Pornic, France

We arrived in Pornic and were underwhelmed to find ourselves put into a berth as far from everything as was possible, in a berth which was designed for a 20-footer.  I think this tainted our view of Pornic marina, which is that it was overpriced and impersonal and in need of modernization.

However, the town was nice enough – you walk along a footpath for 15 mins, past Bluebeard’s castle, into the town.  It is quite touristy – we noticed that Pornic was mentioned in the Lonely Planet whilst Piriac was not – but we managed to find the nicer part of town, up the hill away from the quayside.

The girls in the playground at Pornic

The walk from the boat to town

As forecast, the wind really blew and we stayed in Pornic for 2 nights.  During this time, we managed to sort out a few things that had been starting to stress me.  The boat insurance policy, when I finally read the details, said that the geographic coverage was “Down to 47 degrees North, thence bluewater voyage to Caribbean”.  How vague. So I thought I should check that we were still covered for cruising through South Biscay.  After many phone calls to Bishop Skinner in Fenchurch St, I finally managed to confirm that we were OK.  Also, after a few dead ends, I located a new circulation pump in Les Sables d’Olonne.  It is funny, I think it is the impending Biscay crossing that is creating some unconscious stress. 

The other thing that is concerning me is that the Navtex reception has almost disappeared, since we left Piriac.  It is still receiving some messages but not many.  This is concerning and I don’t know why it is happening.  I have checked the aerial and the connections at the back of the unit but there is nothing obviously wrong. I have also set the stations to the relevant stations for our area but still no joy.

Ollie & kids with Bluebeards castle in background, Pornic