Royal Air Force Yacht Club

Sitting in La Rochelle with the wind howling and rain falling seems a good time to hide below and write another communal postcard.

 The following afternoon we had a delightful afternoon sail on the wind in warm sunshine to Belle Ile, getting into the outer harbour of Le Palais in time for supper. At this time of year there was plenty of space, unlike our last visit on a 14^th July when the harbour was a maelstrom of boats. With variable weather and thunderstorms we spent three nights on Belle Ile, traversing the island by bus in the day and socialising in the evenings.

 The whole area around Quiberon Bay does have some of the most delightful sailing with plentiful little harbours and anchorages, so we spent several days visiting some of our favourite spots: anchoring off the island of Houat, visiting the sardine port of La Turballe where we bicycled through the salt pans watching white egrets and stilts, stopping in the Morbihan off Ile aux Moines and then a couple of days sightseeing and provisioning in Vannes, not to mention eating again at a superb little paella restaurant in the walls.

We finally left Vannes on 1 June, sailing down the Morbihan in close company (racing?) a Dehler 36 with a crew including an old colleague of Tony whom he hadn't seen for over 20 years.

There was one final pilgrimage to make before leaving Brittany, so we sailed back to Belle Ile, to the south coast, to a tiny little inlet well protected from the NW through to the E, where we anchored for the night. On previous visits there have never been more than 3 other boats here, but this year we were lucky enough to be completely alone under high cliffs with sea birds nesting all around.

The next day we crossed the Loire to L'Herbaudiere on Ile Noirmoutier. The change between Brittany, with its houses with steeply sloping grey slate roofs, and the Vendée, with red tiled roofs and blue shutters, is dramatic. Somehow one suddenly feels further south. The island is famous for its potatoes, grown on the salty soil and served in all the best restaurants in France. We saw fields of them everywhere as we bicycled around the island, not to mention shellduck and avocets on the salt pans.

By this stage we had had over a week of continuous sunshine and this continued on a gentle sail south to Port Joinville on Ile d'Yeu on 3 June. The lovely weather was not to last and showers returned on the following days. However this did not stop us from cycling round the island, visiting the tiny Port de la Meule where it might just be possible to dry out against the wall in absolutely calm conditions, and the citadel where Maréchal Petain was held after the war until his death. At least the exercise from cycling gave us the excuse to enjoy a social round of drinks with many other boats.

 The weather outlook was then looking increasingly wet and thundery, so we decided to take our opportunity to sail directly the 65 miles or so to La Rochelle rather than stop in Les Sables which in the past we have found interesting for one day, but not more. So on Sunday 7 June we left Port Joinville at 0700 with a commanding SSW breeze which rapidly increased after one heavy downpour to a solid force 7.  We were delighted at the way the boat handled with a couple of reefs and a couple of rolls, and despite pretty heavy seas we averaged well over 7 knots, so that we were in the Vieux Port of La Rochelle by 1600.

 Here we have sat for the last three nights with a mixture of sunshine, showers, storms and thunder - it is currently blowing 29 knots even in the shelter of this harbour.

 However La Rochelle is well worth an extended stay.  We have gawped at the super yachts in the Bassin des Chalutiers, climbed all of the three towers, eaten well ashore and from the market, and visited the town hall. This latter caused Tony some confusion as he could not understand why the statues of the five 'virtuous cardinals' were mainly half naked females until it was explained that vertus cardinales actually meant cardinal virtues.

 Best wishes to all

Sarah & Tony Boas