Time to go all-in for the winter preparations. I start by washing the boat thoroughly to get rid of the salt and then start removing everything to clean it from salt. It takes its time but the weather is nice so with an audio book – this is a very nice day. Feels good to get the boat clean and tidy before the winter. Normally – I remove almost everything from the boat and store it in a dry spot. This year, everything will stay aboard.

Cleaning Melody

At the afternoon, Mr Picot from Lagoon visit me and we have a nice chat on a repair on Melody that they should do but also on sailing and Lagoon in particular. It feels good to leave Melody in good hands over the winter – the factory and the third party company SAS that normally finish the boats.
I finish the cleaning and go to the beach. To get to the beach, I need to take the small shuttle ferry. This is an electrical ferry and runs back and forth all day.

Taking the electric ferry to the beach

I find a good restaurant down by the beach and decide to take a slow dinner. The tide is still high but going out and the sun is coming down. The sunsets are amazing and you can see the sun fall down over the town at the end of the beach.

The beach from my restaurant

The sun sets

After the dinner I have a slow walk through the outgoing tide with the sun still glowing over the town. This is one of the moments that you really will value afterwards. I get a good feeling the warm water, soft sand and still a warm breeze blowing. I walk back to the boat barefoot and enjoy the evening before I put myself to sleep with some nice music in my ears and peace in mind. Another great day comes to end.

Nice evening light

Walking on soft sand in warm water

The beach going south

I wake up early and go for a walk in the town. It is time to get to know it better. It is a beautiful morning and the town is very silent. I walk through the city center and go down to the beach. The beach promenade that is normally bustling of live is now completely deserted. I meet some people running and decide to go back and put my own shoes on. I have not been running since I left Sweden so it is about time.

Early morning in Port Olona

The statue of Liberty

The beach in the morning

The inlet to the harbour

The deserted beach promenade

Getting into the shoes

I take the phone with me so I can take pictures if I see anything interesting and start running out to the west point of Les Sables. I stop by the market and soak in the atmosphere before I continue. It is a nice pedestrian road that can be followed and I come across some nice sights, lighthouses. As I turn back, I run out on the boardwalk that sits next to the Saint-Nicolas priory and ends up at the lighthouse that marks the harbour inlet. This priory has over the years been turned into a fortress. Now it sits as a nice welcome to the people coming into the city from the sea.

A stop at the market

A madonna watching out for seafarers

The lighthouse at the point

The boardwalk out to the lighthouse at the inlet

A yacht going out to sea

The Saint-Nicolas priory

I go back to the boat and in the evening, I go down to the beach to have a meal. The crowds are gone so it is easy to get a table with a good view and I sit and look at the people playing football and boule at the beach.

Boule players on the beach

In the morning I decide to go back to Les Sables but as the tide is low there is no water to sail on. Instead, I take a nice walk of the pictoresque city.

The dried out harbour in the morning

First, I go down to the harbour office to pay the fee. The office is located on the other side of the sill (gate to keep tidal water into a floating bassin).

The sill that keeps the water in the floating bassin

The nice harbour office

As I walk through the park at the lighthouse, I see donkeys in panties the first time of my life and it turns out that this was a way to protect them from damages and insects.

Donkeys with panties. This was a way to protect them to insects and scratches

You can climb the tower of the church and from there you have a terrific view over the city. I stay for a while just enjoying the great weather and the atmosphere.

The church

Inside the church

View from the church tower

The return trip was nice in sunny weather. Good wind and nice views over the water and the island. A worthy last leg before putting Melody at rest over the winter.

Going back to Les Sables. Sunny day and good wind.

The heat and busy harbour really makes me want to go away. I have read in my pilot book of the beauty of Ile de Ré, and decide to go there over the next night. The weather is great although the wind could be better. On the way out, there is a orchester playing WW2 military marches.

Leaving Les Sables d’Olonne

WW2 music played at the quay

Melody slides through the water and gets greeted by some dolphins before she comes into the harbor just as the sill is about to close. There is no space in the floating basin however so I am directed to dry out in the outer basin. No problem – a lot of people on the quay so it is just to hook up the lines and calculate where they have to be to avoid get hanging as the water disappears. It turns out that my theoretic calculations was right but I did not expect the soft nature of the bottom. As the water disappears, Melody sinks nearly a meter into the bottom making it necessary to adjust the lines.

The inlet to Saint-martin de Ré

Melody at Saint-martin de Ré

The city is truly beautiful. I walk the streets up and down and in the evening I find this small restaurant named Tout du Cru specialized on oysters. I get the most magical sampler platter where the first oysters are good and it continued to be better and better. I leave the restaurant in a very euphoric mode and walk this nice city before returning to Melody.

The lighthouse

Sampling Oysters

Saint-martin de Ré at night

Saint-martin de Ré at night

Saint-martin de Ré at night

I take a quick walk through the town before I return to Les Sables. It is a beautiful day so I decide to take a swim, put my trunks in a bag and walk to the beach. At the end of the pier, there is a memorial display for the liberation of the city in WW2. People are dressed up in different allied uniforms and a lot of classical cars are around.

WW2 camp

After the exhibition, I continue on to the beach. The beach is crowded and I leave the bag with some guys that I decide I can trust and jump into the warm water, It is a nice hot day and I take my time in the water before I go up to a bar and just sit down and relax. I spend another evening in the Fleurs du Thym Seafood restaurant before returning to Melody.

The crowded Grande Plage des Les Sables d’Olonne

A beer on the beach 🙂

I liked the city of Nantes but as we went there last time, we had not the possibility to explore the city so now I go for an overnight stay. I book a hotel and go to the train station. The next departure was a bus and I arrive in Nantes at lunch time.

Witing for the bus to Nantes

I decide to check into the hotel to get rid of the bag and then go to the castle to get deeper into its history. There were no tours available but I get a good audio guide and learn more of this historic city that used to be the capitol of Britanny. The castle museum is oriented around the citys history as well as the castle since their history is intertwined.

Back at the Nantes castle

Model of Medevial Nantes

It is nice to walk the streets. Beautiful views and I just walk around in the city and soak up the Friday afternoon atmosphere. Bands are playing in the street and it is really a bright and nice day. Brings me into a good mood!

The Passage Pommeraye

Nantes

Mobile drummer duo

Band playing in the street

As I walk along, I visit the rooftop bar of the Brittany Tower . From the top you have a nice view over the city and I can follow the path that I have been walking. When I come to a new town, I usually go to these towers as it gives you a birds eye and makes city walking so much easier afterwards

The Brittany tower

View from Brittany Tower, Cathedral in center and castle on the right

View from Brittany Tower

I end the evening at the “Quimper Creperie” which turns out to be a good choice. Their salmon, spinache and Gruyere galette turns out to be the best crepe I had.

A nice galette

Outside the castle on my way home

Today, I will do the planning for the winter. I have four companies that should be coordinated and I turn on my project management mode. First, I take a meeting with the company where that should take care of Melody over the winter. We have a long chat I feel confident that he and the harbour take care of this procedure. After that, I take a discussion with the Volvo Penta dealer in the Town and ask if they can do some maintenance on the diesel engines. We agree that I do the easy stuff as oil change, impeller etc on my own, but it is good that a skilled mechanic can go through the engines as well. This summer they have been running several hours and it is great to be able to rely on them at 100%.

Swedish motor technology on display

I also get in contact with Lagoon and agree a meeting with them next week. It is nice to see the new Lagoons lined up for delivery. I take a look at the new Lagoons that are sitting on the delivery pontoon and remember when we picked up Melody back in 2007.

New Lagoons waiting for their owners

A brand new Lagoons 380 – the same model as Melody

Les Sables d’Olonne is the start and finish city for the tough Vendee Globe race where single skippers sail around the world with no assistance, no engine and without coming ashore. One of the small boats is sitting in the harbour and you can imagine the challenge that this race must pose to the sailors doing this trip alone.

This boat has been sailed single-hand non-stop around the globe.

As I have nothing more to do – I decide to relax, walk around in the town and prepare a trip to Nantes the day after. It is very hot and I am sitting in the entrance to the marina with means that I have a motorway of boats and water scooters going back and forth. Getting a break can be good!

Autostrada

Les Sables d’Olonne

The beach in Les Sables d’Olonne

The harbour entrance

As I wake up, the fog is very dense. It was hot yesterday and now the wind is completely calm. Today is a sad day – the crew will leave. We have had a limited time together but a lot of fun. We have a nice breakfast and decide to repeat the tour next year. This has been a very good crew and I would be happy to repeat this journey at another place and time. We will see.

Fog in the morning

Fog has cleared. Here the harbour entrance

As they leave for the train station, I clean up and get back to being the only one on the boat. The heat is unbearable and it feels like I am in the New York traffic with the water scooters and boats that go back and forth just outside me. I decide to go into town and rewards myself with a nice meal. There is obviously too much to choose from but I pick a typical “tourist trap” on the beach. The prices are decent and the food was surprisingly good. And the views looking out on the bay is breathtaking. I linger for a while before going back to the boat.

The beach looking east

The beach looking west

Seafood on the beach

Walk through empty streets

Today is the last part of the trip. We will make a short sail and arrive to Les Sables d’Olonne in the afternoon. The weather is perfect and we get a nice sailing day down to the final destination.

Nice day ahead!

Meeting another boat in the sun

Entering Les Sables d’Olonne brings back nice memories of when we sailed Melody up to Sweden. Coming into the harbour entrance it feels as we left yesterday. It is a city very much centered around it’s beach and yachting. Here is the start and finish for the Vendee Globe – the one-man around the world race.

Coming closer to Les Sables d’Olonne

Entrance to Les Sables d’Olonne

At last, back at the marina guest bridge

The smallest boat that have completed the Vendee Globe route

In 2007, we saw Melody for the first time. She was sitting on the front of the delivery pontoon. Seing the new Lagoons bring the memories back and it feels good to take a look at the new ones.

The Lagoon delivery pontoon. In May 2007, this is where we picked up Melody!

A brand new 2016 Lagoon 380 to be delivered

We go into the port office and get a berth and walk up to town. The marina is on the other end of the channel so we need to take the ferry to get into town. We take a look at the restaurants and decide to go for a mic of seafood and meat. Good choice, the food is nice and we have a good evening. Afterwards, we walk around old town, sipping in the energy and visit the beach.

The Port Olona Marina

The city marina

The beach

I wake up early to go and find a new bottle of gas. Usually this is no big thing as they normally carry them in the marina. But not here. But the weather is great and I think I should get some bread as I get the gas and take a walk down to the town. It ends up being a two-hour quest until I find a hidden gem selling “everything” in a corner of a hidden square. The nice woman in the store sells me the gas and some more stuff that I have been looking for. A long nice morning walk in the little city.

Waking up to a new beautiful day

The marina in the morning

Third place I find gas but not the same size as my bottles

Looking for gas

Back to the boat, we decide on going on with our plan to rent some bikes and bike around the island. Great weather, short distances and a lot to see. We find a store directly and get four bikes and go out of the city. Great to move the legs! Our first stop is the ancient castle at the south end of the island. It has been standing there since the hundred year’s war. Very nice place to stop by.

Leaving the town

Old castle

Sending a thought to the Boss Hoss crowd – now joining in Helsinki

Da crew

We move on to the small village of Port de la Meule that is now currently completely dry in the LW. The restaurant however serve us some nice food, beer and water. It is a hot day so we have to refill before we go on to the eastern point where a nice lighthouse is looking out over the sound to the mainland. After having a short stop, we bike back, return the bikes and go back to the boat.

The dried out harbour

Our restaurant in Port de la Meule

On our way over the island

The Corbeaux light house

View from the lighthouse

Nice road on our way back

Our next mission is to fix a problem I had with one of the toilets. We are four guys who like challenges and Tony my master-mechanic from the Boss Hoss is aboard so I am pretty sure that it will get solved. We anchor up way out and start working and after 2 hours, the problem is fixed. Great relieve and the crew is offered an extra portion of Navy rum (as back in the old sailing ship days).

The mechanics on duty

Micke want to get hoisted in the mast to take a picture and here he goes.

Micke had an idea on a perfect Selfie

And here he goes

We set course for Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie. It is actually two cities that is sitting on each side of a river. We come late and there is a short sense of stress to dry out before we find a spot outside a club yacht.

Coming into Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie. Note the diving tower in the middle of the sea

Searching for a place to stay

Found it! In the middle of the town

The nice small town of Saint-Gilles