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2011                 

Looking forward to a good season

You think you are doing well at 8 knots but then Sodebo comes past as if you are stationary.

The cover we made last year worked very well and the cockpit remained dry and well ventilated, as we had the old spray hood with the boat we gave

it a good set of re-enforcements and put a zip on top, attached the cover to that, then bungee to the existing attachment points that are used for the

canopy. The whole thing cost in

 the order of £45.

Andy off yacht Pipit (Bavaria 36 live aboards www.yachtpipit.com) have been a great help over the winter, like always when you are back home

there are measurements that you wished you had, well Andy made that possible as well as sending the photos back of Odysseus on her berth.

The community here, French, Brits, Dutch, Germans and others are great to be with, friendly and helpful especially if you have problems.

Out to France to get the boat ready.

We managed to get all the jobs done and the boat is rigged ready for the off, the weather out there was excellent so all in all a good result.

All the "Brit boats" are safe and sound so emailed owners of this news and pictures.

I have put a block up the back stay to act as a motor and dinghy lift, this worked out very well and makes easy work of both. Also put wheels on

 the stern ladder so the dinghy will ride over them and not get caught up. The last thing was to cover the decal line of blue which always faded in

the UV so covered it up with the matching blue of the hull, let me know if you want the web site for the decal stripe.

One more job to do is feed a spinnaker line through the mast there is a mouse line but it is tied off at the top of the mast need some help for this

 so will do it on our return in mid May.

I have made up a mast climber by using a climbing ascender and a strong webbing strop, 30 minutes on the sewing machine and we have a method of getting up the mast without

the need for Linda to winch me up unaided and at a fraction of the price.

Left the Villaine Friday 20th May making our way down to Pornichet where we stayed for 2 days; it's a nice stop off these days and has the added

advantage of being a free port for us. Just enough time to get into the holiday mood.

Next stop Pornic and managed to get a pontoon slot, a bit tight though, now we are 40 foot the marinas have not caught up with the width and

length of pontoons. On our way down I was troubled with a noise from the gearbox, "clicking" and it was getting worse. Only one thing for it was

to lift out, which we did and found the rubber outer seal on my saildrive had un-glued and was touching each blade of the prop as it turned. So to

fix it quickly I took it off and will refit in July.

Ile D'Yeu

Nice sail down to the island (37 mile) and lots of room there this time of the year but it will get crowded in July when we return. We like it here and did

some walking, and a great meal out that consisted of very large prawns.

 Stayed for 4 days before moving on. Little wind on the day we left so had to put the engine on for the 30 miles down to Les Sables.

Les Sables D'Olonne

Berthed in the new marina on the right (Quai Garnier) as you go in, although there are the fishing boats going out early we like it in there as it's in the

town and you can see life going past all day long.

There is new WiFi system available at the cost of 1 euro a day, and so far each of the ports have it but a bit slow sometimes, and at low water near

 the wall the signal is a bit hit and miss:-

www.wifivendee.netabord.com

The weather has been very sunny for days but sometimes the wind is a little on the high side so we stayed for 3 days.

View from boat in Quai Garnier

Since this port has been in use the habour area has become much more attractive and French visitors are out in force in the cafes and restaurants.

 Lots of room on the beach this time of year this is one of the main holiday areas.

2 Brit boats are here and we had drinks on board "Durny" a westerly Alan and Maureen also Frank and Anita off "No Worries" (on our pontoon in

LRB). We did the washing and a visit to the supermarket before thinking of going on.

La Rochelle

Left Les Sable D'Olonne on Friday 3rd June and arrived in La Rochelle (33 mile) 17.00 some sailing but ran out of wind behind the Island of Ile De Re so had a slow motor sail

whilst fishing, cought a Gar fish but did not fancy eating it so put it back. We got a pontoon berth when we arrived (on a weekend.) also WiFi is OK here.

A trip to the supermarket, then lunch in town. Lots to do here so we got the bikes out and spent some time cycling around the very good cycle paths into town and the parks around

 the area.

We stayed for 9 days and settled into a routine, I got some more work done on the dinghy storage and try out the new dinghy seat/bag, it was

a very good buy, the seat has foam in it and the bag zips off so you can take it with you, bargain off ebay £23.

All worked out well apart from a little adjustment needed on the sling for the dinghy. Next day was a trip to town and have a picnic in the

park go to the zoo and watch the old gaffers come into Minimes.

The evenings are just perfect and the view from our berth is spectacular.

We met up with Andy and Anne off yacht Pipit, (www.yachtpipit.com) sitting it out in Minimes waiting for the weather to change so they could cross

the biscay, 9 days later they were still there when we left for St Denis on Ile D'Oleron. (Good luck both, they are in Spain now, look at their web site.)

St Denis

Arrival in St Denis (9 miles) we were told that there was another rally the next weekend so we could only stay until Friday. We are finding more rallies

this time of year so we will be off again on Friday. This did not happen as the weather changed and became very windy so the rally was cancelled.

The harbour is changing, the first photo shows the drying natural sill about 5 foot drying at a co-effient of 70 so you have to keep to the fishing boat

side of the entrance if you  have a deep keep, however the channel is well marked.

After the storms of 2010 the pontoons have been replaced but they are closer together as you can see I have taken up the whole slot, also the depths

of the first 4 squares are only 1 metre now so be aware.

The port has a new shower block that has 15 showers and 2 seperate sink and wash areas, it had just opened when we got here and the port office

 has moved, no longer up the stairs but around the side of the building to the right. The port has WiFi but it's more expensive than other ports.

Off on the bikes again, a trip to the light house at the end of the Island and lunch was a galette. Below are the fishing walls that are hundreds of

years old and still working.

We have to start making our way back north, first stop Les Sables D'Olonne. A 10 metre swell was running outside of the Island, left over from the

high winds that had passed the last 3 days, so we changed course and went inside of the Islands, by the time we had cleared the inside passage the

swell was less than half. We got a pontoon on arrival next to a Brit on his way south.

The marina was full of boats waiting to go north or south as the winds had kept the ports locked down for the 3 days.

Walking to the shower block we noticed "Grace" with Geoff and Maggie on board, had them round for drinks before they set off north the next day.

The next day we had a cycle ride and a picnic up the coast in the forest, miles of forest tracks close to the sea, not a soul in sight, pine cones as big

as your head.

                                                                   "Not sure how big the squirrels were"

Back North

Time to leave and go north to Ile D'Yeu again, arrived at 13.00 and managed to get a pontoon next to "Island Girl" who had been there for 3 days.

That evening "Virginia R" came in, this was the first time we had seen them this season.

Next morning off again , not much wind so had to motor sail for a time but it filled in as the day moved on. We arrived off the estuary into the

Villaine (64 miles) just in front of 150 boats out on a rally up the river to Arzal. We picked up a blue bouy and watched them all go past, it took 2 hours.

After the entertainment we showered on board and settled down to an envening of tranqillity. Next day we meandered up the river to catch the 11.00

lock which had 2 other boats going in so an easy time getting through. But on the other side of the lock were 150 boats lined up to get into the lock back

out to sea. We had never before seen so many boats in such a confined area all trying to get into the lock before we had time to get out.

Back in LRB we had washing to do and the car to collect from the garage before supermarket duties called.

After a few days rest we had a walk with Paul and Gloria up river and over the under side of the road bridge, a good walk that stretched the backs of

my legs.

After a week in LRB we decided to go up river and anchor, that way we would get a breeze through the boat. As we expected it was exceptional,what

with the birds and other wildlife it made for a pleasent time. A few days later we motored up to Foleux a small port on the river that is free for us,

had a good meal ashore and a nice stay, but it always comes with a risk!!!

The French man next to us bringing out his "hunting horn" and begining to play.

Back to LRB we get ready for Linda's and Frank's birthdays and for Bastille day, this year it goes on for 2 days with an "old Gaffer" sail past during

the day of the 14th and a night sail past, it must have been a record number of people this year in LRB all day the crowds walked past the boats.

Well we are ready to come home and let the French have their holiday time without us, have to lift out in Arzal and leave her there ashore for 7 weeks but we will be back in Sept

for 2 months.