La Rochelle adventures

With the weather being so crap - 40 knot gusts and inches of rain - or centimetres as they say here. I have been discovering my feminine side Doros (private joke).

I have moved from silver fox to silverback, (is this a male Rachel?)

Having spent a few days on my own, wiring up the remaining solar cells, making outboard brackets, fitting the recently serviced outboard to the pushpit, fender boards etc., I look forward to Shirley arriving.  I hire a car for three days and go and pick her up on Wednesday 28th. We drive into Bordeaux to visit the Cite de Vin - a modern monstrocity housing a museum dedicated to ...you've guessed! (but you do get a free tasting at the end, at the very top in the bit which looks unfinished but is!)

 Martian (my new sunnies!!) meets some architects drunken inspiration?

Studying the bottles  ..everyone tells a story

Interesting iPads...honest! Bluetooth in english

Virtual ship carrying Bacchus & his wine

Georgian wine Rachel made the traditional way (no feet involved)  delish

The degustations..mais oui!

& of course there has to be a marina in the picture!!

Shirley's new home  Chateau de la Roche Courbon

a major restoration a la Castle Ward ...not!

..my new gardens...

& a wee project for Ian

..how do they get them that shape?

... one solitary duck egg all on its lonesome ownsome
 

now where did I leave my head

Let the games begin!  He did win but he didn't get it all his own way I'm happy to say!

African death mask beetles  (Jens??)

Surveying Ian's new pied a terre nearby (remember the silverback!)

...perfectly at home in his cave (go in at least 20 metres)

and here we have yet another lock gate in yet another marina (Rochefort)

..must we go down to the water again!? (waiting pontoons)

Hope you enjoyed our holiday pics(yawn) Hoping to get back on the water tomorrow, winds are declining, we need to leave Saturday evening by the latest to avoid the French shooting us on their firing range, it starts up at 8:00 am Monday and we have 160 miles to cover!

Ian and Shirley McCrum

From Les Sables d'Olonne to La Rochelle

After a morning spent chilling, getting gas and some other chanderly, we depart Les Sables d'Olonne. I am very fond of Les Sables - we kept Otago here for a winter in 2004/5 and find the innner marina quiet with pleasant laid back bars and cafes. The outer Marina is very touristy, lively, a bit "kiss me quick" sort of place, it is bordered by a massive beach full of tourists and has all the trappings of bulk tourism.

The navigation up and down the river is tricky as the silt moves and the transits don't, last time in I took advice from a local who told me to go South of the transit. This time we went in and out at half tide and kept to the transit. depth seemed ok right on the line.

 Moving across onto the transit before the training walls that exit the harbour - the channel only gets shallow then

 Girl riding side saddle!

 We finally got a nice sail - broad reach allowed me to try out the new whisker pole. Over 6 knots for 6 hours!

 Lunch - my rolls are a bit more rustic than John's - but just as tasty.

 We nearly have to gybe so I roll in the genoa - still doing over 5 knots under main alone. The vent Solaire seems to operate reliably here - wind comes up at lunchtime and increases all afternoon and can be quite windy in the eraly evening. Then it dies, sometimes it comes up again at midnight/1 in the morning from the NE for a few hours.  Above is the massive bridge joining the Isle de Re to the mainland. It is a hundred feet high.

 One channel for Westbound and one channel for Eastbound boats - recommended not obligatory

 No matter how high the bridge everyone holds their breath when you go underneath.

 And approaching Les Minimes - the largest marina in Europe I think - over 4,500 boats

 I hope I don't ever need these fellows - though I am sure they are a nice bunch...

 You must call at the reception pontoon - the Welcome (Accuiel) pontoon has no one to welcome us at 7pm so we park there and I walk up to the Captainiere who directs me to berth 3 and gives me a map of the marina so I don't get lost!

 Just a few shots of the marina - hard to give you an impression of the scale, there are several bays, each bigger than most marinas!, the map 6 shots below shows this.

And then John and I walk into the centre - seems to take an hour, we are doing a dry run for John's leaving in the morning from the train station. (In the end he takes a taxi)

 The entrance to the old town is flanked by these towers.

 Once in there is a locked basin a Flotte to Startboard, last time I was in La Rochelle it was only for very big boats, they seem to allow big boats now, Shadowmere is nearly big enough. The old town has shallowish (I beleive) moorings to port and a further locked basin to Starboard. They are doing a lot of work in the town so changes are likely to the shoreside walks, these are already very pretty. They have laid tram tracks too since the last time I was here - though I only see ordinary wheled buses travelling down them. There is a good system of buses in La Rochelle, including a line from the marina. There is also water taxis although they only start at 7:30 in the morning and John has to be away by then.

La Gare - a magnificent building near the centre. I will either use this, or hire a car to pick up Shirley next Wednesday.

The marina has a strange pricing structure, Looks expensive at first glance. over 42 Euro a night - but you get the third night free, so three nights cost 84 Euro, still dear but not too bad. Few marinas have the wealth of chanderly and boat  workshops as La Rochelle, and it is a major city, good airport and train connections. If you stay a week the fee is 254 Euro. If you stay 3 days, go away for a day and come back for another 4 days it is cheaper. You can repeat the 3 days there and one day away forever and save money.

John left on Saturday 24th June, 2017. Shirley arrives in Bordeaux airport Wednesday 28th June, Eileen arrives Bilbao on Sunday 1st July and has an option of a 5 hour bus journey to Brodeaux arriving 5 am Monday 2nd July. It looks like the weather will be bad next Thursday and Friday so Shirley and I are stuck. I could maybe move the boat tomorrow to Royan, though that is a longer train journey to Bordeaux. Weather after Eileen arrives is ok, good day, bad day, good day, bad day.

Figuring out the best option is like solving an operational Maths problem - there must be an app for that...

La Rochelle to Royan is over 55 miles and we need tide to get in, a 3 hour window in every 12.
Royan to Arcachon is 73 miles (65 to the  mouth) This needs very careful tidal planning and alight wind at the mouth of the Arcachon channel, plus good tides to leave Royan. South of Archachon is a massive French firing range that must not be crossed if they are firing. They don't fire at weekends.
Arcachon to Cape Breton is 50 miles (approx - I was losing the will to live at this stage of planning).
La Rochelle straight to Cape Breton is 160 miles, Royan to Cape Breton is 120 miles.

I think I will stay in La Rochelle until Eileen arrives, probably hiring a car to pick up Shirley on Wednesday and using it on Thursday and Friday for holidaying. We will stop at Royan and Archachon and then head to Cape Breton, probably Friday week.

That's sailing for you.

Down the Islands of France, From Glenans to Yeu

After departing the Glenans we sail and motor to the next Island down the coast - the Isle de Groix, it is only 25 mile so we just take a look and then continue going to Belle Isle.
Here is a map of the French Coast.

 Approaching Isle de Groix - looks pretty

more lighthouses!

 We move on to the next Island - Belle Isle and the port of Le Palais, there are more trees here than on Groix

 Here is the entrance to Le Palais, there is a fort to the right

 Of course we share the harbour with not just one but two ferries, there do handbrake turns, I think I could have spat on the boat as it passed - within spitting distance

 They have added pontoons in the shallowish water on the town side of the harbour - the pontoons are floating boxes clicked together and are summer only.

 On the seaside of the harbour, along the pier, you moor between two white buoys, or between a bouy and chains on the pier wall. You often raft up three boats to a pair of balls - we raft alongside one other boat. A fellow sailor, jumps down into his dinghy and puts our lines through the buoy rings for us. Nice guy. If you arrive in working hours (up to 9pm) there is an official Dory that takes your lines for you.

 John making lunch using the new Galley

 Tres French? tray subway.

 Next day, no wind

 And so to the Isle de Yeu, we stay here two nights as we stumble across a Cruising Association Rally and are invited to a pontoon supper (Stand up, drink and eat some snacks) an enjoyable evening.

 Yeu is a very pleasent place, I cycle to several supermarkets and a boulangerie, all shut from 12 to 15:30! But I do get the outboard serviced and there was a good chandelery

 Too soon we have to leave, note entrance is shallow in places, use the entrance transits.

 And we leave the Isle de Yeu - good beaches, nice houses,

 more sailing courses for kids - they are taught to sail biggish boats too.

 Weird, low lying buoys are found at the Eastern extremity of the island, they have a couple of vague yellow marks, I suppose they are mussels or oysters?

 Goodbye Yeu

 Someday I might visit your lighthouses

 Onwards to Les Sables de Olone, and more lighthouses!

 See the red roofs typical of Le Vendee

 John helms her in, this was at high water, very easy to go agound at low water, there are two transits on the shore, but as the sand and silt wanders about each year and they don't move the transits you need to be careful. Thank goodness for high water

 You can see one of the transists - the single white tower on the right.

 The inner marina has bulked up since Shirley and I were here last. We actually kept Otago here one winter (2004/5 I think). There were fewer restaurants then.

 And of you think this is a big marina, just wait until the next post, from La Rochelle!