Beautiful Île de Ré

From La Rochelle, with our new Competent Crew, aka the Pooles, aboard, we had an excellent sail from La Rochelle under the bridge connecting the Île de Ré to the mainland. To everyone's delight we were able to sail virtually the full distance; with a WSW wind varying force 3-5 (max 21.8 knots), we covered the 13 nm in 2.36 hours, maximum speed 8.7 knots and average 5.0 knots. This was pleasing despite the gloomy sky and occasional shower. Our spirits were undiminished as we entered the lovely harbour of St.Martin on the Île de Ré. You can see the ruined Citadel in the centre left of the photo below. Like so many other harbours in this area, Vauban was responsible for the fortifications on this island, and they are impressive, reminiscent of those in Berwick-on-Tweed. Of course here they were built to keep the English out. According to my sources (thanks Duncan), Vauban was responsible for 160 great fortifications along the borders of France, not a bad record for the 17th century. More information for those history buffs amongst you is available online Vauban, military architect

According to all the books, this picturesque little harbour gets very crowded at weekends, especially during the summer months so arriving on a Friday, we were prepared to be rafted up. As it happened the combination of poor weather and being quite early in season meant we were provided with a very comfortable alongside berth close to all the facilities (see Follyfin lower right corner below). The inner harbour dries but we stayed afloat in the locked harbour. Widely considered to be one of the most attractive harbours in West France, we well understand why. The island has hollyhocks scattered all over the place, which must look very pretty when in flower, and gorgeous little alleyways inviting further exploration.

There is also a daily market where all sorts of goodies can be found, including wonderful fresh fish and oysters ... talking of which we were delighted to sample some of the said shellfish on Saturday evening in a charming little restaurant whose speciality was the oyster. They had about a dozen different varieties, hot and cold, to choose from. Had Monsieur Le Patron not been so patient explaining them all to us, we may well have missed the experience of trying the 'Royale' which is grown just down the coast from here. Definitely less salty and more meaty than the equivalent no.3 size oyster ordinaire, 'twas a taste sensation! Managed to restrain ourselves from trying the Gillardeau oyster (named after the producer) which is purported to be the Rolls Royce of French oysters, with a price tag to match; apparently these ones are exported to Dubai.

Wonderful seascapes in this type of weather.

The weather at sea was not inviting, and we wished to explore the island anyway so we hired a couple of tandems, as one does ...

thereby fulfilling a lifetime's ambition for me. What I found rather disconcerting was being entirely unable to control the situation (as I was riding pillion) as well as being unable to see ahead! We survived, however, and enjoyed several hours riding along the cycle tracks beside the north coast all the way to Ars-en-Ré. And just to remove any nagging doubt, Ars is pronounced exactly as if it had an 'e' on the end! A fete in the town square was in full progress when we arrived so we spectated whilst enjoying ice cream - caramel au beurre salé being the popular flavour - before the return journey.

Sunday came all too quickly and it was time to return our crew to the mainland. Virtually no wind necessitated very slow progress back to La Rochelle. One last evening with Penny and Duncan was spent in the huge marina 'Les Minimes' built onto the outside of the coast about 5 km from the town centre. This marina is wall-to-wall masts, over 3000 boats being berthed here. Not our ideal overnight spot but very convenient for our crew to get back this morning to their camper van parked at a campsite only 6.4 km south of here. Sad to see them go indeed. Now to plan our next bit of exploration whilst lying to anchor this evening a few miles from here. Within the next few days we plan to go up the Charente river to Rochefort, which is the furthest south our current insurance allows us to go. In the meantime the weather is settled but in low pressure so cloudy and rather dull. Good time to get the chores done!

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La Rochelle

Arriving from Les Sables d'Olonne, one sees La Lanterne from afar (centre of photo below),

This was the first lighthouse on the French Atlantic coast, constructed in the XVth century, it was converted to a prison in the XVIIth century. The graffiti on the walls inside show that many British sailors were held captive here by the French in the subsequent 200-300 years. It lies at the end of the rampart between it and the Tour de la Chaine, the tower which guarded the entrance to the harbour with the Tour St. Nicholas on the far side. Entering the harbour by boat between these last two towers is spectacular.

Berthed in the Vieux Port for the first night right in the centre of this fascinating old town, an important port since medieval times, gave us the opportunity to explore. The colonnades and courtyards have been sympathetically melded into modern life. Evidence of past glories are seen carved into the walls in various places.

Unfortunately the weather was not very fine for our climb up the 38m tower of La Lanterne. Nevertheless the view was magnificent, out to sea and over the town.

For the second and third nights we moved into the locked basin and were berthed just beneath the green-topped white tower seen in the distance in the photo below - this light forms the rear of two leading lights into the port and flashes white 24 hrs a day. It provided a suitable landmark to our location for our next visiting crew, Penny and Duncan, who joined us last evening, 22nd May. Now we are preparing for the off to St. Martin on the Ile de Ré, despite a not-very-encouraging forecast. Expecting rain and strong winds so just as well it is only a 15 mile passage!

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Patagos on Ile d'Yeu

Life on this very small island just off the Vendée coast is slow ... normally. During a normal week in May there are a few visiting boats mainly containing retired people like us, some elderly land-based tourists, and perhaps a few young families with pre-school-age children. A few of these people hire bicycles to explore the island. Otherwise it's the local population and the little old fishermen in their tiny motor boats who predominate. That all changes on a sunny Saturday in May when a massive influx of kids of all ages arrive on the ferry from the mainland, here to terrorise the tiny tracks and roads on bicycles. Rarely, in fact never have we seen so many bike hire shops in such a small area, and indeed never seen quite so many humans so dead-set on self-destruction.

We had enjoyed a pleasant walk the day before, on the Friday: about 12 miles anti-clockwise round the north and west coasts of the island to the mid-point of Port La Meule on the south coast.

Having reached this tiny, picturesque harbour late in the afternoon, we just caught the last bus back to Port Joinville on the north coast where Follyfin was berthed. But it was a tiring walk, so we had determined to 'louer les bicyclettes' the following day since this seemed an attractive alternative for completing our circumnavigation of the island, using the extensive network of cycle tracks provided. That is until the spectacle described above greeted us on approaching the cycle hire shop on Saturday morning. Enough said - we caught the bus back to Port de La Meule and completed our tour on foot!

We felt we had earned a meal out that night. On a recommendation we headed for Chez Martin, a small créperie on a back street. They don't take reservations and when we arrived shortly after 8p.m. it was full. Luckily we only had to wait 5 minutes but the couple who arrived just after us were told to return in half an hour. The photo below shows the main reason why this place is so popular - just about everyone there was ordering the island speciality, Patagos, in one form or another. And people were still arriving at 9.30p.m. when we left.

Patagos are a variety of shellfish similar to cockles, and they are scrumptious! Skipper in 7th heaven as the ones we chose were swimming in cream and garlic ... well I suppose we had earned it after walking about 12 miles round the north coast of the island!

What did we see on our circumperambulation? Quite a lot as it happens, apart from beautiful views over rocky coastline and sandy beaches. There were many lovely holiday homes and cottages,

ancient winding gear for drawing up fishing boats to the beach,

prehistoric structures such as this one, Dolmen de la Planche à Puare, thought to be from about 4000 B.C. (gee, those Neanderthals must have been short ...)

and views of offshore rocks, severe hazards to seafarers before the days of maritime markers, this one we had sailed past the previous day (and by popular request, includes a shot of moi, your blogger), not to mention imaginative methods of preventing fishing boats from floating off to sea ...

Then there was the massive concrete crucifix on the Pointe du Châtelet and across the inlet from it, Le Vieux Chateau, built in the 11th century and thought to be a pirates' lair, it rises up out of the rock; one hesitates to speculate on the number of local lives lost in the building of such a structure.

Continuing along the south coast we came across Gandalf's bridge over the Chasm of Doom (you remember, the one he fell into) and passed a couple of gorgeous beaches, including the one we anchored off on last Wednesday night (Plage des Vieilles).

Finally it was time to leave, so at dawn on Sunday we set sail again, turning south and east, bound for our next destination, Les Sables d'Olonne. The wind dwindled almost to zero after only a few hours so, always reluctant to use the engine, it was a long day. Arriving at the Quai Garnier about 17:00, it was hot and windless - our first taste of the southern summer. Supper on deck for the first time this season, looking out towards the town of La Chaume just across the river - magic.

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Heading South

As weather deteriorated after the rigging team left us, we decided to go right into The centre of Nantes to meet our next crew. Sailing up the Loire looked infinitely preferable to weathering storms at sea. Mind you, venturing out of Pornichet to cover the 10 miles round the corner and into the Loire estuary was not (as we say) plain sailing! Currents run strong on the estuary and when force 6 wind is blowing against the tide, the seas heap up in an alarming way. Nevertheless we made it up to St Nazaire and through the lock into the basin to spend the night in safety. You can see concrete submarine pens here, left over from the war.

This place is also famous as the scene of a courageous action by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines in WWII when the destroyer HMS Campbeltown was rammed into the lock gates and detonated to prevent the use of the submarine pens. Otherwise, St Nazaire does not have much to recommend it, being very noisy, industrial and dirty.

It's important to have the tide with you when you sail up or down the Loire, which is tidal all the way up to Nantes, some 30 miles. If you don't, you are likely to be pushed backwards with up to 6 knots of tide against you. This meant catching the 04:00 opening of the lock to escape from the St Nazaire basin and heading out in the dark and almost immediately under the magnificent Bridge over the Atlantic, 55m high. But we were repaid with a beautiful dawn just as we reached the more rural stretch of the river. Fishermen were out early with their nets trawling across the river. There was also the curious sight of a drowned house, of which we know not what to make!

Six hours later we arrived at the Pont Anne de Bretagne, about 10 minutes walk from the historic centre of Nantes. This photo of Follyfin is looking up river towards the low bridge - as far as masted vessels can travel up the Loire.

On Thursday 8 May we met Sue, a neighbour from Cawton, off the airport shuttle. A quick trip on the tram back to the boat and we were off down river with the tide. Anchoring overnight at Cordemais, about halfway down, we were then poised to emerge from the river the following day, go round the southern point of the estuary and enter Pornic marina. This was a full day's sail which our crew member withstood very well, only suffering a slight touch of queasiness despite the rough conditions out at sea. It finished with a gentle broad reach for the final 10 miles along the coast - the calm before the storm as it turned out. Pornic is an attractive seaside resort with a very southern feel - elegant holiday villas, numerous pine trees and grape vines. There is a charming river walk from the marina round to the old town.

Pornic also claims to be the site of the original 10th century Bluebeard's castle, apparently built by Alain Barbe-Torte, Duke of Brittany, as a fortification to protect the town.

With gale force winds at sea and heavy rain showers, the crew of Follyfin was confined to land for the weekend, making the most of exploring the shops, creperies and cafés.

On Monday the weather improved enough for us to go out for a day sail across the bay for a lunch at anchor and back. Conditions were just right to show our visiting crew what sailing is all about, and she seemed to enjoy it!

A fabulous sunset heralded good weather for the following day, unfortunately too late for Sue to enjoy it with us as she had to catch the early bus back to Nantes for her flight home on Tuesday 13th May.

After seeing her off, we attended to some chores - well the washing and cleaning has to be done some time - before setting off on what should have been a straightforward 10 mile trip to our next port of call, L'Herbaudiere on Ile de Noirmoutier, but which turned out to be the hairiest of sails so far in 2014. You can see our track here And the stats are below. Needless to say, we were glad to be moored up after that rough ride.

By yesterday morning, 14 May, the wind had subsided and we had a very leisurely sail down to the Ile d'Yeu. Lovely light tail wind allowed us to fly the new Gennaker sail again, a real treat. So calm was it that we decided to anchor overnight in a delightful bay on the south 'Cote Sauvage' of the island. But wind had turned by this morning so we have retreated into the marina on the north side at Port-Joinville, intending to stay a few days to explore this rather beautiful little island. The next post will report what we find!

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