October 27th, 2013

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Sunday October 27. Grau du Roi and Aigues Mortes

Sunday, October 27th, 2013

We set the clock back to standard time, last night. I rode my bicycle from Port Camargue to Grau de Roi, to go to mass. I had a flat and had to push the bicycle the last km and now I have a long walk back from here, in Grau du Roi. When I stood at the closed gate of the St.Pierre church there was Viviane on day trip from Nimes with her brother Jean Pierre. On the mass schedule we learned that there would be a mass in Aigues Mortes at 11 a.m. They drove me. This church St.Louis is from the 13th century. it is named after Louis the Ninth, who was one of the first Crusaders, and was later raised to sainthood. His 800 the birthday will be celebrated here on April 25, next year. It is a gorgeous church with unusual modern stained glass windows. Just like last Sunday in Avignon the small church was at least 75% full and the average age was about 25 years below of what I have become used to in Holland and the old churches in Italy and when I was in Reims. As a tourist I do not get into the suburban churches in the countries outside of Holland but I have the impression that the French Catholic church is more alive and real also among the young. Viviane converted to Catholicism at 60, Jean-Pierre is protestant. He treated us to a superb buffet lunch to the west, direction Sète. On the way back the hard top went down, it is just like a California summer here.

I have been working hard on getting the mast retuned. The mast exit halyard turning blocs and the Schaefer blocks on my running back stays were totally frozen and it took soaking in diesel fuel and lots of  silicone spray to get them rolling again. I still have to install the boom and put the main sail back on. I should be done by Wednesday. Dennis and Griet, a young couple from Leuven/Louvain who now live on their power boat near here and work here, I met in Aigues Mortes, last Tuesday night, are hauled out where I am. Dennis has offered to help me with soldering the broken radio connection. So, I expect to have my SailMail working in the next days and will notify you then for using that address from now on. Now I still need to get the AIS to work. The sailing conditions have been excellent for getting form here to Ibiza. Hope it will hold.

I include two pictures of the wild horses I took last Tuesday with my Samsung Tablet. As you can see I am still having problems with my zoom lens.

There is no doctor in this house and I am still groping in the dark what causes my chest pains. But they are slowly easing up. I think it may just be gas from my chronic digestion problems. I survived a good portion of Boletus/Eekhoorntjesbrood/Porcini I gathered under the Pins Maritimes, near the marina. I had a bag full in no time. I dropped some of it with my new Belgian friends.