Pottering around Ille de Re

We have spent the last few days pottering and will probably do another
week of pottering waiting for a good time for both us and the weather to
head across Biscay to Spain.
We initially spent a couple of nights anchored off the Rivedoux Plage
Sud where we managed to get the Bromptons ashore and back to the boat
without them getting wet in the light surf that appeared after we had
decided to take them ashore. We used the Bromptons to cycle round the
East end of the island and got as far west as St Martin de Re, which we
found a bit too touristy for our liking (and the boats very crammed in
to the harbour). The island is pretty flat but
with some lovely woodland and lots of good cycle paths which are
separate to the roads. Our friends Ian and Sarah who live in France
arrived to visit and so we arranged to go into La Flotte for a couple of
nights in order that they could get to the boat without getting wet and
it gave us a chance to reprovision, refuel and do a few jobs on the boat
sheltered from the chop caused by the sea breeze.
We found that we really like La Flotte: the harbour master was very
helpful, there was a generally relaxed atmosphere and the shop people
were very friendly, fantastic market every morning and supermarket
within easy reach. We also took the opportunity to view the anchorage
at low water and reckoned that if the wind is in the south (it has been
in the North so far) it would make a great place to dry out to do
maintenance as the bottom is firm sandy mud (judging from the people
wandering over it for Fruit de Mer) and if you go to to the east side
there did not appear to be any rocks sticking up.
Wandering around paid dividends: I found a chandlers near the landing
place we were using at Rivedoux Plage who were able to sell me the bits
I needed to wire in the 12v kettle and we found a cheap source of fuel
for our alcohol stove. We also decided to invest in a small 12v cooler
to keep cheese, meat, fish, etc. better.
In the last 2 days the summer has returned with temperatures in the mid
20s and cloudless skies. The days start with very little wind but a
seabreeze from the NW has filled in every afternoon at some point.

On Isle de Re

Had a great sail to Ille de Re from L'ille d'Yeu yesterday. The wind was
from astern and after the early light rain cleared we put the cruising
chute up goosewinged and cracked along, eventually taking it down as the
wind picked up to a 5 as we were approaching Ille de Re. We arrived at
low water and so could not go into Ars-en-Re and kept going to La Flotte
but there was no space there so we spent the night on a visitor mooring
being rocked by the swell and today moved round to the other side of
the island to a more sheltered anchorage with this wind direction.
After going under the bridge between the island and the mainland we
passed a fishing boat going the other way with no one on the helm as all
the crew were processing the catch, at best they would have been
glancing up to check.
From the sea ille de Re is not a patch on L'ille d'Yeu, it will be
interesting to see what it is like on land when we go ashore tomorrow.
At the anchorage is a boat which we first saw in Sauzon, then bumped
into the crew at the Capitainerie in Yeu and again at the Launderette -
it is a small world for cruisers!

Last day on L'ille d'Yeu

Woke up to grey skies which turned into drizzle; however, when it stopped everything dried off very quickly so no problem.  Yesterday was another sunny day, but with a stronger wind so we did a shorter ride round the middle of the island and visited the sites there including an old castle on the cliff edge.

The most common means of transport is the bicycle and there are stacks of them at the shops, beaches and anywhere else that people go.  Bike trailers are also common with either shopping, children or one occasion a dinghy on them.  The beaches are all fantastic.

 

On the way back we went passed one of the fishmongers on the island and were amazed at the range and quality of fish on display, so today we went back and got fresh tuna for our evening meal.
Today has been a catch up day. We found that if we rubbed the cover on the lazy forestay with beeswax then the storm jib hanks will slide up it OK.  We also did the penultimate fitting of the trysail (I am going to have to work out a seperate halyard for it), so we can now deploy storm sails.

What you can see behind the trysail is the frames for our deck tent folded back with a canvas over them which we use as an awning.
 Tomorrow we are aiming to leave for the Ille-de-Re.  The anchorages and ports there are generally drying so we are going to have to do some tidal calculations rather than just roll up!

In sunshine on L'ille d'Yeu

We had a downwind sail in plenty of wind from Belle Isle to l'ille d'Yeu the day before yesterday and are now in Port Joinville marina.  Yesterday the sun finally made an appearance and we cycled around the southern half of the island which is very picturesque, below is a photo of a tiny old harbour on the western side of the island. We noticed that the houses are generally one story and surrounded by windbreaks so we guess it is generally pretty windy. Today we had delicious crevettes for lunch and will catch up on a few jobs on the boat - nothing major, just making things work better.

Unfortunately we are in for a couple of days of rain showers after today and then it gets hot.  We are starting to look for a weather window to cross Biscay and pending that will probably still head down to La Rochelle although here looks a good place to start across Biscay from.

Slow Passage to Belle Isle, but with Dolphins

After our slow passage to Falmouth we had another slow and tedious
passage heading to France as the forecast northerly 3 to 4 manifested
itself as a SW 1, so a 3 day trip turned into 5 days and we were down to
our reserve fuel.
We spent a whole night watching the lights on Ushant before sacrificing
most of our fuel to get south of the Raz de Seine and most of the way to
Point de Penmarc'h. At that point wind started to build and so we
decided to keep going for Belle Isle and eventually were doing 7+ knots
and had a pod of dolphins come and visit, will try and post the video later.
We are now in the very pretty drying harbour of Sauzon in the northern
end of Belle Isle
Our wind vane steering works very well down to about 2 knots at which
point we have to hand steer so getting our electric autopilot working
has become a higher priority.
On Sunday we cycled round the north end of Belle Isle (in to gale force
winds) and got some more petrol from a garage at La Palais. Having
viewed Le Palais we decided that Sauzon is preferable for us as a place
to moor because we can dry out safely.
Since we have been here the winds have been over force 6 for most of the
time and the seas rough. We are hoping it will moderate in the next day
or so to give us an easy passage towards La Rochelle.

Waiting in Belle Isle

We are currently in Belle Isle awaiting a weather window.  The weather this summer seems to be swinging between strong winds and no wind!

Slow passage to Falmouth

Writing this as we slowly meander our way to Falmouth.We had thought of going direct to France but a low and associated strong winds are forecast for Brittany on Tuesday so we decided to delay a day and go to Falmouth after a night in Cawsand.
We had fresh mackerel for lunch, which we caught off Rame head and cooked underway, delicious with lemon and salad.
Got the spinnaker up for the second time this year until the wind headed us. Also saw some Dolphins astern, but they did not come and play, probably because we were not going very fast.
Whilst in Plymouth I managed my first mobius bummel and double braid splices successfully.  I also put a cover on to our dyneema lazy forestay, which was a pig of a job and gave me blisters, and went up the mast to fit it so we are almost ready to fly the storm sail, I just need to put a splice in the bottom of the lazy stay.

In Plymouth Sound

Lovely downwind sail from Salcombe. Hoped to anchor in the Yealm but it was full of boats so we are anchoired behind Cremyll in the entrance to Mill Brook Lake. Had the fishing line out most of the way but did not catch anything this time, we were probably going too fast.
Our thermal cooker has proven a great success for stews, a slow cooker without the need for power.

Visiting Salcombe

We sailed round to Salcombe from Dartmouth yesterday. We should have had an easy sail as the forecast was for NW or W winds.  In the end it turned in to a beat the whole way with winds in the S or SW. However, it was sunny and the boat was going well so we did not mind.
We have to dry out to do some work on the boat so we are hoping to utilise one of the sandy beaches in the south end of the harbour tomorrow.
Salcombe is stunningly pretty, especially on sunny days such as the ones we are having. You can understand why there is so many boats based and visiting here. Last night we were anchored at the entrance to Frogmore Creek which was very quiet until the ICC dinghies appeared this morning taking a lot of young children on an introduction to sailing. There was so little wind and water traffic that I had a trouble free hour or so up the mast sorting out halyard blocks.  Tonight we are anchored nearer the town (as we needed to go ashore this afternoon) which is a lot more busy.