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Rick Jilly and Holly duly arrived and settled in. I had planned to set off for Rouen on Saturday May 16 but the oil filter was still leaking so I took it off. It was the wrong size. I went to a local chandler and got the right one – marked ‘Yanmar’ no bother at all. When it was fitted we spent the day filling with fuel, oil, water and provisions. An English yacht ‘Itza Purla’ had set off for Rouen on Saturday and an Irish one from Cork decided to accompany us on Sunday. Rick and co. went with their dormobile to Rouen and returned in the evening. While they were away I cleaned out the starter motor with diesel and got it working well.
Sunday 17 May at 0710 the engine was running but it would not reverse. The spring holding the catch had broken again. I tied a bit of string on and it did the trick. Jocasta from Cork was with us but kept in the channel so by the time we were at Honfleur we were a couple of miles ahead. We motored on to Rouen, took the mast down with no problem at all, and tied up alongside Itza Purla for the night. We decided to stay 2 nights as we were beat having covered 71 miles in 12,5 hours without a break. The supermarket was closed on Monday so we got all our provisions at a small corner shop near the pontoon. The showers were good and we had a meal in the town.
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