reassurance of booking Jeanette's rail ticket from Rochefort to Bordeaux for her return home. In the evenings there were some rWith neap tides (40% only) reducing the ebb we had a tight schedule to reach Royan before the flood turned against us, ending up knocking the start of the flood as we crossed the river into the marina. The wind, naturally turned to the east and kicked up the sea making the last couple of miles quite choppy, which, after a couple of years in the canal, came as a bit of a culture shock.
Royan is a pleasant city and, it being August, there was a real holiday atmosphere (candy floss and cooking fat!). The marina is expensive but excellent and really close to the restaurants and shops. A pleasant stroll gave us the eally good bands entertaining the public on the Corniche.

However, the sea was calling loudly and after a couple of days in the fleshpots we sailed for the most difficult stretch of the trip, the Gironde estuary and Le point de Coubre.