Wind Bound In Medoc

With the strong southerly wind continuing
to blow against us,
we decide to stay put in Port Medoc for a few days,
Still, not that bad. The Medoc region of Bordeaux is home to four of the most famous appellations in France, Saint-Estephe, Pauillac, Saint-Julien, and Margaux. The area known as the Medoc runs along the western bank of the Gironde estuary, covering a 50 mile (80km) strip from the city of Bordeaux to the Atlantic Ocean. The larger, southern section of the Medoc is known as the Haut-Medoc, and it is here where more fine wine is produced per hectare than almost anywhere else in the world.
Great, so with that in mind its off to hunt some down.

Medoc for some local wine

Another significant leg was to be completed today,
for two reasons, as the reaching of Port Medoc in the Gironde estuary would mark the 500nm, which is just about a fith of the way to Gozo, also the much awaited arrival of Lorna from Bordeaux station.
Another sunny but chilly day with reasonable winds saw us into Medoc for around 5pm, with southerly winds forcast again for the coming week we grudgingly accepted a stop for a few days,,

Still gave Lorna a chance to train for 'Total Wipeout,
and this was before the wine sampling?




The Medoc area on the south bank of the Gironde is famous for its red wine, bugger!

La Rochelle

Departing St Gilles around 6.30 am for the 55nm sail down to La Rochelle with light winds forcast and a sunny day expected, and what do you know, the weather forcast was right,,

slow progress but very pleasant in the warm sunshine,, allowing the tide to flood to give us plenty of clearence into the shallow entrance of the marina.
Routing to the north of Ile De Re, the long island just of the mainland and connected via a huge new road bridge. The height under the bridge was stated as 30m, but still makes you double check when you pass under with 16m sticking up, we followed the remains of a returning local regatta into the port of La Rochelle ( Port des Minimes ), which was a massive marina, home to some 3000 boats, plus visitors, after hunting down a berth on the packed visitors pontoon we settled down for a relaxing deck supper in the glorious warm sunset, with some local red plonk at 4.5euros for 5 lt we were all sorted.

Departing Ile DeYeu

After a peaceful evening in the calm tranquility of Ile de Yeu and the quite hospitable natives it was off for the relatively short hop to Sables d'olonne, wind was 20/25 kts from the south so very little headway was made, another diversion into St Gilles Croix, Port du Vie,, a small Vendee village located on both banks of the river 'La Vie'


On further exploration of the town a small local pub was found,, freindly bunch with a complete loon as the landlord,
we blended in well and as the beer started to flow the landlord Mechelle, became even more odd,, his false teeth on the bar and singing out loud with the beer tap as his mike,,, Malcolm started to let his hair down and after some dancing with a butchers hat followed by a serbian soldiers hat, they finally exchanged their false teeth,, A quiet day followed, with the wind and rain from the south it was a chance to clean up, empty the bocholinus from the fridge and get some clean washing,very good facilities in the marina.

Porn to Yeu

Great name for a website,,

Another early one with a beautiful sunrise saw us on our way from Pornichet to Ile de Yeu, gentle south easterly with clear blue sky, as we head out into the deeper water the Atlantic swell is now with us, very long shallow waves,


Nice and warm as we enter port, only one thing for it,,,couple of cold ones,,,nice

Shouty French Kids

Another early start with 70 mile to Sables d'olonne, wind forcast as North East 3 to 4 peerfect, but twas not to be, in reality South East 4 to 5 right on the nose, so diversion time to Pornichet. A huge marina (1000 plus boats), great name too,,,
Just after midday the wind dropped and a sleepy couple of hours followed. 4pm and all moored up in glorious warm sunshine, a massive sail training day was going on with lots of shouty french kids running around, canons were drawn but no neede to fire, quick restock of the larder and a couple of cold ones on deck to watch the peaceful crimson evening regain control,,

Sunrise from Benedot

Early start from Benedot, 6.0am no wind but a fantastic sunrise welcomed us into the flat calm day,
with the arrival of a gentle breeze from the North East we were on our way,





By Midday it was all too much for our steely eyed helmsman and we handed over the responsibility to 'electronic joanne' (the autopilot)
A good chance to catch up on some much needed laundry, hmmm.

Soon enough the island of Belle Ile was on the horizon,, 5pm saw us enter the small fishing port and after tying up to a 'Trot' the dingy was inflated and deployed for the challenging ride into town,, two big size fellas in a small inflatable,,kept the locals amused,, nice little town

Benedot Bound

Malcolm and I set sail for the small river estuary town of Benedot.
Arriving after a great sail with a swift breeze off the land and basking in glorious spring sunshine, a pack of dolphins followed us for a while keeping their watchful eye on us..
Got into Benedot in good time for a welcome beer or two,,, nice little village..

Finally on our way

Escape from Guernsey came around soon enough,,
3.30 and the tide, as predicted gave us 2.4m over the sill, and we were on our way to Cameret, in the entrance to Brest.. yeeehaa..

This was to be a significant marker as it now 280 miles which is a tenth of the way to Gozo,,great,,

Arriving in Cameret after a full 24 hours of sailing we settled down for a welcome rest..

Hilly being the lightest amoungst us volunteered to ascend the mast to re tie a loose lazy jack,, well done Hilly,

(quite appropriate with a name like Hilly Angell)

The following day Malcolm and I said our goodbyes to Hilly and Sam as they were back to the UK for a week or so,, hopefully they will rejoin us around Bordeaux or Biaritz

Trapped in Guernsey

After Waiting for the strong north east winds to abate, we found ourselves trapped by the sill of Victoria marina at St Peter Port, with the neap tides now at their least variation the low water over the sill kept us truly lodged in port.. Bugger!!!
Still 3.30 pm all our 4 crew were suffering the effects of imprisonment, Sam started to dance with a small austrian squirrel,, Malcolm started burbling aimlessly in his cabin,, I (bob) went to buy some beads and vowed to grow my hair long,, and Hilly hit the vodka,,,,,
Departure planned at 3.30am as there will be sufficient water over the sill, then a long leg, with good forcast winds all the way to (hopefully) Port Medoc at the entrance to the Gironde,,,near Bordeaux.

Back to the UK so soon!

We left Cherbourg 09:30hrs 05.03.10 not a cloud in the sky, the sun was hot. We raised the main and sailed sedately out of the harbour. Bob put the fishing rod out and our mouths were watering with the thought of fresh mackerel for lunch but alas it wasn't meant to be but he did catch a carrier bag.
With hardly any wind all day we arrived in Guernsey, back in the UK so soon, at 17;30 05.03.10.
On Saturday the wind picked up so we decided to stay put and explore some of Guernsey. Malcolm found a suitable pub to settle down for the evening and watch the football.
After ordering our first pint we turned round only to come face to face with the 'Sundowner 2' crew Dennis & Sandra who we last saw in Gozo, the rest of the evening gradually faded into an alcoholic haze but you can rest assured we all had a very pleasant time.
Sunday we took a bus trip around the island and saw Beaucette Marina which was a quarry and when they had finished with it they blew out the side to let the sea in. Well worth a look if you are ever this way.

The Escape From The UK

Crew List
(in alphabetical order until Lorna arrives and then she will take her rightful place under Bob)
Bob - Captain
Hilly - Galley Slave and Deck Hand
Malcolm - 2nd Chef and Deck Hand
Sam - Salty old Sea Dog

We set sail from Eastbourne at a respectable 20:00hrs, 02.03.2010 after a hearty supper of chilli and rice. The weather set in our favour with an easterly wind we head out of the lock gates only to find no marker bouys and the tide was low
in fact at chart datum 1.3mtrs, the keel stuck in the
sand for a while we thought we might pivot and go
back in for a beer, within minutes we were off on the rising tide and a full moon on our way to Cherbourg.

We arrived in Cherbourg at 15;00hrs 03.03.10 after a somewhat Lumpy (as Sam would say) crossing about a 7. Not a pretty port but good shelter to get warm and well needed sleep.
















Lorna on Inspiration in Eastbourne
(The real captain)