Ship on Fire

Friday 3 Septemeber
Joinville to Camaret via Evette
Ship on Fire

We took off from Ile de Yeu will toothgrindingly light winds in the wrong direction. Could have been worse, but we did have to put the engine on and plough through the waves again. Snork Maiden does her very best in these conditions – no slamming of the waves on the bow, but it is enervating. In the cockpit things are not too bad. With the spray hood up it’s pretty cozy, and the night was not cold. It’s clear, with a perfect sunset and all the stars visible. Al and I take turns to be on watch, and we use the autopilot a lot for steering. Inside the boat things are quite different, and although we are only travelling at around 4-5 Knots (a slow run) it feels like a cross between a galloping horse and a freight train on a poor track. It’s noisy (the engine is a 20 horsepower diesel – a real workhorse taking over 4 tonnes of boat and us through the night. Only possible to sleep when you’re really tired, but that’s quite soon.
I have the midnight to 4am watch. The last-quarter gibbous moon rises at around 0100. Although I have seen this many times, I’m still taken aback by it. Imagine looking into the night, straining to see other yachts with their faint navigation lights, often hidden in the swell. Also the lighthouses – there are several, far away on Belle Ile, Groix, Glenans. I see – what – a red tower – or is it? No, it’s triangular – a yacht on fire? A red sail? It is the first horn of the moon, just appearing above the horizon. A sight I had never seen until I sailed. It’s a quiet night – hardly any other ships – a couple making for the Loire and Al was surprised by a yacht – ghostly sails coming out of the dark. It seems obvious that any white triangular shape out here will be a yacht – but they really do take you off guard, slipping by so quietly.
The morning came – by now I was thoroughly irritated by the motoring – and with it a pod of dolphins. I called Al who’d just gone to bed after 0400 – 0800 watch. He swore he would never look at another dolphin after working on the film for Natural World (“Dolphins of Shark Bay”) but he relented. I broke my own rule and filmed them and we had them with us for around 20 minutes until they saw (or heard) a fishing boat and took off. It’s so good to see them – never get used to it no matter how often we see them.

OK – we are now in Camaret – next how we had a very gentle time in the Raz de Sein and how we decide to take the Chenal du Four (the ‘oven’ – probably because it can cook your goose!)

Ship on Fire

Friday 3 Septemeber
Joinville to Camaret via Evette
Ship on Fire

We took off from Ile de Yeu will toothgrindingly light winds in the wrong direction. Could have been worse, but we did have to put the engine on and plough through the waves again. Snork Maiden does her very best in these conditions – no slamming of the waves on the bow, but it is enervating. In the cockpit things are not too bad. With the spray hood up it’s pretty cozy, and the night was not cold. It’s clear, with a perfect sunset and all the stars visible. Al and I take turns to be on watch, and we use the autopilot a lot for steering. Inside the boat things are quite different, and although we are only travelling at around 4-5 Knots (a slow run) it feels like a cross between a galloping horse and a freight train on a poor track. It’s noisy (the engine is a 20 horsepower diesel – a real workhorse taking over 4 tonnes of boat and us through the night. Only possible to sleep when you’re really tired, but that’s quite soon.
I have the midnight to 4am watch. The last-quarter gibbous moon rises at around 0100. Although I have seen this many times, I’m still taken aback by it. Imagine looking into the night, straining to see other yachts with their faint navigation lights, often hidden in the swell. Also the lighthouses – there are several, far away on Belle Ile, Groix, Glenans. I see – what – a red tower – or is it? No, it’s triangular – a yacht on fire? A red sail? It is the first horn of the moon, just appearing above the horizon. A sight I had never seen until I sailed. It’s a quiet night – hardly any other ships – a couple making for the Loire and Al was surprised by a yacht – ghostly sails coming out of the dark. It seems obvious that any white triangular shape out here will be a yacht – but they really do take you off guard, slipping by so quietly.
The morning came – by now I was thoroughly irritated by the motoring – and with it a pod of dolphins. I called Al who’d just gone to bed after 0400 – 0800 watch. He swore he would never look at another dolphin after working on the film for Natural World (“Dolphins of Shark Bay”) but he relented. I broke my own rule and filmed them and we had them with us for around 20 minutes until they saw (or heard) a fishing boat and took off. It’s so good to see them – never get used to it no matter how often we see them.

OK – we are now in Camaret – next how we had a very gentle time in the Raz de Sein and how we decide to take the Chenal du Four (the ‘oven’ – probably because it can cook your goose!)

And now the Travelogue

Since Boyardville we dodged into La Rochelle for a night. It’s only a short hop but a good sail with a couple of overboard practices on the way. Although we try to stay attached to the boat there’s always a possibility of falling in! We have lifejackets with built-in loops to attach a ‘tether’ – a tough strap that attaches to strong points on the boat, including plastic-covered wires that run up and down the deck on both sides so that you can go from the cockpit to the bow without detaching yourself. Sometimes this seems like a dreadful encumbrance especially in good weather, but we try to do this all the time at sea. Overboard routines usually used for hat retrieval, boathook overboard etc. We chuck in a fender tied to a bucket – stays afloat but doesn’t drift too far – then bring the boat back to (hopefully) retrieve it. We haven’t lost one yet!
La Rochelle quiet now the European dinghy championships are over – car parks full of camper vans and teenagers. Last time we left La R they were all coming back into harbour after the morning’s racing. Motors give way to sail so we were stuck in port until a huge fleet of them had come in.

From La Rochelle we set out to go North, eventually for home – or at least Totnes. Having waited for the Northwest wind to drop we found ourselves with very little wind at all – not enough to sail by so on went the motor and off we chugged. The sea was quite lumpy – waves and swell with the bow pushing through, and the forecast of more weather to come. We decided to put in at Les Sables d’Olonne. We have passed this resort several times since keeping Snork Maiden in France. The pilot book describes it as ‘sophisticated’ and we’ve seen photos that make it look like it’s full of 1970’s apartment blocks. Nothing could really be further from the truth. It still has a lot of fishing port charm, narrow streets with 2-star hotels, a fabulous beach and a great photographic exhibition and film at the town hall from the making of the French documentary ‘OCEANS’. (Jacques Perin & Jaques Cluzaud).
The weather kicked up as promised with strong wind, surf and sunshine. We had a picnic lunch on the harbour wall watching yachts rolling and bucking in and out on breaking waves and congratulating ourselves on our decision to stay and explore the charms of Les Sables for a couple of days. Next day we rented a couple of bikes (Gitane, avoid) and went out to the nearby forest – smell of hot pine, like the South of France.
On Monday 30th we set out again, headed for Port Joinville, Ile de Yeu. We’ve been to Yeu before, and liked it very much – especially the beaches on the Atlantic coast. Great rocks, ancient castle up on headland, little sandy bike tracks (fell off, horrid bruise on left calf), bikes pretty good & cheap. Spent a couple of days late afternoon swimming and snorkelling. Mornings mainly boat house-keeping, listening to weather forecasts, staring at charts – where does the time go? Weather is a big part of it. We have NAVTEX – this brings the UK met office right into the boat with a forecast displayed on a screen. VHF brings local weather in French – most of the time, but technical problems and just forgetfulness seem to keep it off the air from time to time so we listen in vain for ‘Securite, securite….’ We can also pick up extensive forecasts from the Internet, but that’s also a big consumer of time…. Vendee region has great public access Wifi for 1€ per day. Other places have rip-off rates – cafes usually good and fast.

And now the Travelogue

Since Boyardville we dodged into La Rochelle for a night. It’s only a short hop but a good sail with a couple of overboard practices on the way. Although we try to stay attached to the boat there’s always a possibility of falling in! We have lifejackets with built-in loops to attach a ‘tether’ – a tough strap that attaches to strong points on the boat, including plastic-covered wires that run up and down the deck on both sides so that you can go from the cockpit to the bow without detaching yourself. Sometimes this seems like a dreadful encumbrance especially in good weather, but we try to do this all the time at sea. Overboard routines usually used for hat retrieval, boathook overboard etc. We chuck in a fender tied to a bucket – stays afloat but doesn’t drift too far – then bring the boat back to (hopefully) retrieve it. We haven’t lost one yet!
La Rochelle quiet now the European dinghy championships are over – car parks full of camper vans and teenagers. Last time we left La R they were all coming back into harbour after the morning’s racing. Motors give way to sail so we were stuck in port until a huge fleet of them had come in.

From La Rochelle we set out to go North, eventually for home – or at least Totnes. Having waited for the Northwest wind to drop we found ourselves with very little wind at all – not enough to sail by so on went the motor and off we chugged. The sea was quite lumpy – waves and swell with the bow pushing through, and the forecast of more weather to come. We decided to put in at Les Sables d’Olonne. We have passed this resort several times since keeping Snork Maiden in France. The pilot book describes it as ‘sophisticated’ and we’ve seen photos that make it look like it’s full of 1970’s apartment blocks. Nothing could really be further from the truth. It still has a lot of fishing port charm, narrow streets with 2-star hotels, a fabulous beach and a great photographic exhibition and film at the town hall from the making of the French documentary ‘OCEANS’. (Jacques Perin & Jaques Cluzaud).
The weather kicked up as promised with strong wind, surf and sunshine. We had a picnic lunch on the harbour wall watching yachts rolling and bucking in and out on breaking waves and congratulating ourselves on our decision to stay and explore the charms of Les Sables for a couple of days. Next day we rented a couple of bikes (Gitane, avoid) and went out to the nearby forest – smell of hot pine, like the South of France.
On Monday 30th we set out again, headed for Port Joinville, Ile de Yeu. We’ve been to Yeu before, and liked it very much – especially the beaches on the Atlantic coast. Great rocks, ancient castle up on headland, little sandy bike tracks (fell off, horrid bruise on left calf), bikes pretty good & cheap. Spent a couple of days late afternoon swimming and snorkelling. Mornings mainly boat house-keeping, listening to weather forecasts, staring at charts – where does the time go? Weather is a big part of it. We have NAVTEX – this brings the UK met office right into the boat with a forecast displayed on a screen. VHF brings local weather in French – most of the time, but technical problems and just forgetfulness seem to keep it off the air from time to time so we listen in vain for ‘Securite, securite….’ We can also pick up extensive forecasts from the Internet, but that’s also a big consumer of time…. Vendee region has great public access Wifi for 1€ per day. Other places have rip-off rates – cafes usually good and fast.

Ile de Yeu

So we have moved north, but not by very much so far! The south seems to be holding us – that and some quite strong winds. These are fun in the day and a bit less so at night!
We are back in Ile de Yeu – a place we enjoyed quite a lot on the way South. This afternoon we hope to hire bikes and go to a quiet beach on the leeward side of the island. Also preparing to make a longer voyage North in time to meet Marylene in Camaret on Friday. Would like to write more – describing a bit more about the life of a cruising couple and the travelogue but the day soon gets eaten up with moving the boat around into a good spot, connecting up the electricity and water, getting fuel, shopping for food and on it goes. All of this in lovely full sun and pretty harbours.

Ile de Yeu

So we have moved north, but not by very much so far! The south seems to be holding us – that and some quite strong winds. These are fun in the day and a bit less so at night!
We are back in Ile de Yeu – a place we enjoyed quite a lot on the way South. This afternoon we hope to hire bikes and go to a quiet beach on the leeward side of the island. Also preparing to make a longer voyage North in time to meet Marylene in Camaret on Friday. Would like to write more – describing a bit more about the life of a cruising couple and the travelogue but the day soon gets eaten up with moving the boat around into a good spot, connecting up the electricity and water, getting fuel, shopping for food and on it goes. All of this in lovely full sun and pretty harbours.

Customs visit

Sorry no picture but I returned to SM yesterday to find 4 customs blokes (1 female bloke) crowding out our little boat. Apparently they wanted to know if we had any 'soporificants'. No - not even any medicinal brandy. they were impressed with our papers, though, in a nice plastic wallet! But here's the scary bit - they were in a plain clothes launch, not a marked customs boat. Never seen that before! Our theory is that they can't afford to run the real thing, although they are clearly keeping themselves in business by going after innocent pleasure yachties 4 at a time! We have a good forecast up until Thursday night when it all goes pear-shaped with a NW 5-6. But we should be able to get 120 M under our keel before then. Where will that get us? Not completely sure - could be Ile de Groix or Glenans. Next big challenge Raz du Sein. BFN shipmates.