21st August: Port Haliguan to Pornichet
So today we are leaving Brittany! We all woke up at about 9am for breakfast and then we prepared Hoopla for her next passage. We left at 10.30 and said goodbye to Port Haliguan and Brittany! We had strong and good winds to start, which meant we could finally sail! Unfortunately, the sea was quite choppy though. A lot of time was spent out of sight of land so, after a while – a little boring, but it was ok. Rob’s new hat decided to take a dip(!) but we got it back – which was a sneaky practiced man (or hat!) overboard! The wind died down and so we had to motor for a few hours. Later, though, the wind picked up again (hurrah!) and so another sail into the harbour. We moored alongside a nice chap. Here, there are lots of restaurants and Pete treated us to a lovely meal. Thanks Pete!
22nd August: Pornichet
We all enjoyed a leisurely start to the day. After breakfast, Rob had some work to do, Pete walked into town, I sorted out our hanging locker and Jack ‘fortnited’ at the harbour office! When Pete returned back, at around 2.30, we had our lunch. It is so hot and sunny. Rob and I put the Bimini up and then I walked to the Spar for some milk. Rob made a lovely chicken drumstick dinner and after Pete and Rob went out for a pint. Oh! During breakfast this morning, Jacks tooth fell out! Will the tooth-fairy find us? She should do. It was decided that we will leave at about 9am tomorrow.
23rd August: Pornichet to Ile D'Yeu
We all had a quick breakfast (the tooth fairy DID manage to find us – and she left €2) and we then slipped our lines at 9.45 (nicely done). It was a motor out of the harbour but then we had a very pleasant sail for most of the journey. We all took half hour turns at the helm and it was very hot and sunny. Just what we signed up for! We arrived at Ile D’Yeu at 16.45 and we had to moor alongside (3 out), before Rob and Pete could check us in at the Captinaire. Shortly after, we hit the beach and found a warmer sea but cold in patches (apparently!). Rob made us all a lovely Chicken curry for dinner. Here, we have the best wifi to date (yay!!) and the facilities (toilets and showers) are not too bad either!
24th August: Ile D'Yeu
We all woke up at around 9am, followed by breakfast at about 10am. It wasn’t such a good night last night- not sure why. Rob downloaded all of his music, so he didn’t wast the time. We spent the morning on our electronics (phones, tablets, Switch) and then I did our laundry. Unfortunately, the tumble dryer didn’t do a good job and so I had to use our hangers to get everything dry. Jack managed to spend the whole day on Fortnite = happy bunny! The two boats on the inside (English and Belgium) spoke perfect English. In the evening, we found a very nice restaurant and a praying mantas came in! WOW! Jack went and picked it up to put it outside, on a plant! What a hero! I must tell Matt later (he used to have one as a pet!). The yacht on the inside told us that he is leaving at 8am tomorrow, so that means we are too! hahaha! We all prepared Hoopla for travel, before turning in.
25th August: Ile D'Yeu to Sable d'olonne
Well, the alarm went off at 6.55 and we were all ready to go by 7.15. Not bad at all! After a cuppa, we said goodbye to Ile D’Yeu at 7.45. There was only 5/6 knots of wind, so we had a motor journey today. We arrived at La Sable at around 3.45. We had time for a cuppa, before we headed for the beach. Pete, Rob and Jack went swimming and belly boarding, while I read my Kindle. Very nice too! When we were back on board, Rob prepared dinner in the cob: pork ribs. We were all very tired, so soon after our Spanish homework (Duolingo on our phones), it was time for bed all round!
26th August: Sable d'olonne to La Rochelle
The crew of Hoopla were all up and all had had their breakfast by about 8.30. We made the boat ship shape and we left port at around 10am. While we were leaving port, Pete accidentally dropped a fender overboard (easily done). We managed to retrieve it and so we all had another practice “fender overboard!” It was mainly a motor journey, over a flat, calm sea. The Bimini was put up earlier in the day, as it is sooo hot! The wind picked up and so Rob put out the Spinnaker but, unfortunately, the halyard managed to slip inside the mast(!) Rob said that we need to retrieve this ASAP when we are in La Rochelle. We sailed under the famous bridge – our first bridge(!) – at 6 knots. The Initial ‘meet and greet’ at arrivals was a bit awkward as they said we could only stay one night! Thankfully, this was not the case and Rob agreed to a longer stay with the Capatinaire . We paid for two nights and got one extra free! Yay! Rob made us a great dinner but gave me normal pasta!! Hopefully I will be ok! After our meal, we walked into the town at around 9.30pm, for a beer and there was a market. Lovely 🙂
27th to 28th August: La Rochelle
The first job here was to remove the halyard from the mast! Shortly after breakfast, Rob went up the mast – with Pete and myself helping below. Rob managed to hook out the halyard after a few attempts. Well done Rob! We now can use the spinnaker again! Rob, Pete & I then walked to the chandlery. After, Rob & Pete popped to the supermarket whilst I returned to Hoopla to give her a quick tidy round. Jack & I then hit the showers. It was a very warm afternoon. and Rob made a nice meal of wraps. We didn’t go into town after dinner as we were all quite tired. We received an email re Jack’s year 7 (1st year secondary school). A possible start date of 4/5th September! Scary! Jackie and Adrian (Rob and Pete’s cousins) are due to visit us tomorrow at about midday, and we are all looking forward to meeting them!
The following morning, Rob worked on the engine (the lock tight and the cleaning of the oil), Pete replaced an electric socket for us and he managed to get the hand held plug working for our torch. Rob & I walked to get replace a gas bottle and when we got back to Hoopla, Jackie and Adrian had arrived. It was so lovely to see Jackie, Adrian and Eddie! – and they bought with them some gluten free goodies! Very nice! We had a lovely catch up and we introduced them to the CI Bears! They left us at around 2.30, with lots of hugs and kisses. We all then caught the sea bus to town. La Rochelle is so very pretty! After a lazy explore, we caught it back and then and had our lunch. In preparation for our major crossing tomorrow (gulp), Rob gave us all a safety brief and we made a plan for the helm for tomorrow! We are all quite excited! Bring it on!
29th to 30th August: THE BISCAY CROSSING!!
We all had our breakfast early and we left La Rochelle port (and France!) at 9.30am – all feeling very excited and nervous! The weather was fine and sunny. We motored for a while and then we raised the sails. Unfortunately, it was not a very nice sea at all! Very lumpy! Yuck! A little bird came and rested on our guard rail for a while and we saw a few pods of dolphins quite a few times! The helm duty was half an hour each until 8pm. Jack and I took over the watch until midnight, when Pete and Rob took over. Jack and I had a good time on the helm, looking at the stars and having a bit of a laugh. The stars were so bright! As Jack and I were compass steering, we were both quite poorly at the end of our shift. We were supposed to take over at 4am but Rob and Pete took pity on us (Jack was fast asleep and I was still being very ill!). I was much better by 7am (Jack was still out for the count) but I took over the helm, so Pete and Rob could rest properly. Tilly earned her keep the next day as nobody really wanted helm duty(!). It was a motor journey this time, as there was very little wind. In between rests, we all spend most of the day in the cockpit, looking at sea, sea and more sea! Rob and Pete took us into Bilbao marina, finally, at 2am. Well done guys! We all had a hot chocolate (with squirty cream of course!) and then fell into our beds! We were very lucky to be able to take our time in La Rochelle and wait for the perfect weather window. This meant we could have calm seas for this major crossing. We made it:
We are now in ESPANA!
