Île-D’Yeu – La Turballe – Piriac-sur-Mer
Days 55 – 58
Friday 17th – Monday 20th July
As a sailor, my first thought is “What is the wind like?” – both in terms of strength and direction (especially with regard to the direction one wants to sail). On Friday there was about 3knots of variable so-called wind – not a lot. This is bad news when you’re planning a 25 mile journey; in fact the only good thing about it is that it makes leaving a port much easier, as you’re not been blown about in a small space.
Shanks’s pony and Izzy (self-steering girl) at the ready and we depart at 0915 – adieu D’Yeu. Naughtily, we went through the red light to the outer port, as had another sailing boat in front of us, strictly speaking, this is a “no-no”. It wasn’t long before we saw why the red light was on as a small ferry arrived at a rate of knots into the outer harbour. It was high water and actually there was good space, but it still made us feel bad.
Out of the harbour, we put the main up (forever hopeful that the wind might arrive); the sea had a glassy look with the occasional “paw print” gasp from the wind; the only excitement being the cardinal buoys that needed going round – the water around here isn’t hugely deep.
After about 3 hours of motoring, the wind did finally make an appearance – N 5-7 knots at first, but as we went on it was building gradually. We originally thought we would go to Pornic (the port in front of Pornichet) about 25 miles away; however, as we came past the top of the Île de Normoutier, the wind really had picked up and to turn to Pornic would be dead into wind! Also, a quick look at the wind tomorrow helped us make our decision to keep sailing ahead, as Saturday’s forecast said very little wind again.
“Paw prints” on the water, as the wind starts to come in near the Île de Normoutier
À donf! With both sails up and the engine off, we decided to crack on and enjoy the sail all the way to La Turballe – and this was another one of those million dollar a minute sails – lasting about 4.5 hours! This included crossing the mouth of the Loire (and avoiding the anchored ships).
The wind shifted slightly to the NW, but we were enjoying a healthy 9 – 14 knots of wind. The cumulonimbus clouds were evident over the land, whilst at sea we had gin clear blue skies. The question was, would we be able to get around the Pointe de Crosic? Unlikely on the making tack, so we went about (tacked) and suddenly it felt like we were going totally in the wrong direction! (Tacking always does this). You cannot sail in a straight line to where the wind is going from (your sails will flap like flags) – so the closest you can get to the wind is about 45˚ (except on Boni, it’s only about 55˚!) You will see from our track, the zig-zag – these are the tacks we put in.
We arrived at La Turballe about 1910 and I called them up on the radio in my best (still imperfect French) and the Port Dory guy greeted us and showed us a place to go – really close to the pontoon gangplank for once – so not miles to walk to the facilities.
On Saturday we wanted to find the Mr Bricolage hardware store – guess where? – out of town shopping. Out came the bikes and off we went. This was mostly to find hose connections for Bob’s next attempt of fixing the bilge pump, with the idea of putting under pressure water down the pipes to see if they were blocked – more of this later…
Quite a festive feel walking through the streets of La Turballe.
La Turballe is a fairly substantial fishing port and a centre for Sardines! Today was the annual sardine festival which involves Everyone going down to the harbour to enjoy a plate of sardines and chips with a drink and to listen to some music.
We went to have a look and it was suitably busy and typically a festival for the local population (of which there are about 4,850). For €7 you get a plate of barbequed sardines; it was really busy with families all down there enjoying themselves. After a look at the festival, we strolled through town.
After lunch the Bilge Pump Project continued in earnest. The bits Bob had bought for the hose all fitted, the tap was turned on so to squirt the water up the pipe and down the pipe – try not to get too much water around the cabin Bob! In the end we decided that there was no blockage, but that the pump was probably u/s and we would have to buy a new one.
Thankfully the manual hand pump for the bilge still operates well (!) and Boni wasn’t sunk. We put everything back together, jubilee clips back around the pipes, screw the unit back on, put the filter back in. More than this, we will have to replace the pump (tear up a few more £50 notes in the shower – as dad warned us on our wedding day – he wasn’t wrong)!
We went for a glorious swim; the beach is just a spit away and the water was cool and refreshing. La Turballe is clearly a place the French come on their holidays as the front is packed with holiday apartments and houses and the beach suitably busy with families enjoying the sun and sand.
Later, we went out for a meal in town – an Assiette des Fruits de Mer to share for a starter and then I had the ubiquitous sardines as a main course.
Delicious, but I swear I used up more calories eating these than benefitted me (and I couldn’t manage all those spuds).
Back at the boat, we discussed how we could better manage our tech on board, as it is nearly always a challenge to hook up onto Port internet and the reason why many sailing boats have their own internet. The previous day, all my roaming data had been used up. This was hard (especially for me, as I expect to be in touch with those important people when need be). This is “WiP” (work in progress) for us.
At 2245 Bob sloped off to a bar to watch the England vs France match – I went to bed.
On Sunday morning the wind was blowing a healthy 19knots (F5) gusting 26knots (F6) from, the NE. Yes – some decent wind! This would be too much for Boni with her full sails up, so we prepared the first reef for the main sail. We had to ask at the Capitainerie for them to move their dory, which moored behind us so we could pull Boni backwards along the pontoon, to drift off easily for our departure at 1030.
Not long out of the harbour, we hoisted the reefed main and pulled out about half of the Genoa and this proved to be the perfect sail plan for our short passage to Piriac-sur-Mer.
“Ready about?” – to which you wait for the reply: “ready!”
“Helm’s a lea” – when you put the helm over to go through the wind, followed by “Lea ho!” as you go through the wind. The old genoa sheet is released and the other sheet is then pulled in – 4 turns around the winch. Invariably, the helm has to bring the boat back towards the wind (but not back through it) to make it easier to pull in the sheet – this is called luffing up – and then away you go on the opposite tack.
We tacked a few times today because our objective was around a corner that made us go towards the wind (to windward). No time for photos, but we achieved some healthy speeds for us – between 5 and 7 knots – not too shabby! It was slow work though and eventually we succumbed to the engine giving Boni a push. We came into the harbour at Piriac at 1215 with 0.80m to spare over the sill – I wouldn’t have wanted to have come in much later.
After signing in at the Capitainerie, which is quite a grand building, we had a salad lunch. Still very windy, but as the tide went out, the sill contained the water within the harbour and Boni settled. Later we strolled into town to buy something for dinner – minced beef and spaghetti, stopping off for a beer on the way back. Clearly not a good idea for me, as I slipped on the edge of the pavement and went crashing down… ouch! No blood (so not even worth an orange Smartie) but a skinned and bruised leg and damaged pride (what a clot)!
The harbour is pretty full and later there was enough water to get over the sill again and we watched more boats depart and arrive – always entertaining! A genteel evening waiting for the final of the FIFA World Cup to start at 2100 – Spain vs. Argentina. Bob was watching this on his phone, I was half listening, and writing. At full time it was still 0-0, which garnered extra time; thankfully Spain scored a winning goal – they were the champions!
The wind was still blowing hard… the tide had risen and everyone was moving quite a lot, as we were – ropes snatching and jarring uncomfortably. Of course, during the night, as the tide went out, it all calmed down again – which was a relief; but come the morning, it all started bobbing around, despite tight springs (those are the mooring lines you tie forwards and aft-wards to stop a boat surging to and fro too much). I felt a bit sleep deprived and then on getting up, remembered no kneeling, so feeling a bit sorry for myself.
Bob was still trouble shooting the bilge pump (of course he was!) so the floorboard went up and we switched it on to see what happened. Apart from the loud noise it always makes – nothing was coming out of the back, so he gets onto Jabsco and discusses the problem with them. Later they email him with a suggestion of a replacement – of course the pump we have is now obsolete. We partially filled our water tank, as this was getting very low, then, after the obligatory visit to the chandlery (!), we wandered into town which was a-buzz with a massive market through all the streets; full of bustle and folk. Bob bought himself a couple of pairs of shorts. In the ruck-sack was our empty gas bottle which had lasted 6 weeks of us living on board. Replacement/new gas can be found at most super markets and the one here was no exception – also the price was cheaper at €35 (that’s about £32) – at home the same bottle costs about £40.
We found a less crowded way back and stopped off for a cool soft drink en route. What a beautiful old place this is and plenty of pretty flowers!
Our minds are beginning to turn towards our return to the Vilaine River tomorrow – so tidying up etc.
We had a good supper out at the restaurant at The Hotel Ker Lehn, sitting and we happened to sit next to a Dutch couple who were also sailing – they had been out here for 15 years and had a trimaran (a boat with three hulls) – 9m long and 7m wide! To help to come into port – the two outer hulls fold in towards the middle hull, but even then it was a wide beasty. Always interesting to hear other people’s stories; we are definitely hampered by Brexit and only being allowed to be out for 90 days in 180 – hmmm!.