Apologies for the late entry, we have been having a bit of a mope the past few weeks.... yes, we are still in Fecamp.
So, turns out that the engine was still not happy. We headed out (admittedly in a Spring Tide with high waves) and the engine lasted for not even 30mins.... so, after deciding that we didn't fancy reaching La Havre and having to face the ferries, without an engine, in a strong tide, we decided to head back. We were very lucky and got towed back in by a fishing boat headed back to Fecamp – thankfully this tow only cost us a couple of bottles of whisky! We were back safe but far from happy. Neither of us knew where to turn next.
We were never going to get into the canals at this point, we had no idea what is wrong with engine, we can't get the boat back safely to the UK, and if we leave her here and head back to the UK, we have nowhere to live. So, after much deliberation, we decided that the best option was to stay here. We are already on our way, and yes there might be a few hiccups, but neither of us wants to turn back now.
Our French is improving greatly, thanks to Michele Thomas! We have made loads of new friends here and, with the help of Sylvian and Laurent, we are fast on our way to becoming dominos pro's!! We have also been exploring the local area, walking the other day to the tiny tiny town of Yport - just along the cliffs from Fecamp. It was a lovely little place, with a massive casino! We have discovered that the French love to gamble! There are casinos everywhere, and they all seem to love a good scratch card!
Anyway, we then decided to brave the big city of La Havre, in the hope of finding somewhere for work... turns out that all it is is housing block after housing block. If anyone was thinking of taking a trip there, don't. It's not a nice place, very built up in the same 60s grey style all over, and there is nothing to do there!! So, we figured that there was definitely no chance of work, but more importantly, we are so glad that we didn't get stuck there! The highlight of our trip there was that we spotted a Lidl not too far from us on the bus back! Fecamp may be small, but it is friendly and beautiful.
But, it's not all bad! Our luck seems to have taken a turn for the better (touch wood). Mike has got himself a couple of rigging gigs back in the UK so we finally have some money coming back in :) I'm about to make a little money having conversations in English!! And there is also an English School/Centre here that i'm hoping to get regular work at... But the best news is; we may have found a way to fix our engine (again)!!
We had been looking at the cost of buying a second-hand refurbished engine, and we were not having tons of luck – they may not be new but they're not cheap! Anyway, after chatting to a lovely older couple who also live on their boat, we discovered that Gilbert was an engineer, used to work on the trains, but now is a genius with marine diesel engines! He came along the other day and took a look, turns out that the we need to replace the Cylinder head as the compression and injection seems to be the issue now. So, we are now just waiting for the new pieces to arrive and hopefully we'll have a smooth running engine for a fraction of the price of a new one!
If all goes to plan, we will still be headed to the Med for next summer, just going to stay in Fecamp till April! Hopefully by then we will be fluent in French ;) well, certainly better anyway! But, for the time being, if anyone wants to see us, we're not very far away!!
À bientôt! :)
Mike and Fi x
So, turns out that the engine was still not happy. We headed out (admittedly in a Spring Tide with high waves) and the engine lasted for not even 30mins.... so, after deciding that we didn't fancy reaching La Havre and having to face the ferries, without an engine, in a strong tide, we decided to head back. We were very lucky and got towed back in by a fishing boat headed back to Fecamp – thankfully this tow only cost us a couple of bottles of whisky! We were back safe but far from happy. Neither of us knew where to turn next.
We were never going to get into the canals at this point, we had no idea what is wrong with engine, we can't get the boat back safely to the UK, and if we leave her here and head back to the UK, we have nowhere to live. So, after much deliberation, we decided that the best option was to stay here. We are already on our way, and yes there might be a few hiccups, but neither of us wants to turn back now.
Our French is improving greatly, thanks to Michele Thomas! We have made loads of new friends here and, with the help of Sylvian and Laurent, we are fast on our way to becoming dominos pro's!! We have also been exploring the local area, walking the other day to the tiny tiny town of Yport - just along the cliffs from Fecamp. It was a lovely little place, with a massive casino! We have discovered that the French love to gamble! There are casinos everywhere, and they all seem to love a good scratch card!
Anyway, we then decided to brave the big city of La Havre, in the hope of finding somewhere for work... turns out that all it is is housing block after housing block. If anyone was thinking of taking a trip there, don't. It's not a nice place, very built up in the same 60s grey style all over, and there is nothing to do there!! So, we figured that there was definitely no chance of work, but more importantly, we are so glad that we didn't get stuck there! The highlight of our trip there was that we spotted a Lidl not too far from us on the bus back! Fecamp may be small, but it is friendly and beautiful.
But, it's not all bad! Our luck seems to have taken a turn for the better (touch wood). Mike has got himself a couple of rigging gigs back in the UK so we finally have some money coming back in :) I'm about to make a little money having conversations in English!! And there is also an English School/Centre here that i'm hoping to get regular work at... But the best news is; we may have found a way to fix our engine (again)!!
We had been looking at the cost of buying a second-hand refurbished engine, and we were not having tons of luck – they may not be new but they're not cheap! Anyway, after chatting to a lovely older couple who also live on their boat, we discovered that Gilbert was an engineer, used to work on the trains, but now is a genius with marine diesel engines! He came along the other day and took a look, turns out that the we need to replace the Cylinder head as the compression and injection seems to be the issue now. So, we are now just waiting for the new pieces to arrive and hopefully we'll have a smooth running engine for a fraction of the price of a new one!
If all goes to plan, we will still be headed to the Med for next summer, just going to stay in Fecamp till April! Hopefully by then we will be fluent in French ;) well, certainly better anyway! But, for the time being, if anyone wants to see us, we're not very far away!!
À bientôt! :)
Mike and Fi x