La Roche-Bernard, La Turballe, Isle d'Yeu, Les Sables d'Olonnes, La Rochelle

10 - 24 September

We stayed in La Roche-Bernard for a week.  It's a very attractive small town, parts of it very old, built perched up on a rocky outcrop in the angle where two rivers join.

We then motored down to the barrage and lock to leave the Vilaine River.  The lock was less busy than when we entered the river, and therefore less chaotic, as we are now out of the French holiday season.  We then sailed across the bay to La Turballe where the space for visitor mooring is extremely tight, and in the cross wind that day we were not the only boat having some difficulty mooring.  Fortunately a very friendly harbourmaster gave us a hand with the lines.  La Turballe is a nice place for a short visit but nothing special - although the bakery had the longest queues of any we have seen in France!

After a couple of nights we headed back down to Port Joinville on the Isle d'Yeu once more for a few days, then on to Les Sables d'Olonnes where we took the chance to explore further than on our previous visits.  On a gloriously sunny afternoon we had a lovely cycle ride up through the marshes and salt pans at Isle d'Olonnes, returning via the villages.  On another afternoon wandering round Les Sables d'Olonnes we came across streets full of marvellous mosaics made of stones and shells by a local artist.

After a long motor we arrived back in La Rochelle and managed to immediately find a suitable berth for the winter.

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Return to South Brittany - Pornic, Vilaine River

20 August - 9 September

We left La Rochelle (as all visitors have to for the duration of the Boat Show) and headed north, stopping at Les Sables d'Olonne, a very lumpy night anchored off Isle d'Yeu, then into Port Joinville as Anne had a stomach bug. Weather was a mixture of lovely sunshine, cloudy and gray, rain at times, and fairly windy.

We then went into Pornic for a couple of nights as we had missed it on the way down - although overcast, it was a nice harbour town with a lot of very grand villas overlooking the sea.

Another night's stop in Piriac-sur-Mer left us within easy reach of the Vilaine River allowing us to arrive at the lock around high tide.

We were first to tie up in the lock and gradually other boats joined us - squeezing in wherever they could. Shortly before lock opening time the very harassed lock keeper opened the bridge over the lock and had everyone move right forward (we motored forward with another boat tied alongside and someone on the shore helping with our lines) and organised us even tighter together to get more boats in - we were packed in like sardines and have never seen such chaos in a lock. Unfortunately we have no photos - we were far too busy looking after the boat. But it did work!

Once safely through, we motored up the river and anchored for the night. The next day we continued up river, through the swing bridge to as far as masted yachts can go and moored in Redon as we needed provisions etc. A very historic place near the confluence of two rivers and where the Nantes-Brest Canal crosses the Vilaine River. A number of mediaeval half-timbered houses and wealthy shipowners' houses are still in use today.

We returned to the river and anchored for a night. Then, as we had a bad weather forecast, we tied up at Rieux - a tiny village by the river - and sat out the gales and rain for almost a week before motoring down river to La Roche-Bernard.

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Biscay - La Rochelle

29 June - 12 August

We had a few days getting settled and finding our way around La Rochelle. It's now the holiday season in France and the town is busy. In the evenings around the old port the place is bustling with people promenading along the quay, the bars and restaurants are full of people, there are street entertainers and stalls selling bits and pieces.

We started to sort out our couple of problems - we ordered a replacement windlass and chain, and contacted a couple of people (in England and France) about our corroding steering column.

We then flew back to England on 3 July for Amanda & Martyn's wedding (Jim's niece) on the 5th. A lovely wedding: the bride was beautiful, the groom handsome and, although very windy, the sun shone. In the week we were back we managed to see most of our family and some friends.

On our return to La Rochelle the windlass and chain were ready and Jim (with my assistance) installed them.

Just after our return from England an annual music festival started with a number of venues around the town - the main one being open air next to the entrance channel - many people listened for free on the grass across the water. There were also bands who set up around the port. The end of the festival coincided with Bastille Day, 14 July. We went into town to see the parade in the morning, and in the evening we went back to wander around and see a big fireworks display over the water. Everywhere was heaving with people and a great atmosphere.

Since then we've spent time on odd jobs around the boat, wandering around La Rochelle, and still trying to sort out the problem with our steering column.

At the end of July we flew back to England for a couple of weeks for another family wedding (Anne's cousin's daughter Pauline to Lee) in Leeds. Again a lovely wedding with a particularly thoughtful service in the local church. Pauline and Lee looked terrific and very happy. Although it rained earlier, the sun shone on them after the wedding. We again met up with lots of family and friends whilst we were back.

We returned to La Rochelle on 12 August.

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Biscay - Isle de Noirmoutiere, Isle d'Yeu, Les Sables d'Olonnes, La Rochelle

21 - 28 June

A lovely sunny day sailing to l'Herbaudiere on the Isle de Noirmoutiere. Mainly single-storey whitewashed buildings with red clay tiled roofs and painted shutters (predominantly blue) - definitely a change to a southern feel. The island is pretty flat so we went for a cycle ride to the main town, Noirmoutiere, where the Sunday market was on. Then cycled back along the coat - saw the salt pans, lots of lovely beaches and woods.

Sailed to Port Joinville on the Isle d'Yeu - cold initially, followed by a short shower, but the sun came out as we arrived and it was beautifully warm. We cycled around - again a very attractive island, mainly scrub with small villages, lots of rough footpaths and cycle paths. Prehistoric dolmen and standing stones dotted around, although many hidden in the vegetation.

After a couple of days we continued down to Les Sables d'Olonnes, home of the Vendee Globe round the world single-handed race - a very large marina with good facilities. The old part of the town is made up of narrow, winding roads and alleys. The long sandy beach is backed by a mixture of old villas and apartment blocks built at various periods. The other side of the river, La Chaume, seems mainly residential, but in the evening we went to the chapel on the point at La Chaume and enjoyed listening to a concert by a vocal harmony group - held as part of the Simenon Festival.

A long motor to La Rochelle as there was very little wind and we wanted to get here at a reasonable time to arrange a berth for two weeks to get a couple of problems sorted out.

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Brittany - Benodet, Concarneau, Port Tudy, Port de Crouesty, Golfe du Morbihan, Vannes, Piriac-sur-mer, Pornichet

4 - 20 June

Sailed round to Benodet and stayed a couple of nights - mainly a holiday village, very quiet as still very early in the season.

A pleasant sail a short distance around the bay was Concarneau with its old fortified island town (La Ville Close). Although very touristy, it was still charming and full of character.

A couple of days later we sailed to Port Tudy on the Isle de Groix - the pontoon moorings were very busy and tight so we moored up to buoys in the outer harbour and took the dinghy to get ashore for a walk. Again all very shut up as it is so early.

Had a lovely sail to Port de Crouesty by the entrance to the Golfe du Morbihan - a modern marina complex, but we needed to get provisions as we would be anchoring for a couple of nights. We also needed to service the wind vane which was sticking when we had tried it that day. For the first time the weather turned really sunny and hot for a couple of days.

Motored into the Golfe du Morbihan - a very beautiful inland sea with lots of wooded islands. Anchored off the Isle d'Arz, did a few odd jobs and lazed around for a couple of days before motoring up to Vannes - the historic capital of the Morbihan.

Vannes is full of historic buildings - a large number of them being mediaeval half-timbered houses and about half the ramparts still standing. The place is lively with a busy market 3 days a week. Well worth going out of your way for a visit if you are in Brittany.

Spent a further couple of nights at anchor in the Morbihan before sailing down to Piriac-sur-mer - a charming place of narrow streets with a more southern feel to it. Tried the wind vane again but were still having problems. Jim made a slight change to the angle of its rudder which seemed better, but we were at Piriac by then and didn't have time to properly test it.

On our next sail we again tested the wind vane - the alteration had improved its performance and it was now steering the boat as expected. Spent the night in Pornichet - an unattractive holiday resort - blocks of flats behind a 5 mile beach!

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Brittany - Treguier, Trebeurden, L'Aberwrach, Camaret, Rade de Brest, St Evette

23 May - 3 June

Almost no wind, so a long motor to Treguier in Brittany where we moored in the marina. It poured with rain most of Saturday so we stayed another day to have a look round. A very attractive place with a great many old buildings - some 13th century - in the historic centre.

Bad weather again on the 25th so we finally left for Trebeurden on the Tuesday 27th - a small French holiday resort - but too early in the year for anything to be open. We stayed a couple of nights then continued on to l'Aberwrach - our last port of call in North Brittany before going through the notorious Chenal de Four off Cape Finisterre.

With good weather and the timing right for the tide, the Chenal de Four was no problem and we arrived in Camaret in the evening - a very attractive old fishing port, where we had a lovely meal out to celebrate. Stayed a couple of nights then sailed into the Rade de Brest and anchored overnight (it poured with rain). Returned to Camaret to get some provisions and prepare for the even more notorious Raz de Sein.

Again we were lucky with excellent weather, and got our timing right for slack water at the Raz (in fact we had left early and had to slow down) - the Raz can be very rough at times, but for us was very smooth. Whilst picking up a mooring buoy at St Evette for the night a dolphin came and played around the boat - incredibly distracting when you are trying to moor up!

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Departure from England - Lymington, Guernsey

16 - 22 May

After many delays we finally left Gosport and motored down the Solent to Lymington to give the engine a good test. All seemed OK. We stayed a couple more nights as the weather forecast was not good for a Channel crossing, and did various odd jobs on the boat.

On the 19th we left Lymington and anchored in Newton Creek on the Isle of Wight for a couple of hours for lunch, then gently sailed down to Alum Bay (by the Needles) to anchor until 2.00am when we departed for the Channel crossing. We found the light in the compass didn't work, so we fixed up a red headlight torch (good tip from a letter in one of the sailing magazines). Also found the winches not working properly.

Arrived St Peter Port in Guernsey at 4.00pm on the 20th, knackered after a very lumpy and cold trip.

21st - Jim's birthday. He dismantled the winches - a gear had been put back in the wrong way on each, so that problem was easily sorted out. Then the compass - Jim undid the screws - the wrong ones and the oil came out! Major problem. Asked around and obtained a phone number for a somebody who might be able to fix it. No answer all day on the phone...

... or first thing the next morning. Finally around 10.00am he answered. He'd been injured in a traffic accident and was now waiting to go to hospital in Southampton - but he could fix the compass if we could get to his house, so we jumped straight on a bus. He and his wife were both very kind, and he refilled the compass for us, to our great relief. At last we would be able to leave Guernsey (and the UK) and head for Brittany.

Fitting out

October 2007 - May 2008

On our return to Portsmouth in October we rented a berth in Port Solent at the top of Portsmouth Harbour for three months, spent time visiting our families and friends - and were around when our latest grandchild was born in December.

At the beginning of January we rented a cottage in Gosport where we had arranged for the boat to go into Gosport Boatyard to get our engine problems sorted out, a new rudder to be fitted, some other odd repairs, and to complete the fitting out.