Wind! Though for the first 4 miles it was at our worst angle - almost directly behind. If it had been for longer, we'd have stuck the parasailor up but we were feeling lazy and eating breakfast that Mandy had fetched just before we left. However, we knew things would change and as we rounded the end of the Les Bouefs reef, the wind came onto the beam and off we shot. The 3 boats that had overtaken us down to the turn (one was even motoring) were soon behind us as we flew along at nearly 9 knots.

We were soon approaching Port Joinville on Ile d'Yeu. The entrance here was much wider than L'Herbaudiere, but still felt like we should be cautious of ferries, other yachts etc. Didn't stop the fishing boat from overtaking us as another yacht came out! The marina was very tight inside, but we were lucky - the welcome pontoon was deserted! We took a spot on the very end, mindful of the fact we didn't want to get hemmed in. We went to see the HM and they were fine with where we'd berthed. They even gave us a little discount in case we had someone raft on us. Little did we realise the entertainment which was about to befall us.

As the afternoon progressed, a steady trickle of boats began to arrive. As the pontoons filled up, boats spilled out onto the welcome pontoon. An English boat turned up and was directed to raft on us - and we got talking to Peter and Lynn on Majik. By now, the entertainment was in full flow. Combine the French manoeuvring deficiencies, their insistence that 1 fender is sufficient and the HM's lads who couldn't judge sizes at all, we had a great evening. The fly in the ointment was the rather large number of boats all hung off our cleats. As the wind had piped up a bit, it was proving difficult to get off as our stern was being dragged out. The HM lads had put a couple of tiny boats right where we needed to run some shore lines to stabilise the raft. Never fear, Peter from Majik and a French skipper helped me dismantle some of the pontoon to get us a much needed cleat in the right place. The following morning, the fun continued as the rafts broke up and various boats departed. The Fountaine-Pajot cat had a problem getting the outside of our raft to move earlier enough for him but it was all in fairly good nature.

We went for an explore ashore wondering what we'd find when we came back, and sure enough there was something manoeuvring to join the raft. The QE2 as Lynn christened it. It wasn't quite that large, but there was no way we wanted 30tonnes+ of boat hung off us! The lads in the dinghies finally saw sense and helped them head around to the fishing dock. Phew! I don't mind boats rafting but some common sense has to be used. Sometime you're just too large to raft on someone else!

We had a cracking time with Peter and Lynn that evening. As fairly recent escapees from Wokingham we soon found friends in common. A very small world to be talking about Emmbrook, the Holt, St Paul's Gate and Lower Earley whilst on boats in the Vendée!

Both Majik and Duplicat were headed to Les Sables d'Olonne next. Again there was no wind forecast, so it looked like another motor...