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.