Friday 25 August 2023

La Hirondelle 99

 

I wake five minutes before my alarm sounds, fully refreshed. My body clock finally reset after Stargazer’s overnight passage, the rigours of the heads replacement and hatch repairs, the consequent operation mop up, and the eventual reassembly of cabinetry removed for access.

I lounge in Stargazer’s cockpit. Eating a long leisurely breakfast. Watching the harbour come to life around me. Simply because I can.

 Brought out of my delightful reverie only by the departure of my two Rassy 34 neighbours. Although the arrival of an immaculately renovated, forty year old, Swedish Hallberg-Rassy 38 maintains the pontoon’s claim to the title of ‘Rassy row.’

After five days in port, I am usually ready to leave. Or have already done so. But instead, I find that I have that special ‘just arrived’ feeling. Which leads me to take the coast path south. Winding through woodland, clinging to the cliff side. It leads through a variety of battlements and fortifications, augmented through the ages. From their ramparts, raised above the tree line, there are views to Herm, Jethou and Sark, beyond a cruise liner, at anchor in the Little Russel. To the north, Alderney is sharply silhouetted on the horizon. An unusual sight, lending credence to a forecasts of a stormy night. Improbable though they seem in the afternoon sun.

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