La Hirondelle 60

The cutter hangs, jibs aback, mainsail adroop on a smooth sea. Which blends into a cloudless sky.

The blades of the wind turbines are still, beyond the anchored shipping, waiting in St Nazaire roads.

A gaffer motors by. Out of L'Herbaudiere. Stern squatting, as the propeller churns the water away, from beneath the transom.

Passing Stargazer in the narrows, off the tip of the Ile de Noirmoutier. Where we are making use of the gentle conditions, to try out a shortcut, inside Les Boeufs reef.

Stargazer's speed has slowed to two knots. Derived from a favourable tide. There is nothing for it, but to motor in.

Past the twin towers, which guard the northernmost outpost of the Vendee.

Into Breton waters. The beaches instantly golden, rather than silver. The craggy granite shores now topped with broadleaf woodland.

To arrive in Pornic. Where slate roofed, stone walled, Breton cottages mingle amicably with pantile topped, whitewashed villas, of Vendean influence.