Tuesday 16th July 2013

[Simon-JG-hr]

Bonjour! Je suis sat in St Tropez, overlooking some huge super yachts, smoking a cigar! Found a Fonseca Amateur (think that's right), French RE from 2011.

I'm either celebrating or commiserating - have just been on one of the (comparatively tiny) yachts for an interview (temp skipper for a month in August).

Started very nicely (honey and mustard opening, more earthy now, 20 mins in). Definitely more medium strength than the lighter body you'd expect from a regular production Fonseca.

Will update later, hopefully with photos.

[butternutsquashpie]

Bonjour! Je suis sat in St Tropez, overlooking some huge super yachts, smoking a cigar! Found a Fonseca Amateur (think that's right), French RE from 2011.

I'm either celebrating or commiserating - have just been on one of the (comparatively tiny) yachts for an interview (temp skipper for a month in August).

As I reach for a peach, slide a rind down behind, a sofa in san Tropez.....
No? No pink Floyd meddling? Sorry

Anyways, hope the downtime is fun in the sun! and as for the yacht, F?licitations mon ami. J'esp?re que ?a va bon et amusant.

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[Stevieboy]

Nice find Simon...never tried one. Great to hear it's a meatier stick than a regular Fonseca....they're a bit light for my taste tbh

[Deano]

JL1 on the go!

[Pleevy]

An incredibly unsatisfying RyJ no2. Bugger all smoke from the first 2 thirds, only near the nub is it starting to produce some decent smoke.

I gave the heartfelt beads a little top up the other day, has anyone had problems with over humidifying after a top up? I've neglected to change the battery on my hygro so am none the wiser as to any fluctuations, though it has always been steady with the beads.

[butternutsquashpie]

I gave the heartfelt beads a little top up the other day, has anyone had problems with over humidifying after a top up?

1. Really? RYJ 2 was unsatisfactory?
23 through my box and none have been terrible. Sure they're not worth raving about and all, but they have a pretty nice standard like the montes of the same size.

2. Yes. All the time. Should standardise in 4-5 days.

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[Pleevy]

Don't get me wrong it tasted great, I really enjoy the sweetness of most of the RyJs I've had, it was the fact that I couldn't get much smoke out of it at all, just a pale blue wisp of an excuse for a thick cloud. It actually burned quite well when it stayed alight.

It has also gone from the humi and sat in a tube for 2 days, wouldn't have thought that would have had an affect?

[butternutsquashpie]

Know what the issue probably was if this:

Bugger all smoke from the first 2 thirds, only near the nub is it starting to produce some decent smoke.

was your problem??

Fissure in the binder but not in the wrapper. Sounds like it was near the cap of the cigar too which would've caused the nub to be smokier.
If the taste was sweeter than usual, it would confirm that nicely.
One of mine did that a while back. I just patched it with some leftover wrappers I had lying around for cases like these.

But if its something nicely cheap and common, i tend to shove it in my pipe and smoke it instead of patching it.

These are just my 2cents and weird habits

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[smokin_e2011]

An incredibly unsatisfying RyJ no2. Bugger all smoke from the first 2 thirds, only near the nub is it starting to produce some decent smoke.

I gave the heartfelt beads a little top up the other day, has anyone had problems with over humidifying after a top up? I've neglected to change the battery on my hygro so am none the wiser as to any fluctuations, though it has always been steady with the beads.

Over humidification possibly??
To me it sounds like it was plugged, most likely around the band area, may explain why it only started smoking near the nub...

[smokin_e2011]

I'm still trying and working with this brand, so i picked out the Upmann Connie No1, this evening...

WP_20130716_008.jpg

[monkey66]

'08 petit Edmundo and a few too many beers on a very hot evening in the fine City of London.

[Simon-JG-hr]

F?licitations mon ami. J'esp?re que ?a va bon et amusant.

Merci, Monsieur Butternutz. As it is, I turned down the job - after chatting with the chap a bit more, I got the impression that he was after an engineer who could skipper, rather than the other way around. My engineering skills amount to keeping a boat working (maintenance), not overseeing a refit, which seemed to be what he was after... So probably not for me. Still, was a nice venue for an interview... A few leads in Antibes to chase up (apparently superyacht owners are keen for ex-RN types to be on their bridges, as opposed to sun-seeking yachties...) Advantage with these leads... much better pay, bigger prettier boats, and a crew (so not such a lonesome job - plus these owners have a habit of picking some top totty to work on the hosting side...)

Nice find Simon...never tried one. Great to hear it's a meatier stick than a regular Fonseca....they're a bit light for my taste tbh

It was a jolly nice stick indeed - I thoroughly enjoyed it. Nothing like a regular production Fonseca (one of which I think I once described as "like smoking an oversized, under-flavoured cigarette"...) Good complexity, a little sweet in places. Quite moreish actually. Should really have gone back to the shop and picked up a few more, especially at ?9.50 for a double robusto - cheaper than a bloody coke in most of the bars I visited!

[butternutsquashpie]

So probably not for me. Still, was a nice venue for an interview... A few leads in Antibes to chase up (apparently superyacht owners are keen for ex-RN types to be on their bridges, as opposed to sun-seeking yachties...)

Oooooh, c'est domage..

Advantage with these leads... much better pay, bigger prettier boats, and a crew (so not such a lonesome job - plus these owners have a habit of picking some top totty to work on the hosting side...)

Or maybe not!! I've actually wanted to tryy out a boating internship or so for one of my lazy summers. Maybe in the Mediterranean where light pollution is in absentia so I can seee the stars.
Hope you'll get that one as it does seem better than whatever thing you were offered before (seemed you needed to be more qualified for a lesser pay.. Hehehe)

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[Simon-JG-hr]

Haha, the irony was that I am overqualified for what he was advertising for, but under-qualified and inexperienced in what he actually wanted!

I'd heartily recommend looking into doing a Med season if you manage to find yourself free for the summer. Just make sure you've got your basic safety tickets with you (and that they're STCW'95) and you should be able to find something fairly easily. If you're looking down the deck officer side of things (which is my area of knowledge as I was a Nav in the Royal Navy), then ensure you've got the right stamp on your tickets... Ironically, according to one of the agencies, my tickets are wonderful, but as they have a military stamp rather than the MCA one I need to jump through a load of hoops before I can use them! On the front of stamps - as pretty much every superyacht in the Med is British flagged in one-way-shape-or-form, getting your quals endorsed by the MCA certainly smooths the path.

NOW, IN CIGAR RELATED NEWS...

Finally back in Blighty, so have a working internet connection (come on France, this is the 21st Century...), a photo of the Fonseca Amateur:

IMG_1311.jpg

[butternutsquashpie]

I'd heartily recommend looking into doing a Med season if you manage to find yourself free for the summer. Just make sure you've got your basic safety tickets with you (and that they're STCW'95) and you should be able to find something fairly easily. If you're looking down the deck officer side of things (which is my area of knowledge as I was a Nav in the Royal Navy), then ensure you've got the right stamp on your tickets... Ironically, according to one of the agencies, my tickets are wonderful, but as they have a military stamp rather than the MCA one I need to jump through a load of hoops before I can use them! On the front of stamps - as pretty much every superyacht in the Med is British flagged in one-way-shape-or-form, getting your quals endorsed by the MCA certainly smooths the path.

Geez mate, i had to google the acrynoyms to figure out what they were!! haha. all i know now is my one year screaming at air cadets would've been better if i spent it screaming at navy cadets.....
Thanks for all the aid though, i'll PM it to meself for reference next summer (and probably a lot more would make sense )