Well, the sail down to La Rochelle was a bit of a mixed bag. One minute we had wind, the next we didn’t, one minute I was sunbathing on deck, the next I had a fleece on. However, we did manage to sail in on the approach under the Ile de Re Bridge. The water here is very shallow and as La Rochelle is built on limestone the water is very murky, not like the azure blue seas I’ve been used to lately. It’s a large working port, not particularly pretty as you come in.
Ile de Re Bridge The marina is massive so we had no difficulty finding a berth.
We thought we had found a nice quiet spot until at midnight it seemed like we were in the middle of an earthquake. We got up and had a look out only to find that they are building a new breakwater about twenty metres from our pontoon, this obviously has to be done at low water which happened to be midnight that night. There they were moving these humongous boulders around and causing an almighty racket.
Next day we moved a bit further in, this was relatively quiet other than we had the French Scouts and Guides learning to sail on five boats next to us for a week. Mealtimes, and getting ready for bed was a bit of a noisy affair, but other than that it was fine.
There are concrete waves and … Beaches with no water
La Rochelle is beautiful, The city is so vibrant. There are street artists all along the main walkway, break dancing to performing dogs, all very entertaining and a nice way to pass an evening followed by small refreshment in one of the many harbour side bars just made for people watching.
We jumped on the bus one day over to ile de Re and hired bikes to see a bit of the island. It’s lovely, especially La Flotte and Saint Martin de Re, both small harbours surrounded by buzzing cafes and restaurants. We did think about taking the boat into Saint Martin de Re but we had heard that it got really busy and so many boats are crammed into the tiny marina that you have to wait till others leave before you can get out. Having seen it, I can see what they mean.
The Donkeys wear PJ’s here
We’re waiting patiently for a two or three day weather window for the crossing to Northern Spain. We need to head out about forty miles into the Bay of Biscay to skirt a firing range. It’s about a 185 mile sail to get there. We should be able to do it in about 36 to 40 hours depending on the weather but we do need a good spell of settled weather to do it in. So far there have been a couple of times when we thought we might get away but the outlook changed. One, initially forecasting force three changed to gusting gale force. So we need to be sure we get it right as the Bay of Biscay can be a “challenging” place to be in bad weather.
Health & fitness regime
In the Vieux Port for an evening
During the day, we take the bikes, “Yellow Velos” which the marina provides free for a couple of hours each day and get out and about a bit. Today they were used for a visit to Decathlon on the outskirts to get cockpit cushions and a mat.
Tomorrow they will be used for a visit to the optician! Gordon has once again lost his glasses over the side of the boat; unfortunately we didn’t manage to get them back, even with the help of an obliging French man who went in to have a look for them, it was high water and just too deep. As these were his prescription sunglasses we got hold of a pair of those clip on things which go over his normal glasses!
Attractive, aren’t they? I might need to walk in front if he’s wearing them; I’ve got my street cred to think about, after all?
