Falanda Sailing

In order to leave France, we had to officially sign out of the country. Since Brexit this has got quite complicated and the rules seem to change every year.  There are a series of online forms that must be filled out before departure of the EU and arrival in the UK.  We had understood that as well as signing in online, you had to go into an official port of entry to get each crew member stamped in. You then had to do the same when leaving. There was apparently an exception to this rule for people attending the festival.  The customs office had been closed during Brest festival and so we hadn’t been able to get our passports stamped. This then left us unsure of the correct procedure on departure. We had planned to sail from Camaret to Brest to sign out in person, so lifted anchor at the crack of dawn and set sail. After long VHF discussions, however, it was decided that since we had only signed in online, then we ought to only sign out online and didn’t need to present...

After 6 days at Brest, all the classic boats motored out of the harbour into the channel, accompanied by a flotilla of modern day-sailers, yachts, ribs, speed boats, naval ships and helicopters.  Unfortunately there was no wind at all so after a short but hectic drift, everyone either started their engines or took out their oars. Nora had towed me and Falanda out of the harbour and once it was decided that we were to motor, we kept Falanda under tow and I jumped aboard Nora. It felt embarrassing enough, however I was also glad not to be left completely useless with the high speed ribs and the 80’ sailings trawlers. It was hectic until we reached the bay of Douarnenez, at which point the wind picked up, everyone separed slightly, Nora let us go and we enjoyed a lovely sail across the bay.  Falanda was berthed in the inner, fishing boat harbour, which was otherwise filled with racing boats meaning that there was no one ever really there. Nora was rafted up inside the southern br...

After a night at Brixham in early July, Falanda and I prepared for a Channel crossing alongside my dad on Nora, this was the last weather window before Brest festival began. There was forecasted to be little to no wind for the first few hours and then picking up gently until sunset, when it would stay at around 18 kts until the following afternoon. We completed all the departure and entry forms and started the engines ready to cast off - there wasn’t a breath of wind and it was a hot, sunny day.  Unfortunately, Falanda's engine immodestly let out a series of the most unpleasant sounds followed by a loud bang as I tried to turn it off.  The previous night on arrival at Brixham the stop lever had ripped itself out, an annoyance as it was now harder to stop the engine, however nothing too catastrophic.  Now, on inspecting the damage, the arm that had connected the stop lever to the engine casing had dropped down and smashed out the governor weights and the engine casing. I’m...