Hinner vi segla till Les Sables-d’Olonne innan mörkret? – Novembersegling på Biscaya

Vi stannar en vecka i La Trinité-sur-Mer, gör några utflykter, fixar med båten och fyller på förråden. När det är dags att ge sig av mot Les Sables-d’Olonne lämnar vi hamnen i mörkret, med förhoppningen att undvika fiskeredskap och andra hinder längs vägen.
Vi möter gryningen ute på Biscaya, seglar genom hela dagen och ser skymningen falla igen. Till slut angör vi den mytomspunna Vendée Globe-hamnen i Les Sables-d’Olonne.

#SailingAdventure #Biscaya #VendeeGlobe #France #SailingLife

Hi! Welcome aboard Sailing Vessel Heart of Gold. We left Öckerö in August and sailed through the Kiel Canal toward the Netherlands, then through the North Sea Canal and out into the English Channel, which we’ve now left behind. We’re continuing deeper into the Bay of Biscay. It’s been an amazing journey that’s left a big impression on us. In the last episode we left Benodet and sailed via Concarneau to Trinité‑sur‑Mer. In this episode we stay a week in La Trinité‑sur‑Mer. Lots of boat chores and little excursions before we head to one of the most iconic and legendary sailing harbors, Les Sables‑d’Olonne. Please subscribe and leave a like if you enjoy the episode. And hey—feel free to hype us up too! Beautiful morning today. Not much wind yet, but it’ll probably pick up. Cozy with some bagpipes on a Sunday morning. We hurried over to see what was going on. Turned out to be visiting Irish musicians. Bagpipe music is pretty awesome live. Out for a walk in La Trinité‑sur‑Mer, wandering small streets in the village. Really cool. An evening stroll along the pier. Plenty of boats to look at, including this 37‑meter trimaran. Top speed around ninety kilometers an hour. It’s been a while since we had boat work going. Turns out water has been leaking into the boat here. It’s coming from this deck fitting, because it wasn’t installed properly. And it wasn’t sealed either. Not ideal. Nope. Yep. There it comes. —Oh wow. —Yeah, see? That’s what happens when things aren’t done properly. Not sealed at all. Really sloppy work. We’ll remove this and add some butyl sealant. Should fix it. First we’re making a backing plate out of an IKEA cutting board. IKEA cutting boards always come in handy. Bring a few spares. The backing plate goes under the deck so we can tighten the fitting properly and get a good seal. —I cleaned up here this morning. —And now it’s boat‑fix time. —Yep. —So what happens then? —Then you clean again. —Yep. Which way do you think the “water” text should face? Probably toward the dock, I guess. —Like this? —Yeah. There we go. It says “water,” after all. Now we’ve got plenty of butyl squeezing out, so it should seal well. Looking good. And we’ll tighten these so they sit nice and straight— all aligned. There. Done. I think that’s it. We’ll test it tomorrow to make sure it’s watertight. Some dark clouds are rolling in. Not really in the mood for that. We’re going on an outing tomorrow. The next morning it was time for a little day trip. —Coffee break time. Taking a little pause. —So good. Where are we again? We’re not exactly sure. We probably need to work on our land navigation skills. Where are we heading? —Quiberon. —Quiberon, right. Now we’re in Quiberon. We sailed out here a few days ago. Rounded this point at Quiberon and then continued into La Trinité-sur-Mer. And now—casino time. Pia is pumped. Unfortunately, we didn’t bring our passports. The light was amazing though. So no casino today. Out there is Belle-Île—kind of a holiday island. Quiberon really feels like a vacation town with casinos and restaurants everywhere. Here comes Jonas, happy as ever. He’s been in the fishing shop. It actually looks pretty expensive. Well, we’ve rigged it all up now. —Looks pricey. —It was pricey. Let’s see… here. A reel. A bunch of… wobblers, and some squid lures, and a line, and some swivels. —So, are you going to catch fish now? —Yeah, huge tuna, definitely. —We hope so. —Yeah, I hope so too. Fish is damn expensive. Really expensive. —Cheaper to buy it in the store. —Yeah, true. Yep. Then we hurried to catch the bus back. Not many buses run each day. Rainy day in La Trinité-sur-Mer. Heading over to the boat and fishing gear shop to see if we can find a few things for the gear I bought yesterday. Need some backing and such. So we’ll tinker with that today. Bye, darling. Hi! —Bye! —Ride carefully. —Yeah. —I’m going to shop a bit. I’m heading to a friend. To Plouharnel? —See you later. —At Super U. First break in Auray on the way to Vannes. Little pause. It’s getting warm. We are on our way to Vannes to pick up a Starlink. I had it delivered there. It’s a good price now. Nice deal. But it’s getting really hot out here. Now we’re out in the French countryside. Never been here before. Brand new territory. Four kilometers left. Time is 11:25. We left at 10:00. So Google Maps was spot on with the timing. Really good. Just need to lock the bike and pick up the package. On the way back I made a detour through Auray, biking through the older parts of town. Lots of history. Down toward the old harbor. Hello? Hey, the fishing shop doesn’t open until 2:15. Of course. —Oh well. —So I’ll wait and grab something to eat. —Mm. I don’t know how old the town is, but its roots go far back. Benjamin Franklin was here in 1776 seeking French support. Had some crepes for lunch at a nice place, then continued hunting for fishing gear. Got what I needed, and then it was full speed back home. Now heading back toward the sea again, and then across the bridge over the River Crach toward Trinité-sur-Mer. Into the marina to return the rental e‑bike. Really nice having an e‑bike for a 60 km trip. Bike returned, and now we’ve got a Starlink, some backing for the reel, and a few new lures, as usual. Back to the boat to see what Pia’s been up to today. The wind has shifted, blowing straight at us now. We’ll see what that does to the waves coming in, but it doesn’t look too bad. It’s been breezy for a while now. There she is. Tinkering around, seeing if she’s done her chores today. —Hi! —Hi! —Did you know I was coming? —What? —I said, “Did you know I was coming?” —I saw you seeing that I… didn’t see you coming. —Right, right. But the waves didn’t pick up that much, did they? I thought the swell would build, but… this isn’t too bad. Nope. I was going to film a bit— —but then Ronja called. —So I had to wait. —She’s our biggest fan. —Yeah, pretty much. —She’s recruited like thirty new followers. She did that? Damn. So—some squid lures… —Naturally. —Of course. Different kinds. Backing line. Braided line. And the Starlink. Almost like an unboxing. Might need an adapter at some point, we’ll see. A mounting bracket. Pretty solid piece. And the cable— —of course. —Could’ve guessed that. We’ll need some kind of adapter. We don’t have an inverter on the boat, so we can’t run 230V while sailing. We’ll have to sort that out somehow. There are 12‑volt adapters you can buy. I thought it used USB, but it doesn’t. So for now, it’s 230V. Anyway—that’s what I bought. —Oh wow. —Oh wow. Cool. We’ll fire it up tonight. I was thinking of mounting it on top of the radar. —Up there? —Yeah, we should try it. We’ll need to build a mount for it.
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Mm‑hmm. —The e‑bike was great though, right? Did you test it? —Yeah, she wasn’t sure the battery would last. So we rode in economy mode going there— used maybe 15–20% —then switched to boost. Still didn’t run out of battery. Time to rig the rod with backing and line. Total length: about 550 meters. Should be enough for a decent tuna. All set. Now we just wait for the next passage and hopefully get to try everything out. —Ready to go! —Ready to go! This is going to be great. It’s been a bit bouncy this morning, but it’s finally settling down. Now it’s Friday evening here in La Trinité-sur-Mer. A bit of entertainment on the main street. It’s been rocking a bit today. I’ve been sitting and working in the boat, but it’s calming down now. We’ll head into town later. Right? —We’ll “do the street.” —Exactly. The fish shop is right next to the harbor,
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so you just walk over and get what you need. On Saturday we took the bus to Auray, wandered around town, down to the harbor, had a really nice day. Then we stopped by an oyster bar. Where are we now? —I ended up in a little oyster bar. —Yep. Oh, that doesn’t sound… Six oysters and a glass of Muscadet for ninety kronor. Pretty fantastic. —That one’s mine. —Want some bread? What a morning! Sunday morning—the last morning before we leave. You can tell spring tide is coming. Bigger difference now between high and low tide. Lower low water than before. It’s fun exploring French marinas. You get to see boats you normally never see. That’s for sure. Their whole mast sits on a small pivot, so it can tilt in any direction and rotate. Sunday evening. We’re leaving tomorrow, so time to prep the boat for departure. Plenty to do. We had a bit of an issue with the Bauhaus jerry cans a week ago. So these cheap cans are going out. We bought Scepter cans instead— the ones long-distance sailors swear by. So now we’re emptying the Biltema cans and replacing them with proper cans. We bought a few Scepter diesel cans already, and we’ll get more. We’re using a basic siphon pump. Just make sure the flow arrow points the right way, and then drop it into the diesel tank. We’ve used a bit lately, so some diesel has been burned. Now we just need to find the small hose— there it is. All good. There we go. Water topped up, diesel topped up, and all the Biltema cans are gone. Only Scepter from now on. —Only Scepter cans. —Yep. And the bikes are packed away. The pancakes are done. —Pancakes are done. —It’s cleaned up. Now I’m working on the sandwiches. Ready to go. Just finishing up some work. It’s our final evening in La Trinité-sur-Mer. It’s been really lovely here. Full moon coming up in a few days, so low tides are lower, and high tides are higher—more current as well. We’re planning to leave around four or five tomorrow morning to catch the right current. Not too much wind, and especially not wind against us. Everything is prepped, and the plan is to head toward Les Sables-d’Olonne. Hopefully we’ll make it. Fingers crossed. Thank you. Life jacket. And another life jacket. Now we’re on our way— overslept again. Not too bad this time, just an hour. It’s 5:30 in the morning now. We’re heading out toward Les Sables-d’Olonne. It’ll probably get warm today. I’m thinking we put a spring line out that way. Uh— —What? —Yeah, so I can… maneuver… Checking the cooling water and doing a quick test of the bow thruster—it’s tight in here. Wind from the side, so we’ve rigged a spring line from the stern to the dock on that side. That lets us lean against it. It’s pretty tight forward here toward the other boat, so that’s the plan. We’re keeping the engine engaged against the stern spring. That means we can remove the fenders and take in the lines before leaving the dock— and take it slow, maybe even get a bit of coffee in. There’s a line sitting on top of ours there, so we have to make sure it doesn’t snag. So it needs to go that way. —Uh, that’s better. —Mm. This spot is probably the best. Yeah, it’s loose—I checked. Just need to make sure it doesn’t tangle. So keep tension on it and pull it in. —Should I let go? —Yeah, yeah. That leaves the bow line and the stern spring. Pia releases the bow line, then we add more throttle and release the stern. And we’re off. Out into the dark we go. —That went well. —Yeah, nice and smooth. I think we should handle lines and fenders once there’s a bit more light. —You can’t see a damn thing here. —Nope, nothing at all. It’s always dark at departure. —You really can’t see anything. —Yeah, that’s how it goes. Alright, let’s head in here. —Yep. —What? You can start now—go ahead and clip the sheet back on. I can’t see a damn thing, you know. Should I go forward? Do you want the flashlight? Probably, yeah. That would help. —Not ideal conditions. —Don’t say that. —There’s a step there. —Okay. —Can’t see a thing. —Good, good. I hope there aren’t any fishing buoys out here. That’s the big problem in this area. —You can’t see forward, right? —What? —You can’t see ahead? —Nope, not really. Alright. We’ve got some speed now… there we go. Doing six knots now. Six and a half knots. Leaving La Trinité-sur-Mer. Hopefully no fishing buoys in our way. So far so good. One reef in the main. Goodbye, Trinité-sur-Mer. We managed to avoid all the buoys and could sail into the sunrise. It turned into an absolutely beautiful morning. We had a southwesterly wind, sailing with one reef in the main and a slightly reefed headsail. Wind was about eight to nine meters per second, gusting up to twelve. We had to dodge a few boats while crossing the shipping channel. We’re motoring for a bit now. Going around a cape here— Île de Noirmoutier. That’s where we’re rounding. There are some shallow banks around it, and we’ve had current pushing us toward shore. So either we tack through it— but then we’d arrive much later. So now we’re motoring for about twenty minutes to get around the corner. We’ve taken a reef out of the main, so hopefully we’ll pick up some speed again. And if we do, we’ll reach Les Sables-d’Olonne before dark. That’s what we’re hoping. Otherwise the trip has gone pretty smoothly. We’re rounding a wind farm now. I checked more closely — looks like you’re actually allowed to sail through them. We’ll probably do that next time. If we had done it today, we probably would’ve saved a couple of hours. Because we’ve had to tack back and forth here and only made about five to five and a half knots. The sails are shaking nicely now. We’ve got about one and a half nautical miles left. A couple more minutes and we’ll have passed the shallow area. Soon it’ll be one o’clock and then we can turn east. Biscay can be a bit confusing — feels strange to head east at first. Feels like we should be going west, but we’re along the northern coastline first, eastbound — and then later we head west again. My brain has a hard time making sense of that for some reason. Starting to turn a bit now. The last few hours have been slow sailing — barely any speed, stuck on a tack. Not very fun. So we’ll start by turning ten degrees. Should give us a little wind in the sails so they stop shaking. Now we slip the engine into neutral… and the sails are starting to fill. Turning off the engine. A bit of reverse to lock the propeller. There we go. Nice. That feels better. And now — we’re sailing again! And here comes the sun. Ouch! Instant world‑class sailing. A few dolphins and whales would be perfect now. Maybe even some orcas. —Nope. No thanks. Definitely not. She’s at least twice as tall. —Yeah, probably. We’re getting close now. Just need to check the current… still flowing north right here. Pushing us toward the coast. Which means we have to stay out a bit farther — and that means tacking. Not ideal. Maybe it’ll switch soon. But right now we’re still making about six and a half knots, which is good. Feeling pretty happy with that. Is this okay like this? —Heeling too much? —What? —Heeling too much? —It’s actually less now than it was earlier. Yeah. Nice to be out here today. Time for some pancakes. Perfect. We’re doing about six to six and a half knots even with one knot of current against us. Feels pretty good. The sun is moving down toward the horizon. Listening to an audiobook to pass the time. “A wonderful day, lots of sailing from sunrise to sunset, and it sounds like…” The sun is setting, and it’s clear we won’t arrive before dark. But we’re pressing on. —Do you see that red buoy? —Red buoy? —What? —It’s flashing. —Ohh, right… —It’s a light. I thought the lighthouse was on this side. But that makes sense. We can see the lighthouse at Les Sables-d’Olonne marking the harbor entrance. It feels pretty powerful. Nice to have a bit of help from the moon. Good to have it lighting us up. Makes a big difference. We’re entering the channel into Les Sables-d’Olonne. The tide is getting low. Looks really cozy. —How’s it going? —I’m steering. All good. Smooth. Night navigation. We’ve made it into the harbor and figured out where the guest berths are. Now we just need to tie up. There we go — all secured. —Went well. —Went well. It’s a bit tricky finding the right spots here. Not super well marked. We’ll see if these really are guest berths. It’ll sort itself out. Thanks for watching, and take care!