Arrivals

Sarah and Mel had driven in their VW van from UK and we were excited to see them! We had also been sending tons of things to their house via Amazon and other UK providers, and Mel had been helping Chris ensure the fittings he had ordered for a shower system on the stern were correct.

We spent the first night at Port Louis marina and went for Mussels to a specialist mussel restaurant at the end of our pontoon – oh my word, if they had one type of mussels on the menu they had a hundred!! They were all different flavours including the traditional Mariniere, through to curry and stilton and spanish!! The evening gave Chris the opportunity to work through the items Sarah and Mel had brought with them.  One of the items were fans that sat on 3D printed fittings to allow cooling of our Victron Orions . A huge thanks to Mel for helping us out!

Off to explore

Mel and Sarah are accomplished sailors, and we had decided to head thirty three miles to Ile d’Houat the next day, as everyone talks about how beautiful it is!  We picked an anchorage on the east side as it was forecast to blow from the west – but how wrong that was!! We spent the whole night being bashed by wind and waves so it was a very uncomfortable night all round! Sarah even said she woke up during the night but decided to go back to sleep as it was not her boat and therefore not her problem! Good girl!

The next morning it was still really choppy with no way to launch the dinghy or go ashore.  We were discussing just sitting it out, but the forecast was for no wind once this period ended, so Jenni suggested making the most of it and sailing back to the mainland! Everyone agreed and we quickly raised the anchor and set off for an epic ride … until the wind died and the engine was needed.

Settling in for R&R

We eventually arrived back … to Gavres!! Back to where we were before – but that was fine as we knew it was a good location.  We ended up spending all our time there – lots of fun fishing, kayaking, visiting ashore, making meals on board and eating out.

One day we went for a walk ashore and had such a good time we were much later arriving back at the dinghy. The tide had gone out and the dinghy was stranded on some rocks.  Mel and Chris were quick to jump in and carry the dinghy to deeper water much to hysterics all round.

Eventually it was time for them to leave us, so we headed back to Port Louis. They kindly took us in the van to a provisioning run so we could restock in anticipation for the next leg of our journey!  We were sad to say goodbye and decided to spend a couple of extra nights in the marina in order to recover.

Hanging around

We didn’t want to move too far or fast as we were waiting around for our next visitors (Karen & Russ) to arrive – we hadn’t actually agreed where to meet yet as there was some heavy weather forecast to come in so we were still trying to work out the best place, which they could also access in their car.

Everyone constantly talked about the islands around Atlantic France so we decided to head to try some more … we tried quite a few places during this waiting period and here is a summary from the log book:

• Tuesday 12 August – Port Louis to Belle Isle (27 nm) – it was an overcast day and we lost the wind as we sailed. We originally aimed for Groix but decided to carry on past and head further to Belle Isle.  Chris lost a lure to a pot that we didn’t see – it could have been worse!)
• Wednesday 13 August – Belle Isle to Quiberon (11 nm) – after a very rolly night we decided to move on as a worst forecast was coming. It was a murky start and we were in a race with another boat.
• Thursday 14 August – Quiberon to Crouesty (9 nm) – we decided to head for a marina, it was a pleasant day with not a lot of wind and Chris caught a seabass!
• Saturday 16 August – Crouesty to Houat (12 nm) – after a few days in Crouesty where we had taken a ferry trip into the Morbihan, and got told off of washing the boat as there was a hosepipe ban (only written about in French!), and we were intending to head to an anchorage for a night and then sail into the Morbihan ourselves.  We were rafted on the inside (which means another 4 boats were attached to us and had to move for us to leave) and so after arranging this with everyone we left, intending to go just a mile … but it was such great sailing we decided to go further – just cos we can!!
• Sunday 17 August – Houat to Anse de Cornaud ( intended to go to Hoedic) (14 nm) – after another very swelly night back in Houat we decided to move back to the mainland. We realised that although the islands were beautiful, they were heavily affected by sleep and people – the mainland was quieter on both accounts.
• Monday 18 August – Anse de Cornaud to Anse du Suscinio (11 nm) – the weather was turning and we were going to be blown onshore so decided to move (again!). Jen helmed in very calm waters and tacked the boat on her own!  Suscinio is known for it’s long sandy beach and amazing castle.

  

• Friday 22 August – Anse du Suscinio to ??? (21 nm) – we stayed by the castle for a long time – great walks and we love our historic monuments so why would we move when it was perfection!  Eventually the time came to move though – we had arranged to meet Karen & Russ at Normoutiere and we were keeping a close eye on the weather which was forecast to turn very bad indeed!  It was a calm day with little wind and so we took a lunch stop at Piriac. We saw dolphins on the journey, but decided not to go ashore and carry on south.  We rejected our first anchor option as it was high tide and very rocky and we were nervous of what may be revealed when the tide dropped in the evening.  We carried on to Plage de Brebis, just inside some big yellow buoys that we had read were ok to stay within. We got set for the night – or so we thought! A lovely lifeguard paddled out to tell us we couldn’t be inside the buoys after all – we couldn’t work out why as it was too far out for swimming, and to be outside them meant being in the entry path to the marina, so we decided to move again! It was after 1800 by now and we knew we would lose the light soon. Chris sailed us and Jenni made dinner and we arrived at the final option at 1953 – Plage de la Barriere – and the lifeguard had done us a favour!!

Our favourite spot

Plage de la Barriere has to be one of our favourite stops – we were the only sailboat on a popular and busy beach, and obviously of interest to the holiday makers who loved to paddle out and talk to us. There were also great water and provisioning options nearby and lovely coastal walks. Definitely one to remember!

• Monday 25 August – Barriere to Normoutiere (Baie de Dames)  (20 nm) – unfortunately as the weather was forecast to change again we had to leave Barriere.  It was an uneventful sail to another anchorage, just around the corner from L’Herbaudiere marina, where we had booked in for a week to spend time with our friends. As we approached we saw a pod of what we think were porpoise lazily making their way through the bay and it was here too that we took the kayak out for a paddle further along the coast where the bay shallows. From the yacht we watched as visitors to Le Plage de Dames walked on to the jetty to watch the locals catch small fish with nets suspended off the jetty with special booms to hold the net out over the water.
• Wednesday 27 August – Baie de Dames to L’Herbaudiere (7 nm) – the marina were kind enough to find us a temporary space before our booking was due as terrible weather was forecast to come in – and how right it was!! When our friends arrived we only managed a 2 hour quick sail to give them the experience, and to relocate the boat to the place it would stay for over another week.

Disaster strikes

We hadn’t been in the marina long when Chris heard a huge crash and spotted a yacht falling over on the hardstanding. We later discovered it was a wooden yacht that was supported on its keel and its own legs bolted to the side of the boat at the beam. A gust had blown the boat and the timber planking on the side of the yacht had given way. The couple who owned the boat were working by in it as it fell, luckily no-one was hurt.

A week with friends take two

We had a great week with Karen and Russ and really made the most of the weather, playing silly games and eating great food, walking when we could and exploring the area by car (very lucky to have their car with us). The weather couldn’t have been any worse, but it didn’t stop us!  We were sad when they left… and it also meant another big event was looming for us– crossing the Bay of Biscay!!

Day one was a settling in day and we had a delightful meal at restaurant La Bisquine, a menu mainly of fish.

The next day we took a walk along the Plage de la Liniere and made it to a small locals bar where we managed to buy a beer before it closed.

The main attraction on a wet day on the Ile de Noirmoutier is the town of Noirmoutier-en-l’Ile. We had lunch (twice) at Bar Le Onze, walked along the Jetee Jacobsen with salt flats to the North and the Etien du Mouilan (river) to the South and at the end we saw the location we had paddled to from the boat when we were anchored in the Baie de Dames. We explored the shops and historic monuments and of course we found an ice cream each.

Time to leave

We eventually left Normoutiere on Monday 8 September in light winds, with an overnight stop at Joinville and then on to Les Sables d’Olonne! This was quite a windy sail and also a very exciting one as this would be our final French stop.  Les Sables d’Olonne is a famous port for racing events and the Vendee Globe round the world race departs here every 4 years. We have been avid watchers and it was thrilling to enter the harbour that we see so often on tv.  As Chris said “in the wake of legends”!

We stayed in Les Sables d’Olonne until Monday 22 September – so 2 weeks! We did laundry, provisioning, exploring, checking out, and some pizza eating as well.  The Mini Transat race was leaving from here just before us so we went and looked at these crazy 23 feet race boats – rather them than me (Jen!).