Tempête.
We’ve been watching the pictures on the news this week as
the storms pound Europe . The shipping forecast even at one point
used the word ‘phenomenal’ as a sea state, a rarely seen occurrence
denoting waves over 12m.
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| The jetty/second breakwater, shut off and covered in seaweed. |
Amongst other places affected are Topsham, Chesil
Beach , St Evette, Santander, Gijon , Zumaia, Bayonne , Hendaye,
the Gironde, Morlaix and the Somerset
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| Pictures torn off the side of the building by the wind. |
We are relatively sheltered here behind a goulet and two breakwaters. Even so we
have had the wind and waves causing chaos through the marina. The skipper
managed to scare up a posse one evening to help him with an abandoned racing
yacht. It was already at a 90º angle to the pontoon and the chances of it
breaking away completely and 60 foot of carbon fibre wreaking havoc was quite
real. After a ¾ hour battle with the wind and boat in the dark they managed to
secure it safely back against the pontoon.
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| 60 foot of boat seized by the court and awaiting its fate. |
On one of the worst days whilst the deckhands were being
seasick inside, the skipper was outside in the wind and rain fending us off of
the pontoon. The flexing of the boat was too much for our kitchen table top,
which we had hoped would wait until we returned to England to sort out as it
needed replacing. With a very loud bang it snapped at the weakest point and
started swinging with the two ends like shards of bone moving against each
other. A few other minor things moved and bumped, a couple of our hatch covers
took off and we added several new bruises and aches to our collections. With
the waves breaking over the second breakwater at high tide and the terrific
hail storms, leaving the boat has been quite a challenge at times.
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| The drain is usually attached to the bottom of the sink... |
The marina staff have been kept busy checking boats and replacing ropes and fenders. One heavy boat broke
the finger pontoon she was moored to. The snapping of a rope holding the back
of a large boat behind us sent the German registered vessel bucking around
completely out of control. As people ran to help her, she took out the electricity post and damaged her
topsides. A walk once the tide had dropped showed various bits of damage around
the area too - pictures ripped off walls, windows broken, trees down and other
bits of damage.
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| Poor Pinocchio showing her scars and the damaged electricity post - it still lights up at night. |
For us there is a lull in the stormy weather, time to sort
ourselves out. For those who have had their homes and livelihoods devastated,
the nightmare goes on.
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| Debris and fenders left behind by the storms trapped under the jetty. |
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