We had a lovely week on the Ile de Re. Caught the bus to various places on the island; another video to come. Met up with two other British boats that were planning to sail direct to Gijon from La Rochelle. Had a nice evening with them before they sailed off.
I went up the tower in the town that the beginning of this video is shot from. Lots of history and the most humbling for me was stumbling on a British War grave. A sad reminder of the young men and women who died for the peace we have today.
There were just a handful of graves but ironically 2 of them were army lads from the Royal Army Service Corps that my Dad had served in during the war.
Someone had been good enough to put a wreath on the plot and another irony was that it was from the Royal Air Force Association that my school friend Graham, is a volunteer for and a key association of the RAF that we both served in.
I can understand how the RAF guys lost their lives here, but less sure why the RASC would be here.
Below is a short video on our trip to La Rochelle and our journey but coach back to Les Sables to pick up the car.
We had a couple of days in Bourgenay. There was not a lot to see as it was a small village and more of a holiday and leisure resort. Pauline managed to find a hairdresser and we had a nice meal in a marina restaurant.
We caught up with some washing and having a drink with a Dutch couple we had met in Les Sables.
We waited for fairer weather and then headed south to the Ile de Re. The Dutch couple left too, but went earlier than us. We followed them to the Ile de Re, but they went into another harbour.
We had quite a challenging sail with the winds and swell behind us. The video shows our trip and arrival in St. Martin, the major port on the island.
At 1000hrs on the 15th May we set sail for the Ile de Yeu after 5 days exploring the Ile de Noirmoutier.
We had to circumnavigate some really shallow areas before setting a southerly course.
We tried putting "The Lady" up but no wind.
The Lady, Cruising Chute
So, using our trusty Volvo engine we motored to the Ile d'Yue only to find find there was a major festival and we could not get in. So we motored another 25 miles to arrive at Le Sables d' Olonne - home of the Vendee Globe sailing events.
Our short ( 5mins) video here shows you the trip and fun we had.
After our little excursion in our trusty Mercedes Wagon to Pornic, we decided to go straight to Ile de Noirmoutier from Pornichet.
So we departed on the 10th May in nice sunshine but hit fog close to the St. Nazaire entrance channel. Luckily it cleared after half an hour and we finished the day back in sunshine.
This short video (5mins) gives you bit of fun and flavour of the journey and our bicycle ride around the island.
We hired two bicycles, unfortunately they did not have an electric one, so Pauline had to peddle her way round. Fortunately the island was pretty flat.
On our way round we followed special cycle paths through the countryside. We had a break (couple of beers) in the main town and then cycled on up through the various camp sites and villages back to the marina.
There was some beautiful large houses in the woody areas.
The island of Noirmoutier is off the Atlantic coast of France in the Vendée department. Parts of the island have been reclaimed from the sea. In 2005 it served as the finish of the Tour de France prologue.
The island is about 4 miles (6km) wide and 12 miles (19km) long. It has a population of just under 10,000 people and is part of the Pays de Loire in the Department of Vendee. It was apparently the scene of the First Viking raid on continental Europe in 799 (Wikipedia)
We had a nice meal in the harbour restaurant.
I do like fish, especially when it is fresh.
We met one couple on their Westerly Yacht heading south, but as they only stopped for a night, not much happened.
As it was a fishing harbour we did get woken up by the noise and wash of the fishing boats going out in the early hours of the morning.
After 5 days in `Turballe is was time to move on. We decided it would be Pornichet. A complete contrast from the working fishing port to an up market seaside one.
Pornichet is a coastal town of the Côte d'Amour, located tens of kilometers west of Saint-Nazaire, It is part of the area called Loire-Atlantique.
The name of Pornichet comes from Port Niché, which could be translated by Port in a niche. The town is named following its principal characteristic of a port located in an alcove along a salt-work channel, which was connecting the salt-works (current racetrack) and the bay.
Pornichet has 10,696 inhabitants . Its area is 13 km2. In over 30 years, the town has gained about 5,000 inhabitants. The summer population is estimated at about 55,000 people . As with many tourist resorts some 55% of the homes are second homes.
Note bottom left is where we turned East after gybing
Before we left La Turballe, we filled up with fuel. She took 117 litres so just as well. We had gentle winds and sunshine for our 4 hour trip. Winds were F3 and conveniently went from WNW to WSW as we gybed to turn east after passing the headland. Gybing for non sailors, is when you turn the boat and the wind goes around the back of the boat, instead of the front.
We called the Marina on VHF as we came in and they put us on the end of C Pontoon so we had a nice spot where we could observe the comings and goings of the marina.
In this short 3 minute video you will get a flavour of our sail, the marina and Pornichet town.
Whilst at Pornichet, we caught the train back to Arzal to pick up the car. The nearest station was our lovely winter residence Redon. There were no buses so we went to the tourist office who organised a taxi. Nice guy, but he took the longest route and so it cost us an arm and leg, well €65 to be precise.
Our view in the evening
My Apple Pie
The Beach
Still we had our car and it enabled us to visit St, Nazaire and Pornic. The later was on our schedule, but having driven here we decided it was not worth the effort. The marina is way out from the town and not particularly attractive. So it helped us decide to go straight to the Ile de Noirmoutier, when we left Pornichet
There were just a handful of graves but ironically 2 of them were army lads from the Royal Army Service Corps that my Dad had served in during the war.
I can understand how the RAF guys lost their lives here, but less sure why the RASC would be here.
