U-BOAT PENS September 2026

 21/9/26 Start mileage 35140, End 36132 = 992 miles

Charlie, Neil, Clive, Rob, and Kate

I met Neil at 05:30 round his place, then we rode down to Newhaven to meet Clive. When they opened the gates, me and Neil got stopped for inspection, and were asked the usual questions, were we carrying explosives, firearms etc then we were asked if we were carrying any fuel, to which Neil replied he  had a flask of petrol, and I told them I did too, (there have been fuel shortages in France recently) they said it would be ok just this once, and they wanted to check one of my panniers, fortunately not the one with the fuel bladder in it! then it was off to customs then onto the boat.

   We had a cooked breakfast (Truckers Salad) then sat around for the four and a half hour crossing. We eventually got to Dieppe, but hovered around about 2 miles offshore, one of the engines had broken down, and we had to wait for a tugboat for a couple of hours. Never saw the tugboat, but I think they got the engine fixed, and we were onshore over 2 hours late!

   As we were running late, it was a fairly quick ride of about 180 miles to our first hotel, Ibis Budget Pontorson, we got there 20:15 French time, dumped all our gear in our rooms, and the lovely hotel receptionist booked us a table at the restaurant next door, and also met up with Rob, Kate was already pushing out ZZZeds. We had a nice meal, and some beers.

   Next morning was a bit more laid back, as the museum didn't open until 13:30, Neil was getting short of fuel, so we did a diversion, He was leading, but rode past a fuel station he hadn't spotted. The rest of us fueled up, expecting Neil to notice we weren't behind him, but we eventually tracked him down, and then we stopped for coffee at a nice cafe Le Cafe des Amis, We got to the Lorient submarine base, it is massive, and even survived a Tall Boy bomb

The museum we wanted to visit didn't open, but we got to go on Sous-marin Flore S645submarine, a diesel electric one

Then, after a wander round, we found another restaurant near the pens, then it was off to our next hotel, Ibis Budget Vannes Ploeren. Later, in the evening, we went to Buffalo Grill 5 minutes down the road for some food and beer, I had a dissappointing chilli.

Next morning, we headed for St Nazaire to have a look at the u-boat pens there, and to have a look at the French submarine Sous-marin Espadon, another diesel electric, but quite a bit bigger than yesterday's sub.

This submarine is still floating, and the tour was interesting. we then went looking for a cafe, and we found one that did a strange crepe like thing in a cone, Creperie Barapom Saint Nazaire

Next we headed to the pens the other side of the harbour to have a look at the museum Escal Atlantic, it was all about the old ocean liners, on the way in, you went through a door, and came to what looked like the side of a massive ship, it looked a few hundred feet long, but it was done by carefully arranged mirrors. They had various projectors showing the view of the sea from a ships guard rail, and when you got to the end of the tour, a girl made you get into a lifeboat, and lowered you down to the exit! 

Then, after a few more photo's, it was time to head back to the hotel, although Rob and Clive were nearly taken out by bicycles! Later in the evening, we went back to the Buffalo grill, for some beers.

   Next morning, we said our goodbye's to Rob and Kate, as they were all submarined out, and we headed to Cite de la Mer to have a look at La Redoubtable, a French nuclear sub that was their first to cross under the North Pole.

The reactor has been removed, but when it was still onboard, the crew only had a small tunnel to get past it

 Next, there is a museum about the Titanic, and also mini subs to look at

then into the gift shop, where Clive gave me the last submarine sticker they had left! I was very happy!

We then went to our hotel Shelder Equeurdreville. Next morning, it was time to head to Dieppe, so we took the coast road. I noticed the compass on my phone was showing due South, but eventually we were heading North. We stopped along the way at Chez Nounoute, Fecamp for something to eat. I noticed Rob and Kate were about 30 km east of us, but we didn't meet up until we got to the port at Dieppe. We had about an hour wait, and it was very hot, then it was off to Newhaven

Excellent trip, thanks to Neil for organizing hotels and everyone else for great company!

Isle of Man 13 April 2026

 Me and Neil set off at 07:49 for Cobham services to meet Clive, then after a quick chat, it was off to the Motorcycle museum near Birmingham. They have loads of interesting bikes there.

They even had a Norman Villiers 250, the same as I took my bike test on back in the Seventies!

(except, mine was a tad scruffier!)

   Next, it was time to head for "The Bears Head", our hotel for the night, very nice place.

Next morning, we headed off to Liverpool to catch the ferry to the Isle of Man, the ferry  was a catamaran, so it was quite quick, I think it was about 2 hours 45 minutes, the weather was ok in Liverpool, but Douglas was fairly damp, so it was on with the waterproofs. I discovered that my phone couldn't connect to 4g, so google maps were hopeless, as the hotel didn't show up, so we headed to Ramsey, and just by chance, I got a wifi signal, so was able to find the hotel. I discovered that if I changed settings on the phone, it would connect, but I would be charged between £91-£95 per gigabyte, so instead, I just downloaded offline maps for the whole island via the hotel wifi.

   The next day, the weather forecast was for drizzle in the morning, then brightening up in the afternoon, so we went to the Isle of Man Motor Museum, I have never been to a museum like it, they had so many unusual means of transport, we could have stayed all day...

Then, it was off for a ride around the island. It's worth pointing out that most places were closed at this time of year, and the Mountain road that is part of the I.O.M circuit was closed, so we had to divert a few times, which got us onto some nice scenery

The next day, we went to have a look at The Laxey Wheel, which was very impressive

  

As I am a senile old fart, I may have got the time line wrong, but at some point, we went to Castletown. 

where I saw a heron

Next day, I went to Ronaldsway (part of the shipping forecast, and back to Castletown for a closer look at the heron and Castletown

 Then it was off to the ferry for a pleasant ride home. Thanks, chaps, for an excellent few days

Cornwall 19 March 2026

 Decided to go and visit my old off roading friends, Colin and Viv, who moved to Cornwall, so a nice ride of 294 miles down to the Lizard peninsula, then took a while to find their house, I went the wrong way, and ended up going along a track that had half the road missing, that then turned into a dirt track, with lots of mud etc. The bandit handled it ok, but would have been better on knobbly tires. After a catch up , we went to the beach to give their dog a run, lovely area..

Then, after a lovely meal in "The Three Tuns" and a very relaxing evening, it was time to push out some Zeds. Next morning, I set off again, and did about 94 miles exploring the area, then, going round a corner, I spotted a car being held up by something unusual.

.

It was an emu, not sure where it came from, but I am fairly certain they are not native to Cornwall. There was what looked like a farmers landrover behind me, and as he looked local, I thought I would let him deal with it. I don't think it would have fitted in my top box anyway. Next, I went looking for a campsite, I think it was called Southleigh Manor Holiday Park, mine was the only tent there

Then, it was time to head home. Great to see Colin and Viv again, they made me most welcome!