It was a simple plan. Head south down the Atlantic coast to La Rochelle and wait until the weather allowed us to go to northern Spain. We’d arrive somewhere that serves Tappas and then Richard and Amanda would jump ship in Bilbao and head home on a ferry.
We had three weeks to get there and as per usual two of them would be filled with rain and the wind will be on the nose the entire time.
After a quick visit by Olivier, the resident Arzal boat electrical magician, our anchor light, steaming light and electric winch were all working again. However, our Radar was condemned as it was full of water! We had the usual fun and games exiting the lock and under the skilful hands of Mr Cracknell, we piloted our way out into the river Villaine and promptly ran aground on the first bend. 3,000 revs later, we popped out and headed out towards the sea and turned south. First stop, Le Turballe.
Now, Le Turballe is a nice little place but according to Tripadvisor. The top four things to do here are; Visit the nearby beach; Visit The Museum of the Fish; Visit another beach; Visit the marina. So as you can imagine, it’s a bit quiet for us adrenaline junkies. We only stayed one night and next day, aimed at L’Herbaudiére and whilst crossing the Loire River, the sun came out.
Here I succumbed to my accepted tyrannical ways and generously gave the crew a day off. We rented electric bikes, which Amanda promptly fell off. We wound our way around the back streets and alleyways of Noirmoutier-en-l’Île stopping for coffees, oysters and ice cream as and when they crossed our path.
16th May 2024
Trip Mileage 83 miles
Mileage Completed 2141 miles