freedom to these men and so many other people who served and died in the wars.

The Allies had realized that to knock out Germany they would need to launch a cross-Channel invasion of France. The remnants of the many German bunkers dot the beaches today. They say that the most astonishing thing about the invasion was the fact that the greatest armada of ships ever to leave Great Britain sailed 140 km across the English Channel towards German-occupied France without being detected.

Last night, the wind kicked up to 31 knots in the marina, so we decided to stay in Granville another day. In the morning, the sun shone brightly. We just finished breakfast, when Con spotted Christian's boat coming into the harbour past us. We have been crossing paths with Christian since Stockholm in May! We shared a drink tonight before he left for home -- Paris.

Brit, Kris, Con and I toured Granville on foot.

September 17, 2007 -- We delivered Lindsey and Courtney to Charles de Gaulle airport for a 1:30 p.m. flight, and picked up Kris and Brit who arrived at 1 p.m. that same time.

It's pouring rain today, so we're piling into a rental car to go exploring.


Con looking over Brit and Kris' baby photo (ultra sounds).

September 16, 2007 -- We said "good bye" today to Lindsey and Courtney, knowing that we'd be together again in December. It was the most fantastic holiday together! See photo album



Together, they toured London, England, then connected with us in Brighton, England. Together we explored Dieppe, Fecamp, Deauville, Caen, Ouistreham, St Vaast-La-Hougue, Cherbourg, St. Peters Port, (an English island), and finally Granville, France. We've had some of our best sails with sunshine and perfect winds, and our scariest moments when we got stuck in the silty marina entrance just as the tide was falling. We've seen Napoleon's stronghold where he had hoped to launch his attack on England; William the Conqueror's castle; beautiful churches that survived the war; and remnants of others that did not. We visited a brilliantly done WWII Memorial Museum, walked under and on top of the beautiful white cliffs, and sailed past the D-Day beaches. We've seen the red carpet and paparazzi as they swarmed Ben Affleck in Deauville and listened to "Never Say Never" beach their huge 62 foot yacht on the rocks outside St. Peters Port.

The best part of the time by far was just the simple moments we shared together. I miss them already! They brought a special light and joy to Big Sky while they were here.

September 14, 2007 -- Our day consisted of 11.5 hours of sailing with the sunshine warming Big Sky enough for sun bathing on the bow while underway. Arriving at Granville, we timed our entrance into the harbour perfectly, as the entrance dries to a height of three meters above sea level. In other words, outside our marina entrance the land is dry; every 12 hours, the tide rises 36 feet.

This makes for tricky sailing, but Con and Lindsey thoroughly study the charts for tides and currents before we set out so there are no surprises upon arrival or on departure.


September 12, 2007 -- With just a few more days together, we had a picnic in the cockpit, then set off for The Channel Islands, and will find a spot on Guernsey, an English Island.

It was a hot day, about 27 degrees on the bow of the boat while underway.

The current pushed us at times up to 4 knots so little effort was needed to get there. Con thought it would be a great day to check the sacrificial anodes located under the boat, so Lindsey stopped the engine and Con took a swim. Courtney had planned to check our life jackets, but chickened out.

September 11, 2007 -- Arriving at Cherbourg yesterday, we discovered a major problem with the water pressure accompanied by the sound of running water (into the bilge). We were not sure what the problem was, so Con tried to hire a marine expert to fix it, but he wasn't available until Thursday. Instead, we put our heads together and (down a few tiny spaces) and isolated the problem, a broken hot water hose behind the guest toilet. Con contorted his body to fit into tiny crevasse and managed to replace the hose for just $21 Euro. We decided we should all go out for a really nice French cuisine dinner to celebrate.

Earlier in the afternoon, Customs and Immigration were having their way with a boat loaded with young people. The drug-sniffing dog was working hard to find something, but they went away empty handed.

Lindsey and Con are continually navigating on water and on land.

September 10, 2007 -- Yesterday, we left a small town located at the lock, situated just inside the English Channel. We thought we were getting pretty good at maneuvering Big Sky in and out of those locks, as there are four of us. Big Sky is hard to settle sometimes, and when the maneuvering means grabbing a cable with a poking stick to hold 26 tons with a current running, it gets a little tricky. Con drove us into the lock, Courtney reached as far as she could at the stern and managed to hook on, however, there was no cable for Lindsey within reach at the bow. The current kept moving Big Sky away from the wall. We could hear Courtney's voice saying calmly "I can't hold it, I can't hold it," and when we looked, half of her body was hanging over the boat as she struggled to hold Big Sky with the stick. It was either Courtney overboard, or the stick, so she let it drop.




Others sailors were tied on and seemed to be enjoying the show. Con tried the landing another time, this time close enough so I could exit to the top of the lock and tie her with the lines. Courtney used another hook and rescued the pole. The locks are not as easy as they look.

September 9, 2007 -- Traveling along the coast of Normandy is an experience in WWII history. Everywhere we go, there is evidence of the horrific destruction, the many beaches that saw the D-Day landings. Touring the Men's Monastery, built in 1066 or so, you could clearly see the bullet hole destruction and the evidence of the bombing is clearly visible in the reconstruction. The only structures that remained were the stone churches, everything else was flattened. Everywhere are plaques listing the dead from both WWI and WWII. The Memorial de Caen was a powerful and deep journey of the wars with letters, videos and tapes from all countries. One eerie letter written by a young German soldier to his aunt said "the poor sods just kept coming onto the beach and we took them out... 3000 of them and no casualties for us. Some of them pretended to be dead and laid on the beach... when the tide came in, they had to move, so we picked them off too."

September 8, 2007 -- Finally, a sunny day! A perfect day for motoring back up the Caen Canal to Ouistreham, a touristy town just inside the lock that separates us from the English Channel. Tomorrow we set sail to St. Vaast-La-Hougue, about 45 nautical miles. Con and Lindsey checked the tide tables and we're planning our arrival for 7:30 p.m. Any sooner, and we'd be on the beach, as it's a drying area. Just before leaving Caen, Lindsey and Courtney came in the door with sun flowers... my favorites.



We arrived at Deauville, France just at high tide to go through the lock. There were just inches to spare between Big Sky and the silted bottom. Con took out the bikes and we all explored the cool town.


That night, we celebrated Lindsey and Courtney's birthdays (Sept. 18 & Oct. 4th) because we won't be together on those dates.

They left for downtown at 7:30 to catch Ben Affleck and other actors walking the red carpet.

Lindsey and Con studied the tide tables and meticulously timed our departure from Deauville at 6:30 a.m. to exit through the lock and safely through the drying area. By 6:40 a.m. the tide was seven minutes from its highest tide. It was still dark, as the sun had not yet risen. I stood at the bow to direct Con in the dark, and he carefully motored out of the precarious channel. Big Sky's keel swiftly smudged right into the muddy bottom. Con had Big Sky's engine at full blast, with the bow thruster revving, but still no movement. We were two minutes to the crest of the highest tide point, and it would quickly start falling again. Con continued with the bow thruster and engine and it began to rock its way out of the silted bottom. We were moving! The depth reader numbers started to rise. What a fright! High tide again would not be until 5 p.m. that night. The area we were stuck will completely dry during low tide. There's no telling how Big Sky will react to a rising tide (had we been stuck). We were two minutes from knowing. Thankfully, we were freed and may never know.

We ended our day playing a crazy card game until midnight.