I am now in the cathedral city of Caen, moored in the old dock basin right in the centre. The cathedral is a few hundred yards away, as are many cafés and restaurants. Today was washing day aboard Jojac as the sun shone and the temperature got up to 26 degrees.  Good enough.

Much of Caen was destroyed in the war but the rebuild is very French. This is the promenade along the dockside. The city centre really starts at the white building you can see at the end.

Yesterday I came up the canal from the sea, passing through Pegasus bridge and past the first house to be liberated.

The few days before were spent in Grandcamp-Maisy, which had no Wifi - or much else, for that matter. Then  I came along all the landing beaches,  and into the remains of the Mulberry harbour at Arromanches.  There was too much swell to anchor there, about 1.5 metres, so I pressed on towards Ouistreham.  Bit of a crisis then as the seawater impeller gave up. That is the tiny rubber thing that pumps water to cool the engine. They are invariably hard to get to, particularly in a rolling boat, and although I got the cover off the pump there was no hope of getting it back on. So I sailed into Ouistreham with no engine and was towed through the sea lock by one of my fellow Teignmouth travellers,  Ian Clay. Fixed the problem yesterday morning and came up the canal under my own power again, thanks Ian!

The pics below are Grandcamp-Maisy, showing the rather fishy nature of the place and their memorial to the RAF.

 I'm staying in Caen for another week,  then on the second of June some of my fellow Fisher owners will arrive and there are all sorts of festivities planned for the D-Day 70th. After that, back to UK, but not sure where yet.

Today I went on a tourist trip on the most amazing amphibious bus ever! It beats the London ones hands down. I went to Ile Tatihou, a place I had to avoid on the way into St Vaast. It is a fort, built after we (Britain and Holland) had trounced the French fleet in this bay. It has also been a borstal (until 1984), a nature reserve and now a tourist attraction.

They had the scraggiest looking sheep that I have ever seen. I had delicious lamb cutlets last night but I don't think they were from any of these!

Tomorrow morning first thing I plan to leave here when the lock opens (0645) and head down to Grandcamp-Maisy - not much there, but it's a tricky little harbour that is handy for the Arromanche beach the next day. GC-M is here: 49.388253, -1.049391 on Google maps.

24th May - now in Saint Vaast La Hougue, which is still a fishing port but is now mostly given over to yachts. My pilot book said it has the best street market in France and was quite correct. Luckily, the market is on Saturday which was today. Some samples of Calvados and associated derivatives were pressed on me but I managed to walk back OK with my selection of cheeses and cured meats. And with an AC Bordeaux at just over 2 Euros, it almost doesn't matter whether the sun shines or not.

Here are a few photos: first is leaving Cherbourg under a bit of a cloud (as in the weather, nothing I did).

This is the little fort that guards St Vaast:

And this is the entrance to the harbour at low tide:

And finally, la Place de la Republique. I think there are bigger ones, but with a population of only 5,000 it's not a bad effort.

That'll do for today I think. There are things to be eaten. Tomorrow may see us moving further east but as always it depends on the weather.

I came over to Cherbourg yesterday, leaving Portland about 6 am and getting here at 6 pm. It was a pretty good crossing, with a mix of sun, rain, cloud and a tiny bit of fog just as I got in range of channel shipping! Couldn't see France until I was 2 miles off. Thank goodness for GPS.

Total distance from Portland was 69 miles so average speed around 5.75 knots. Some of the time we were tanking along at over 8 but then there were the slower bits when the tide was dead against us.

Arrived just in time to go to a restaurant with some fellow Teignmothians who were already here. Oysters and mussels were the order of the day.

Tomorrow afternoon we're off to St Vaast which has a locked entrance; leave around lunchtime to be there when the lock open late afternoon.

Have been in shorts and tee shirt tioday as it is quite warm between squalls!

20th May - Portland Marina

Doesn't sound a lot different from the Portland of yesterday but it was a two and a half hour trip, including a fairly calm passage round the Bill. My pilot book says: "Portland Race is the most dangerous extended area of broken water in the English Channel. Quite substantial vessels drawn into it have been known to disappear without trace......." It's all about the timing, which is why I had to spend the afternoon at anchor behind Chesil Beach yesterday, waiting for the slack water.

I got some photos as I went round, including one of the prison, which I know will interest one of you who has seen it from the inside. I can't get a good enough signal to post them though.

Cherbourg is tomorrow's target, leaving here around dawn (ish) for a 12 hour passage.

I'll let you know when I get there.

19 May - Portland

Jojac left the river last night on the tide and anchored just off the sea front for the night. We're now anchored again, this time just off Chesil Beach near the village of Fotruneswell.I'd be a bit worried about the pile of stone behind Fortunesell's desirable second homes in the photo.

It's been a bit wet, cold and occasionally bumpy today and I have just had my first cup of tea and some food -10 hours after getting up! Where did the sunshine go?

My next leg will be the remaining bit to Cherbourg - maybe tomorrow, maybe Wednesday. All depends on the weather.

Hello folks

This is Jojac, a 1973 Fisher 30 motor-sailing ketch. At 41 years old, she's probably older than many of you. She was anchored in a Cornish river when this was taken - very Daphne du Maurier, although a few miles east of her creek.

She's in Teignmouth at the moment but gearing herself up for a visit to France next week and then on for an appointment at the Tower of London. 

My plan is to update this blog with more information about where we are and where we're going, just in case anyone is interested.

I haven't got to grips with blogging protocol yet. Am I supposed to sign off with "Yours sincerely"? - I hope not; I'm hoping to avoid formality (and rocks).

Today's location : 50.5431691,-3.4994247

All the best

Andrew