Portsall to La Rochelle (18 June - 1July 2013)

It has been a long time since our last post because it's so hard to find some spare time and an internet connection to update our blog. Before we began our trip I thought we would have tons of free time on our hands, but it hasn't been the case at all. Our good friend Thomas gave us some movies, tv shows, and music before leaving Paris and we haven't watched a single movie or show since we left. We only use the laptop computer when we are in a harbour so can save as much energy when we don't have a power source. We are thinking of adding another solar pannel and possibly new batteries in the future.

From Brignogan-Plages we sailed to Portsall, a small quiet town where they ride horses on the beach at low tide :) I don't remember if we spent one or two nights there. It was very uneventful despite the horses.

This was our second time sailing to Camaret and for the second time we were welcomed by horrible weather. Cold and rainy. Luckily it only lasted a day and we were able to climb for two days. Arbutus was secured to a mooring buoy (which we thought was free, but turned out to be 13 euros/night) so it was a bloody mission to take all of our climbing equipment and bikes on the dinghy and to waterproof ourselves from the waves. Somehow we were able to transport all of our stuff to the dock with only two trips.

The approach wasn't too long thanks to our bikes...but holy hell there were a lot of tourists at the La Pointe de Pen Hir where we climbed. I guess they came for the amazing views too. I lead some easy routes and Paul lead some easy trad routes. It felt great to be on land and to climb.

After four nights at Camaret we set sail for Belle-Île-en-Mer.

There are only a few places to anchor around Belle-Île and when we arrived there was only one other boat....There was only one other boat because there was a lot of swell and Arbutus was dancing in her spot. Not dancing...rather jumping. It was the first time I've ever thrown up at an anchorage...ohlalalala. We made sure Arbutus's anchor was secure before going on land with the dinghy but we never expected what would happen next. As we approached the shore Paul cut the engine and three seconds after a wave hit us. Paul saw it coming and screamed "OMG Sundy look!!!" I couldn't believe my eyes, the dinghy was parallel to the wave and she took us down and we got wet. I believe Paul pushed me further into the water so he wouldn't get so wet, but he denies it, he says he was protecting me.

There was even a kind old man on the beach who watched our capsize unfold and he offered us to use his shower. Paul said it was ok. I almost hit him. Belle-Île lived up to her name. We hiked along the coast into town after our clothes dried and treated ourselves to lunch, beers, and dinner because of our near drowning experience.

I didn't sleep at all that night because the boat moved so much and our bed is just above the water tank so every time a wave hit us the water in the half empty tank would erupt. omg...We couldn't stand another night at the anchorage so we had a short sail to Sauzon, a city on Belle-Île. We were secured to a mooring buoy which cost us 17 euros.

From Sauzon we walked to the other side of the island to see the angry sea.

Next stop Le Golfe du Morbihan where we anchored for only one night. I wish we stayed longer to explore the different areas.

The next morning we left for L'île de Ré and we sailed during the night. Just before sunset we caught a fish and Paul was too scared to clean it so I had to do it.

L'île de Ré was fun and the ice cream was delicous. We spent the day on the beach checked out the small town...I don't remember the name, and in the evening we went to the mooring buoy just outside the harbour and slept there for the night. Arbutus was jumping in the waves again so I went to bed early. The next moring we went into the harbour, but there was no room in the inner harbour because of a sailing race. All of the boats were occupying calm sheltering inner harbour. We were left outside on a dock with water and electricity...but it was horrible. It was safer for Arbutus to be on the mooring buoy than attached to the dock. We had to give a lot of slack on the lines to prevent Arbutus from hitting the dock because of the violent waves.

Next was the gigantic harbour of La Rochelle where the service was shit but the town was cool. It's an international harbour and it excited me to see so many international flags including an American and Australian!!!! And the catamarans!!! soooo many comfortable looking, expensive, house like catamarans were in the harbour. I was a little envious. They are like floating houses!!! At the harbour we had time to shower ourselves, clean the boat inside and out, buy groceries and use the internet.

I prepared okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza) during our last night in La Rochelle and I included a special ingredient...seaweed we picked up off the beach! We bought a book to help us identify the different seaweeds in France.