43:31.54N 1:30.43W

Just this minute arrived at Port D’Anglet which is about as close to Bayonne as I’m going to get. Saying that, Bayonne is just up the river but there’s a low bridge to negotiate so it isn’t possible anyway.

Very quickly then because I’m absolutely battered, the sail down the coast from Arcachon today was only about ten hours but I think it might have been the worst ten hours sailing of my life! Just getting out of the channel at Arcachon was pretty traumatic as the Atlantic swell was a pretty lively. Then, it was a constant five hours of isolated storms – each with its own little cyclonic system that made it impossible to set the sails for any predictable length of time. Each one brought with it either hail or torrential rain and up to 35knot gusts which, considering the wave height and the hail, made it very uncomfortable. Then, it all settled down… with the wind in exactly the wrong direction – on the nose until about half an hour ago! So, five hours of ‘white knuckles’ and five hours of motoring… remind me – why?

Anyway, Bayonne sounds interesting although it looks pretty industrial from where I’m sitting. I’ll go exploring tomorrow and bore you all with the details. Oh, and I’ve got to fix a couple of things as well – usual story!

Right, time to get the kettle on…

Bye for now

Bee

Rob Clark

W2N Global Ltd.

+44 (0)7967 661157

www.w2n.co.uk