Pauillac and Mast Lowering

Sunday 18th September, pics to follow when we have a better connection.

We are now in Puaillac after a very wet sail
followed by cooler weather with rain showers, a bit like an English
summer. The cooler weather has been a blessing as it was a blazing hot
29 the day before we left Vitrezay and we have had 2 days of intensive
work getting the mast down and Mango ready for the canals which would
have been a struggle in that much heat.

The pilot books warn to be aware of the currents in the marina and they
are not wrong as we suspect that they swirl a bit; however, as long as
you do not come in at mid tide, especially on springs, and you have a
maneuverable boat it is something to take care of not rather than be
frightened off. The harbour staff are very friendly and did a very
competent job of lowering Mango's mast (we have not found anywhere
suitable to dry out to do it ourselves) using a small crane with the
bonus of a free bottle of wine which we drank that evening when
everything was finally done.

We did well in using Pauillac for demasting as not only did we get the
free bottle of wine but all the wood we needed was available on the dock
left over from boats who had had their masts put back up. We needed some
screws and other bits to make the mast crutches and the tourist office
told us where the local independent hardware shop was (the nearest DIY
stores are 10km away) which was a step back in time: wooden shelving
everywhere and loads of stuff round the back, but you had to know what
to ask for. We also managed to find some scrap iron rod that will done
for mooring stakes when we are on the canals.

Pauillac has a very smart frontage from its heyday as a wine port and
the emphasis at the tourist office is on wine tasting and selling so it
is not hard to guess how important wine is to the local economy
(there is even a giant wine bottle on at the entrance to the marina).  However,
 Wine is now complemented by hitech industry as down stream from the port is an
oil refinery and a port for offloading and loading airbus components.

Depending on the weather we may do a short cycle tour around the
countryside before heading off to Bordeaux on Monday or Tuesday.