La Rochelle is a pretty city at ground level and the architecture is wonderful, OK much of it is very simple and it is all quite unspoiled, but its only an air shot that can show the extensive nature of the nautical heritage.

Official test sail.  The wind was force 2/3 so good for familiarisation. First thing we noticed was how heavy the mainsail was but with Chris sweating it up (yeah its a real sailing term) and me on the winch, up it went. We decided to "pop a reef in the main" to slow us down and get us familiar with the 13 bits of string entering under the spray hood. We eventually had only a scrap of headsail and 2 reefs in the main and still we estimated 5+ knots. Estimated? Well the electronics had yet to be calibrated as I'd said I'd do it later and so allow more time for sailing items.

We ended the afternoon with big smiles on our faces even though we had a list of some 10 items needing sorting, one disconcerting item was that the auto pilot kept dropping into standby without warning. One to watch! Oh yes and another thing, the batons were proper limp wrist-ed. Another thing to check on.

Wow! Voile Magazine is at the newsagents. And Mithril is on centre fold and a total of 7 full pages.  Its a great review with superb photos and a computer created inside view of the whole boat, no wonder Bernard took 150 photos.

The passage to St-Martin. We motored out into the bay and spent an hour or so traveling in circles calibrating the compass and the auto-pilot, then whilst testing the auto tack feature, we tacked just as a catamaran had gone past and we ran over his fishing line snapping it and wrapping it around the prop.  The resultant vibration put paid to further testing and so with full sail aloft we sailed in light NW winds under the bridge and up the East side of the Ile de Ré to Saint-Martin de Ré. Once the lock gates had closed, meaning no further movement of vessels was likely within the marina,  I went over the side with a bread knife to cut off the fishing line. The line turned out to be about 10m long and of 1.5mm nylon and needed wire cutters to shift. Lesson learned; don't pass too close to the stern of other vessels as they might be fishing.

We had two days on the island and on the first we cycled to the North of the island to see the salt pans, wildlife areas and the 57m tall Phare du Baleine. Its quite amazing the time and effort which must have gone into the building of the huge number of lighthouses (Phares) around France because they really are splendid structures, particularly this one which is one of the tallest. Click the picture to see it a little larger.

Passage to L' Sable, exerts from the log.

• 1300 motoring out through the lock gates
• 1430 Hot and windless
• 1500 NW F1 (true) full sail and 4 knots
• 1600 little wind but its on the nose, 5 knots now though
• 1730 amazing progress in such light winds.
• 1915 tied up by capitainerie

The passage. We set off in light winds so had to motor out to sea and west around the light house Les Barges, and it was here we found ourselves in a fleet of 35 ft racing boats. All were sailing, of course, but only at about 2 knots. We shut down the engine and joined in, David taking the opportunity to sort out the fishing gear as the speed was ideal for a bit of mackereling.

After a couple of hours we found ourselves mid fleet and going well in the rising wind and pointing up to about 35 degrees to the wind whereas the boats in front were at maybe 30. David having already caught supper.

Through the afternoon the wind continued to rise until at about 20 knots we took in the first reef.  It was a bit late really but it made the passage more comfortable. This was not for the racers who game-fully held full sail even though some were almost laid flat in the water. We tacked closer to the island but found quite a strong adverse tide so headed out again. By 1800 the sea was building and although we were still going really well, apart from occasional slams that is, we decided to motor the last 8 miles because the starboard tack had an adverse tide and the port tack took us away from the destination, and anyway time was looking quite tight. We tied up at 1900 after almost 40 miles. 

Ile D' Yeu is a smashing island, as maybe you've read following our earlier visit with Tomboy and Hitrapia.

We had a few days on the Ile and on the first day we walked across the island to the fishing harbour of La Meule. Just beyond the harbour is the rocky southern coastline where David took these two photos. For the avoidance of doubt, Janet is on the left and Barry is in the photo on the right.

The passage. We motored North out of the harbour and 2 miles later turned East, we hoisted full sail but kept the engine on as the wind was really light. Frustration soon lead us to try our cruising chute, an asymmetric spinnaker, as it would help pass the time. This sail is a poor mans down wind sail but much easier to handle than a full blown spinnaker. It was not a perfect fit, being a little long in the luff and originally designed for Mithril, but up it went and much to our surprise it filled immediately and started pulling like fury. We stopped the engine but still we had 5 knots showing on the log; we were impressed.

During the next few hours the wind rose slowly to touching a F4 directly behind us, but keeping it on the quarter saw our speed move ever upwards. David and I took up positions behind the wheel so we could watch the log, actually our eyes were glued to it. We recorded a top speed of 8.9 knots and it felt like Ruby could do 12+ with no drama. Down below Janet shouted up to ask what we were doing but we kept the speeds to our selves and smiled at one another.

Once we had a proper F4 (and maybe it was an F5) we took down the chute to try goose winging dead down wind and still we did 7+ all the way to the harbour. It was one passage we didn't want to end.