Island life

We had a 'day off' to explore the south coast of the Ile d'Yeu, staying in a lovely beachside anchorage which turned out to be our rolliest night for ages. The following day we sailed back to the mainland, to Sables d'Olonnes, the starting point for the Vendee Globe races. We were slowly overtaken by a large yacht which sailed alongside for some time, during which we had a brief shouted conversation. On arrival at Sables d'Olonnes, we searched out the yacht, went to say hi and discovered that the 'navigateur', who had shouted over in English, was none other than Vendee Globe competitor Raphael Dinelli (the one who Pete Goss rescued in the Southern Ocean).
The next morning, we were intrigued to see a small gaffer hoisting colourful bunting. They were off 5 miles down the coast to a 'fete de la mer', so we decided to join in the fun. Sailing slowly in the light breeze, we arrived just too late. A big group of sailing boats was dispersing after having thrown wreaths overboard for those lost at sea. We spent the night with some of them in the new marina of Bourgenay, where we were treated to a rescue dog demonstration and a late night firework display. Our new found friends on the little gaffer also managed to get us a free berth for the night!
From there, we had a good sail hard on the wind down to the Ile de Ré, where we locked into the wet dock and caught up with friends who were holidaying in a campsite on the island. The weather has been amazing, consistently hot and sunny for the last couple of weeks, long may it last...