France - il d' Yeu
10 August 2013
Ian
France - iIl d' Yeu
We rolled up here pretty late and really wanted to anchor rather than go into the marina, so we nudged our way into a bay next to the harbour, its one of the closest to town and was full of anchored yachts.
I put down my usual over kill of anchor chain and settled down for the night, as the sun set over the marina it looked like a picture post card destination and I fell asleep feeling pretty smug with my choice of anchorage.
Whilst the conditions were so good I put the tender over the side and put the engine on ready for a trip ashore the following morning, we needed to fill the cupboards and stock up on a few niceties, like bog roll and chocolate.
The night had us rolling around a little but not as desperately as the previous anchorage in houat, we got a reasonable nights sleep, the morning was pretty nice so we trundled off into town in search of the super market.
The town was packed full of tourists and the ferries were unloading more on an hourly basis, the queues were getting bigger and the cafes were packed with chilled out people enjoying the good weather, we hadn't seen a cloud all morning.
I hate leaving the yacht at anchor unattended and was pretty keen to get back, the wind had increased whilst we had been shopping but we hadn't really noticed as the town was so alluring and well sheltered from the wind in most directions.
As we turned the corner back to the beach I could see the life boat making its way into the anchorage - a very EMPTY anchorage, just a few unattended boats left, mine being the furthest out.
The scene was a complete transformation, the beach was a different place completely, gone were the young children basking in the calm shallow waters, replaced by white topped rollers and waves hissing up the golden sands, in the distance my home of eight years was pounding into seas that wouldn't look out of place in a disaster movie.
We dragged shopping bags and the dog down the beach and hauled the dinghy into the sea, solid green waves were filling the dinghy and all the shopping bags in the process, but my thoughts were on getting back to the boat, i knew my anchor had held until now, but for how much longer ?
Ive never been more pleased to hear an outboard engine start first time and slammed it into gear with a crunch in my haste to get back, we were soaked and the food was floating in the bottom of the dinghy by the time we had travelled just 800 meters.
bruises were guaranteed as we scrambled back over the side of the yacht and clung to the guard wires , for all we were worth, in an effort to stay on our feet, the priority now was getting the anchor up and getting out of the bay to safety.
With the yacht engine racing i hauled the slack chain back on board the boat, the anchor was a different matter and was buried deep into the soft golden sand of the beach, it took several attempts of driving over the anchor to break it free.
By the time we had travelled the mile to the harbour entrance and sanctuary, the boat looked like a bomb site, bread sodden with salt water strewn on deck, a dozen eggs smashed and floating in the ruck sack, milk cartons split and contents running on the galley floor.
Once tied alongside we took stock and started cleaning up, one life jacket had fired on the way off the beach, the shopping trashed, we resembled a Chinese laundry with everything hanging from the rigging to dry.
Root cause analysis : 3 day old forecast and to relaxed about the conditions at the time, the only plus points were the 40 meters of 100mm chain i put down to start with, DEFINITELY saved my bacon this time.
Note: the lifeboat pulled in the other yacht at anchor an hour later as it had started dragging towards rocks, talking to locals this is a regular event as the swell curls in around the headland , plus the wind shifted to the west to compound the problem.... Mama says stupid is , as stupid does !