Return to Oldtimer

 When last I wrote, I had just completed an attempt at some maintenance in late fall of 2023. The weather didn’t cooperate so I really didn’t get much done in the three weeks I was in Castelsarrasin but, as I wrote at the time, I did get to eat some great bread and sample more great wines.

It had been five years since the last time Oldtimer was out of the water and the insurance company was requiring a bottom thickness survey to renew the policy. Plus, it was time for new bottom paint so I had made preliminary inquiries with the local boatyard about a haulout in the spring of 2024. Sebastian, the yard manager, said he would be able to lift Oldtimer out of the water even though it was a little over the capacity of the crane. I would have to make sure the water tank was empty.

I returned to France in mid April with big plans for maintenance but again, the weather did not cooperate. It was cold and raining off and on most of the five weeks but luckily turned decent for the week Oldtimer was out of the water. I rented and Air BNB in Castelsarrasin so I wouldn’t have to live aboard while up on the hard and got a good coat of paint on the bottom although it was pouring rain the day Oldtimer went back in the water on April 29.

With plans to return to the US on May 17, I tried to squeeze in some paint and varnish between rain showers when fate intervened. A Dutch cruiser with an American flag pulled in just down the quay. Being the chivalrous person that I am, I went to give a hand with the lines and met the owner, Tanya Binford. She turned out to be a very experienced boater having completed the Great Loop in the US ten years ago singlehanded and writing a book about it. She had moved to France three years before, living aboard in Saint Jean de Losne and had travelled south in late 2023, spending that winter in Castlenaudary on the Canal du Midi in her 11 meter Dream Catcher. We struck up a close friendship and when I mentioned I wanted to move Oldtimer back up to Burgundy, she offered to accompany me on the trip.

We made plans to reunite in Castelsarrasin in mid August to begin the trip and I returned to the US May 17.

I was only home for a week, though, as a friend had offered me a spot on a charter trip from Anacortes, Washington to Ketchican, Alaska during the month of June. (At some point I’ll post some pictures from the Voyage of the Ellie K.)

So Tanya and I reunited in Castelsarrasin August 16 and made preparations to head north. This would be basically be a delivery trip with not a bunch of time for sightseeing as visa requirements would not allow me to remain in France past early November and heading north on the Rhone against the current could be a challenge. Preparations complete, August 22 we set off in the direction of Toulouse. Burgundy here we come!