Whilst we are waiting for the new engine to be delivered, we decided to tour Brittany as we will not spend as much time in each place once the engine is fitted. Over the last two weekends, we hired a car from Avis at the airport and travelled around Brittany.
We have managed to visit a number of places but our favourites have been Quimper, Benodet, Auray, Concarneau, La Trinite-sur-mer, Pont-Aven, Carnac and the Gulf of Morbihan in general. We will be putting photos and more information on the page “Places we have visited“. We eventually found the oyster farmer’s cottage at Saint-Cado on the river Etel. This probably epitomises Brittany more than any other photograph.
We were told today that the new engine will be here on Weds so we may get sorted early the following week. The new engine is a right hand one which means it turns clockwise in forward gear. Our old engine did the opposite which means that the propeller we have won’t work with the new engine.
We, of course, have a feathering propeller that automatically sets the best pitch so that there is less drag when sailing and is more economical when motoring. However, we now need new blades that work with a right handed transmission so these have been ordered from the UK today and should be with us by the end of next week (Jubilee celebrations notwithstanding). As with anything to do with boats, the cost involved has three zeros. Sue C and Liz C – are you keeping up? ⛵
So, having spent even more money we decided to take the dinghy and explore the river Elorn. We had a lovely potter up the river with a picnic before coming back to clean the offside of the boat that is not near the pontoon.
Another beautiful evening meant we could have our dinner outside watching the sun set.
As previously reported we went up to the mechanics to find out the prognosis on the engine. They had taken the cylinder head off and found that we would need a new head, a new piston and a probably new crankcase. They spoke to Volvo who informed that a new engine would be a similar cost and the labour would be more.
Consequently, we have bitten the bullet and ordered a new engine. They are trying to fast track the engine to Brest as they realise we would like to get moving as quickly as possible. Hopefully, the work might be completed by next weekend, June 8th but dependent in arrival of engine. Volvo are doing a special deal on the replacement so it is not as expensive as it could have been. Just as well Jo has had a tax refund and Liz has recently sold some shares.
So, with the bank holiday over, a phone call to the engine people was made this morning to check that they were coming to remove the engine to their workshop. Speaking to the owner, he said that probably at 1100 they would come and move it but he had to make a phone call first. At 1100 the berthing man from the harbour office turned up in his dory (it’s like a rib but solid) to move us to the slipway so that we could tie up against the wall and they could then bring a fork lift truck to the edge and lift the engine out. It then became clear why 1100 as it was high water at 1200 so would give us enough depth to get there and back into our berth.
They duly removed the engine and we checked with them that they would be checking the engine this afternoon so it looks like we will be “popping” in about 1600 to check on progress and also the prognosis. In the meantime, we will get the dinghy out and clean the side of the hull away from the pontoon that we didn’t manage on Friday. After that we may well go for a little trip in the dinghy to explore a nearby river. It is a gorgeous day here, hot with no wind so a great day for being outside.
We thought you might like to see pictures of the three tows to date as you can imagine Liz was capturing it all for prosperity!
Well, the engineer turned up at 1430 rather than 0900 and spent an hour getting the engine out into the saloon.
He then packed up his things and disappeared. We thought he would be back shortly to remove the engine to their workshop. Wrong. By 1700 there was still no sign so we rang the office to be told that they would be back on Tuesday as Monday is a public holiday. I then informed them that we couldn’t actually get out of the boat as the engine was where the steps normally are. Eventually they agreed to come back and move it, which they did. It is still on the boat but at least we can get out without climbing out of a hatch every time!
So, we now have another French bank holiday with a broken engine still on board and I suspect at least another week before we will know anything. Frustrating beyond belief.
The man from the marina duly arrived at 1010 this morning to tow us the 4 miles from Le Chateau round to Moulin Blanc marina. We got here about 1100 and once we were secure we went in search of our engineer, M. Launay. We managed to find his workshop just before midday – very important in France as everyone stops for lunch between 12 and 2. He wasn’t there but his staff promised he would ring us this afternoon.
Just before 6, he duly appeared with one of his engineers to look at how they would get the engine out. We all decided that a couple of panels could come off and the engine should be able to slide out into the saloon and then with a block and tackle be hoisted through the companionway.
So, at 0900 tomorrow he will return to supervise the dismantling and removal of our engine. Once it is in their workshop, they will be able to see what is what is wrong and whether it can be fixed. We will try and get the panels off ourselves tonight so that they are not damaged and it means we are not charged for them doing it!
The weather here has been fab today, supposedly 24 degrees but feeling much hotter in the sun and without a breeze until late afternoon. It definitely felt like summer had arrived as we had lunch in the cockpit and then spent a couple of hours reading. Lovely.
We took the opportunity today to spend time cleaning the boat and making sure things work after being onboard for a month. We have already done over 400 miles which is equivalent to at least half a season on the south coast. This was an opportunity to get rid of the salt encrustation from the previous weeks especially when the customs people towed us back. Somehow we were covered in salt by the end of the journey.
Now it’s time for a shower, beer and dinner in that order!
Well, we are now back in Brest, back on Nimrod. The sun is now shining and it is great to be back on board. The engineer arrived promptly at 1430 to look at the engine. They fairly quickly summised that “le moteur est interrompue”. Otherwise known as broken in as much that they don’t know what has caused it.
We will be towed round to the other marina in Brest on Thursday morning so that they can lift the engine out and do the appropriate diagnostics. We will know more then but we always knew that they needed to do this.
Fingers crossed. We have been to the local Carrefour and stocked up on food so about to have fresh prawns and baguette as a starter followed by roast pork. The wine is already open so life isn’t that bad!
Yesterday was spent trying to get the engine to work with the able assistance of Michael Barclay, one of our club members who lives in Camaret. Bless him, he sailed over to Brest to help us.
We seemed to have fixed the fuel supply but it looks like there is a more serious, underlying problem as the engine appears to have seized. All very odd but it probably means that we will be in Brest for a while and it could be expensive. We will know more next week after the French public holiday.
Well, yesterday was certainly eventful. We started the day early from Camaret to go up the River Aulne to Chateaulin via a lock that we needed to reach around high water (1600 local time). We had clear blue skies and sunshine with very little wind so perfect for chugging up the river. All was going well until we slowed down to go under the Pont de Tevenez (a very beautiful suspension bridge) when the engine died around 1300 hours.
We dropped anchor and set about finding the fault. The engine was being cooled, we had oil and we even checked whether we had caught anything around the propeller – nothing. Liz was very gallant going over the side to check the prop as the water isn’t that warm here yet! Still nothing so concluded that it was a fuel problem. We changed the filters, bled the engine and tried restarting it. It turned over but wouldn’t catch. After 3 hours of trying to fix it, we decided that we needed some help but no one could come out until Friday as Thursday was a public holiday in France. There was still no wind and a strong tide so we couldn’t make our own way back to Brest so eventually, we called the coastguard who sent the sapeurs pompiers (diving firemen) initially followed by the Douane (Customs). In France they send whoever is available rather than the RNLI in the UK but they also charge. So, first of all, the divers arrived and checked there was nothing around the prop then the customs guys arrived. By this time we had 9 men around the boat so I suspect it had been a quiet day for them!
Formalities duly completed (after all they were Customs) and then an engineer looked at the engine. On the plus side, we hadn’t missed anything obvious but on the minus side, he couldn’t fix it. So, after 30 minutes they decided we would be towed back to Brest. The whole time, they were all delightful and couldn’t have been nicer. They even helped us to pull up the anchor as we couldn’t use the electric windlass as we had no engine. It took about 2 hours to get us back and safely moored up in the marina but then we needed to go with them back to their mother ship to complete the paperwork. How the French love their paperwork! On the way round a dolphin came to play in their bow waves. Once again, paperwork was completed, money duly paid and they brought us back round to Nimrod. After 15 hours we were in fact two hours from our start point for the day! But, we are safe and so is Nimrod – which is all that matters.
So, now we need to fix the problem and have a friend with us today to help. Otherwise it will be an engineer next week if it proves more complex than just a fuel problem.
Nimrod Oceanlord 