It is sad to leave beautiful Brittany from the ugliest place we have been, Pornichet / La Baule but I guess that's the way life goes. Let's see what La Vendee has in store for us.
The swell didn't seem too bad when we left the marina in Pornichet but I suspected we were being protected by the reef that runs across most of the bay. With the wind on the nose, we motored until we had passed through the very narrow passage between the red and green buoys, probably only a third of the width of the passage we negotiated under sail on our way into Pornichet. We then put the sails up and although the swell increased it wasn't uncomfortable so we decided to go to Port-Joinville, Ile d' Yeu, bypassing Ile de Noirmoutier. We headed towards the shipping channel which leads into Saint Nazaire. There were many large ships, at anchor, waiting for pilots to board so they could progress into the port, or beyond and up the Loire. We passed very close to a pipe layer, which cuts a trench and lays a pipe in it. It was huge and was oblivious to the swell. Beyond the shipping channel, the swell increased and as the wind strength increased, against the tide, the water became rougher and rather more uncomfortable. We were up to five metres of Atlantic swell, following several days of SW storm force winds. It wasn't unduly uncomfortable, as the swell was long, not steep but we needed to hang on at times, depending on how the boat met each wave. We were on a starboard tack, so for once we weren't giving way. On the chart plotter, we could see a mass exodus from Port Joinville, with a whole flotilla of yachts heading towards us, giving us confidence that they would have room for us. The swell started to die down a bit and we had three hours of very pleasant sailing, especially with yachts coming the other way and waving and a couple of yachts converging with us, as they also headed for Ile d' Yeu. The wind picked up, coming off the headland of the Ile, as we approached and then dropped off as we came into shelter. Pete called the harbour master on channel 9, which appears to be the standard channel in France for harbours and was surprised to be answered in English by a lady with a Scottish accent. She assured us they had room for us and that we would be met by a dory in the entrance and we would be allocated a berth, which would be alongside or rafted, rather than a finger pontoon. We entered the marina and idled for a while but there was no sign of the dory, so we turned in by pontoon A and berthed alongside in the only available spot. We felt a bit smug at having bagged an alongside berth rather than being rafted up and it wasn't long before someone rafted up alongside us, securing our position so we could take a walk into town.
Port-Joinville is the capital of tuna fishing, so we paid a visit to the Poissonerie and bought a large tuna steak and a handful of crevettes (prawns) for Pete to nibble. That required us to visit a small store to buy mayonnaise to make aioli. The tuna was delicious, cooked rare on the inside but slightly charred on the outside.
The yachts kept piling in until we were rafted out 5 abreast in every available space. There were larger yachts and catamarans stern to on one pontoon and then rafted to each other. There wasn't a single space unused. The atmosphere was fantastic, with everyone helping each other to take long lines to the pontoons and ensure all boats were secure for the forecast 30 knot winds. The third boat in our raft didn't think a long line was necessary but we insisted and were proved right. Pete was up in the night tightening lines as the wind increased and the owner of the third yacht out was grateful.
Next morning I was up early to ensure I was front of the queue for the washing machine and by 9.15am Muirgen looked like a Chinese laundry.
Due to the high winds, we decided to walk rather than ride the folding bikes, which can feel a little bit unstable and set off to cross the island to Le Vieux Chateau, via the water tower and the old fort. It was an enjoyable 10km round trip. The scenery on the south side of the island was dramatic, especially with the swell and the rough seas. The waves were crashing into the rocks, creating spray. We saw many species of butterfly, in the hedgerows and the woods, including specklewoods, small blues, beautiful, brightly coloured swallowtails and a bright yellow one, which wouldn't stay still long enough for Pete to identify it. We became a little bit disoriented on our return, whilst walking through the woods to the fort and ended up backtracking but then found a shorter route back to town than the one we used to leave town. We were passed by an old car with an inflatable pink flamingo on the roof but didn't have time to take a photo. However, we spotted the same car, with flamingo, in a backstreet of Port-Joinville and managed to get a picture.
Back on board, we agreed to stay a third night, as the weather was still likely to be very rough and we weren't convinced we would be able to get out of our berth in the corner anyway. Our neighbours, a French man and his two German companions, invited us onboard for a cocktail. Daniel, the owner of the yacht didn't speak English but Gabby spoke English, German and French, so acted as interpreter. We spent an interesting hour discussing Brexit (Pete's pet subject) and sailing.
On Saturday morning, all the boats on our raft agreed that we needed to move to somewhere with an exit strategy for Sunday morning. It was quite some time before any of us could move, being at the back of 5 rafts of boats. As soon as anyone left a finger pontoon, someone from the rafts would jump into that spot, regardless of whether they risked causing another yacht grief. A Feeling did very well not to hit anybody as another yacht shot for his berth almost before he had left it and then needed three attempts to get in. A few choice words were exchanged. Us, our neighbours and the third yacht out, all relocated to the end of pontoon B but the third yacht was too far out in the fairway, so eventually moved elsewhere but eventually another, smaller yacht replaced him. We went out for lunch and bought wine, having invited our French and German neighbours to join us for a drink this evening, before we leave for Les Sables d' Olonne or Bourgenay, tomorrow. The conversation was animated and interesting and friends were made. Thank you for your company Daniel, Gabby and Ingo (apologies for any mistakes).