We left port at 8:46AM, Tuesday 12^th August and set sail for La Rachelle 46:08.62N 1:10.08W

The weather was predicted to be horrible so I woke up early and took a look. I decided after a large yawn it was not for us and went back to bed. Who wants to sail in the rain? After a sleep in I woke at 8:00AM, grabbed my bino’s and walked down the street to grab a few sticks of bread and check out the sea state. It was turning out to be a fine morning and I could sea a few fishing boats out in the deep so I hurried back and awoke the crew.

We sailed out of harbor with the main and front sails reefed down in preparation for the worst. The previous day was relatively calm so the sea state was fine, it was only the wind we needed to keep an eye on. Fiona sailed out and pointed Silky in the direction of La Rochelle. She helmed all morning and at 12PM she was exhausted. She was also having so much fun that she needed to be made to leave the helm. We were absolutely flying down the waves as they grew through out the day and so did the sea state, along with the wind to match. It was not long until we were at a near gale blowing up to 32 Knt’s. FYI a gale is a wind 33-37Knt’s so it was pretty strong.

The wind was blowing across the entire Bay of Biscay coming in from the South West and it did not take long before 4-5 meter waves were rolling on in at us. A couple of them made me a little nervous (the big bad boys of the sets at least 6 meters) I mean there was one or two times I turned the boat directly into the surf hoping the wave would not break on top of us and flood the boat, but all was fine. Silky just kept on rising and falling with the steep swell. It is a worry though, because Fiona thought the whole thing was fun. Not a good combination the two of us, because I am happy to sail no matter what and Fiona, having gone from “I only like sailing if the motor is on” to “I want to take these bad boy waves on” has the potential to end in tear’s.

We got into La Rochelle moored up along side a bunch of Gypsy’s who were in what looked like a concrete coffin. We said hello and then retired to a DVD (Pirates of the Caribbean what else would you expect!)

Craig left us in the morning as Fi and I prepared to get the boat ready for the next leg. We knew the weather was not any good for the next few days, so I started what I seem to do best, fix things.  I could make a list each time I fix something but this entry would get way to long, but if you must know I had to fix the toilet again for the fourth time.  I think we have almost made peace with one another.  I had to splice and whip several ropes and you will see from the photos I bought Fi a new fender step so the beautiful little thing can get up and down with out being hoisted. Finally, I pulled the Radar apart after asking or using my best sign language in the local yard asking for help. Any-how I found a faulty wire or the inner coaxial cable that sends the echo from the antenna down to the display was broken, where it joins in the coach roof so I repaired it. The only thing is I made an improvement but I do not know if the thing works as I can not get a picture yet. I am hopping it will not give me one when I am surrounded by 3000 yachts in the marina we are in. Well I guess I will find out soon enough.

After a couple of days fixing and making things better for our journey, Fi and I went for a walk around the town and I must say it is very beautiful, the beer in France is also remarkable.  I mean all the beer is the same where ever you go except for how it is stored, cooled, pumped and poured and France have it up on the UK.

We also downloaded another weather program today to enable us to look at the temperature and cloud cover, along with all the fancy sailing things you need. After studying it for about ages and ages we decided to spend three nights here and wait until the sea sate would be nice and flat for the next leg of our trip. The next leg being a 200 Knt Mile sail to Santander in Spain.

Anyhow I must go more things to do and fix. Mental note for me – Never stay in a marina again that has a chandler as it cost us too much money.

Special comments by Fiona:  I can’t believe how much I loved the horrible conditions.  I mean, I used to hate sailing around the Solent in any-thing more than a Force 3 (very little wind).  Not good when you’re supposed to be a sailor!  But I tell you, I loved every minute of our boat literally surfing the waves of Biscay.  To my complete surprise (and no doubt Ben’s) I’m loving being out in the ocean and what it brings.  I really do like La Rochelle, except spending the morning in the Laundromat waiting for our washing, only to have a very rude French man push in front of me in the queue for the dryer.  I did try and tell him I was next but my lack of French did me no favors.  Pissed off and fed up of waiting, I returned to the boat and instructed Ben to some how put a washing line together.  Well, we had our clothes dried in under 2 hours (thank-you sunny skies) and saved us €10 on drying – so there stupid French man!

Day 023

Destination – La Rochelle

Traveling Direction – South East

Wind Direction – South West (Near Gale F8)

Average Speed 5.9 Knots (Absolutely Flying)

Top Speed – 10.9 Knots Over Ground (We were surfing down waves like Hughie the surf god)  

Total distance – 69.4 Nautical Miles

Travel Time – 11.78 Hours

Temperature – 19 (Lots of Sunshine)

Crew     - Fiona (Amped to sail)  

Missing Work - I do not think So

Expenses – Chandlery €127.4, Provision’s €34, Shower €2, Beer at Café €12, Washing €4

Next Destination – Spain