Well, you let Alix write her first blog post about our plans, and the plans immediately get ripped up: “Oh my goodness, it’s this week”, is now “OMG, it might be next week”.
Chris called us. We were in the car as is usual when he calls. We were enroute back down to the Med. Sari was driving and Alix and I were in the back along with the luggage. We held our breath as he relayed the three issues:
First, we have no bed: Because our sprung mattress for the owners’ berth in the bow (‘forepeak’) wasn’t available when Beneteau shipped the yacht from the factory, Chris told them to put in an ordinary mattress. We would use that until the proper one caught up with us somewhere between here and Turkey. Of course, Beneteau haven’t done that, and there is currently no mattress up front. In the meantime, Chris has tracked down the sprung version and directed it to Barcelona. As our first long trip will be overnight - from Port-Vendres to Barcelona, we can’t do that without a bed, and so Chris has now had to redirect the mattress to Canet. It won’t be there for Friday, when we planned to be onboard. It may arrive on Monday;
Second, we only have half-power: SAS (the boat fitters in Canet) have found a couple of warranty issues: there is a bit of teak missing from the port helm’s seat (no big deal); but two of the four house batteries have been losing their charge. So Beneteau are sending replacements, which probably won’t arrive and be installed by Friday; and
Finally, we have no safety gear: This one is quite crucial. In short, various kit is lost in transit through post-Brexit incompetence (or teething issues if you prefer).
Way back when, we pointed out to Chris that it might not be the best solution to source kit in Scotland for shipment to France, because there would no doubt be new customs issues to deal with (payment of VAT and other import duties.) Chris agreed and said he would source the kit from Spain; items like the dinghy, outboard and its batteries, life raft etc. It turns out that he has, in fact, bought all the kit from the UK about a month ago, and sent it by FedEx (International) to France. It all went quiet, but when he eventually chased up the shipment, he found out that it is still being stored securely in a bonded warehouse in Charles De Gaulle airport! It is awaiting the payment of French import duties! Sunbird are ready to pay these levies, but FedEx (France) must first raise an invoice for Sunbird to do so. And FedEx (France) say they cannot raise an invoice, because they - or their systems – do not recognise the shipping number from FedEx (international). “L’ordinateur dit, “Non!” Yes, you read that correctly. Chris is pulling his hair out, and Ruari is on the phone constantly with FedEx to try and find out what is going off.
So, it would be highly optimistic to expect all that gear to arrive and be put on board by Friday. It may never see the light of day for all we know. And we certainly won’t be sailing offshore without the safety gear on board. I got Chris to commit to asking SAS to buy and provide these items locally, in case the shipment never materialises.
My next email in French will be to M. Albrich (Douanes in Port-Vendres) to say we won’t be meeting him on Monday afternoon after all, for the stamp-out process. On the positive side, the wind is looking rather frisky for the next few days – the Tramontane is blowing – so perhaps we would have been lucky to do anything much before Monday in any case. Thankfully, we have good board and lodgings at Sari and Thorne’s place, to await a change in the weather and our luck.