Pornic got boring
Lera(hen3ry)
Malcolm Cann
Tue 22 May 2007 09:07
After two weeks I was ready to go but the wind had got up, and it seemed a lttile unwise to leave, I stayed a further week, and decided to leave on Tuesday 15th at about midday to arrive at L.R. at about 14.00 (High Tide) the following day.
Monday the sea was coming over the marina wall.
Tuesday was a little better and the forecast said easing off during the afternoon and evening, I pottered until about midday and then set off. To get out of the bay I had to head straight into the wind so off I went. At one point I saw a boat coming towards me surfing down the waves, but I was going into it and at one point, for the first time since I've had this boat, the sea came rolling up the deck at me, I failed to duck because it was the first time, and got soaked for my trouble.
Once I got out of the bay and turned onto my southwards heading it got slightly easier and I was chugging along at about 5kts. Life was easy, nothing happening, noone in site,but a ittle bumpy, when after about 6 hours the boat suddenly started making circles to port, the three week old ST2000+ had given up the ghost and was having a fit. I spent about half an hour trying to get it back into life but finally gave up and put my ST1000+ back on. This proved adequate and that my system was not broken just the pilot. Raymarine tell me to send the pilot back to Fareham for a warranty check/fix, but how do I get it back and how do I steer without it?
The ST1000+ looked after me for the rest of the way. I eased the speed down to about 3kts during the night and by daylight found the Isle of Rhe in sight. Shortly after the laptop decided to crash, there was very little effect in this it just meant I lost my second by second updates, so what, I could see where I was going. The sea was still a little bumpy but had eased off considerably since the previous day and was almost comfortable.
I arrived off L.R. at about 10.00 two hours earlier than I had wanted. I did some calculations and reckoned there would be 1.89m of water in the entrance to L.R. so I headed in very slowly. There might have been 1.89m of water but the waves took a good 0.4m off that so I hit the bottom and got stuck. I wasn't exactly stuck, because each wave was lifting me and pushing me further in to the shore, after a short while I realised I would be on the shore soon unless I did something, so instead of anchoring I put on some power and when the wave lifted me I moved slowly outwards, evetually I was lifted over the last rock and suddenly had speed. I made haste to the deeper water and circulated with the other boats which had collected there. I followed them into L.R. at about 13.00, an hour earlier than planned even so.
L.R. had sold out to an event but I berthed where I shouldn't have and went and booked in. Acording to the office there literally was no room at the inn, but when I looked at the visitors pontoon that night I counted at least a dozen spaces, ho hum! Next morning they wanted to raft me up against another boat for two weeks so I went and had a look and found me a finger berth which the owner was willing to let me have for my time. I think I've upset the boat next door because it is a tight fit and two days later he came and took his boat awayand he hasn't been back since.
And thats about that, how I got to La Rochelle.