Piriac to Ile de Re (Thursday 28th May)

Today started with a cup of tea in a gloomy Piriac and finished with a glass of chilled rose, sitting in glorious sunshine in St Martin, the prettiest port on the Ile de Re.

After a windy night, we assumed that we would be stuck in the marina at Piriac for a couple of days, but when we stuck our heads out this morning, the wind had dropped away almost completely and the calm sea offered the perfect opportunity to move on. So, instead of the lay in we had anticipated, it was a quick trip to the bakery for a fresh baguette, a visit to the Capitainerie to settle up and then, by 9.30 we were off, making a more elegant exit than our entrance into Piriac.

All went smoothly for an hour or so, until an alarm rang out to warn us that the joystick control was no longer working – bad news, as it meant we had no stern or bow thrusters for use when mooring up. We tried everything we could think of to reset it, including shutting down all the engines and restarting, but to no avail. After an hour at low speed whilst we tried to mend the problem, Frank had a lightbulb moment and by using the emergency stop on the joystick control managed to fully reinstate the facility, much to our joint relief.

Coming along the coast past Sable d’Or, we had our first view of the terracotta roof tiles which told us that we were in a very special place – still relatively close to home but nearer in spirit to the south of France. It was an exciting reminder of the delights ahead of us when we near the end of this, our delivery voyage, later this year.

Due to the tides, the earliest we were able to get into St Martin was 6pm, so we detoured around behind the Ile de Re and went into La Rochelle to refuel. By now, the skies had cleared completely, the sun was shining, and in the shelter of the harbour, it was blazing hot. Once the tanks were full and the bank account drained, it was quick hop skip and jump to our destination, the beautiful port of St Martin. Zaffina is probably about the largest boat which could fit into this marina, and there wasn’t much room to spare as Frank skilfully negotiated her through the narrow entrance, with an audience watching from the harbour side.

A glass of rose was followed by dinner a deux sitting in a warm and sheltered cockpit, watching other arrivals and enjoying the ambiance of this delightful marina.