La Rochelle

Apologies that I haven't posted anything on this blog for a while, but we have been having huge problems with our internet connectivity. Before we left I bought a Wifi Bat wifi booster and a Redbox router hoping that these would allow us to connect to local wifi hotspots with ease, but I have until now been very disappointed. 

I have been here for a few days whilst Jan has been away visiting some friends and it has allowed me to get on top of some of the maintenance issues that have arisen. One of them has been the Redbox and I am very pleased to report that after a couple of very long telephone conversations with the very nice and patient people at MailaSail, all is good and we now have an internet connection.

We are currently in Port Minimes in La Rochelle and it is HUGE! Apparently it is the biggest marina on the Atlantic coast and having cycled round it quite a few times I can believe it.

At €55 per night Port Minimes is not only the biggest but also the most expensive marina we have stayed at - it's a shame their shower facilities aren't as top end as their prices.

La Rochelle is a great city, I would describe it as a combination of Brighton; Bristol and Amsterdam. The Vieux Port is a buzzy area with loads of bars and restaurants and sailing and yachting is clearly a key focus here.

I had been having problems with the watermaker and there are so many yachting-related businesses here that I decided that this was the place to get it fixed. Well thanks to the help of Guillaume from Uchimata  all is good and it is now functioning. 

I have also been able to replace the bucket I threw overboard from one of the several chandleries here and I bought a Spanish and Portuguese courtesy flags for the next stages of our journey. FYI, a Portuguese flag is 5 times the cost of a Spanish one because its so much more complicated!  

One thing that hasn't been great about La Rochelle is the prices. Every time i go to the supermarket it seems to cost €35 however little I buy and the bar prices are eye-watering. 

€7.70 for a beer!!

Anyway, Jan is back tomorrow and we are off to Spain, where hopefully it will be a little cheaper. Its going to be our longest passage so far, just over 200 miles - and will require an overnight sail. It can be a bit taxing sailing overnight with only two on board but the weather forecast looks reasonable and there aren't really any other options along this bit of the coast - there is a missile testing area which extends 45 miles offshore.