Sailing with Amy Clair

The whole island is easily accessible by bike and ponce again our fold up bikes came into their own. More great beached  and of course a stall on the market selling just garlic !

Great to meet up with some Cruising Association friends - everyone back to us for sundowners ! Amazing how you moor up at a place that you have never been before and end up finding that several other CA boats had all decided upon the same place.

A short hop across to this little island so we could anchor as the weather was calm and the wind in the right direction.  Teamed up with David an d Una on 'Vadanu 3' and had a lovely evening in the bay. The island was a pleasing surprise with lots of charming restaurants and walks and cycle paths everywhere.  Moved on rather swiftly though on Sunday afternoon as the wind got up and it became very choppy, but not before we'd braving the water and had a very quick swim!!

  Our sail to La Rochelle took us under the 30m bridge between the mainland and the island. No problem our mast is only 18metres... or is it really??? Very deceiv ing  perspectives!!!   La Rochelle is a beautiful city with some wonderful old buildings and a very picturesque port. We found a lovely little waterfront cafe which had definitive views about junk food!!

When we first arrived it seemed so tranquil and then the world arrived...........rafting is the norm here a truly beautiful place to cycle with dedicated cycle paths all around the island always one poser.... just like the south of France

Th e weather has really settled down into a warm summer mode. We are much further south and the storm has cleared. Stunning beach you can see why it is called Sables D'Olonne It was party town when we were there as thousands of competitors were in town

The weather has still not quite settled after Storm Miguel and meant a very wet crossing from Pornic over to Ile D'Yeu. However the barometer was on the way up and we are looking (hopefully) at a much more settled period Being an island some kilometres off the Atlantic coast both fish shops and bike hire are understandably popular. As we have our own folding bikes we were able to spend some time touring around the island. A planned two day stop over was extended to three because we were enjoying it so much 198 steps to the top of the lighthouse - much easier on the way down !

After the heavy weather of the past few days we found a nice weather  window to sail the 25 miles from La Turballe to Pornic. It's the first place that we have come across here that reminds us of the UK West Country. An old town , quite hilly and with loads of character. We wondered why it was so busy and its because today is "Penecote" a public holiday. Using bikes to explore was the right decision and gave us a very good workout.

La Turballe is a pretty little fishing port and we made it our "Port of Refuge" on seeing that a very nasty Atlantic storm was heading across Biscay towards the Brittany coast. Never seen anything quite like it. The marina crew were very active securing everything down and advising boats how best to keep themselves secure. It arrived with full force on the morning of Friday 7th and created some chaotic scenes. Alarge ,steel, powerboat was attached to a pontoon just next to us. We heard a loud crack and saw that half of the pontoon fixings had sheared off. A minute or two later the other side sheared and the boat, still attached to pontoon was adrift in storm force winds. The marina staff were  quick to react and fortunately no damage was done - but it could have been much worse. It's the first time that we have felt the need for a grab bag at the ready - whilst in a marina !

Our first night out and weather was set fair for a peaceful night so we headed to a quiet bay on an island we'd not been to before. Managed to avoid the submarine cables - still don't know why submarines need so many... A very little island with a very small population, most of them called Blanchard. Lovely beaches and a pretty harbour.  We would have stayed longer but after much debate and study of weather forecasts decided to head for La Turballe as a period of strong winds looming - more later!