As the boat resumed some form of assemblance, we pottered over to St Denis on île d’Oléron. The marine charts show the entrance as a tricky one and necessary to judge that the right amount of tide had come in to get over both the drying outer harbour and a sill. The penalty would be to run aground in front of a lot of onlookers. Whilst consulting numerous tidal books and scratching our heads trying to remember ‘heights of tides at secondary ports’ we were overtaken by a much larger boat (so by convention, had a longer keel) and so we just followed him, and promptly overtook as he ran aground!
A few days to recharge in this tiny pocket of Mediterranean-style village life and with the adventure back on track, we headed South for Rochefort which is some 2 hours along the River Charente. The entrance to the river is guarded by Fort Boyard, which is of similar construction to the forts outside of Portsmouth.
During the reign of Napoleon, Rochefort was the main shipbuilding centre for the French Fleet and Fort Boyard was built to protect the war factory. The fort became a bit of white elephant as due to the geography of the islands, there was only one way out to sea for the newly launched ships. As long as the Royal Navy patrolled just off the islands’ entrance, they were able to successfully blockade the city without even being able to see it. Furthermore, they were well beyond the reach of the Fort’s mighty cannons.
Rochefort therefore became a huge storage ground for French ships that could go nowhere other than to try and run the gauntlet of the British fleet, which rarely went well.
The approach to Rochefort starts on the southern side of the île d’Aix and some three hours away from the city marina. With a pleasant passage along the Charente, one keeps a watchful eye on the time against distance as the entrance to Rochefort is only open for 45 minutes each day around the high-water mark.
With an hour to go we glided past the only working transporter bridge in France with its precarious looking gondola. Opened in 1900, the bridge is designed to allow tall-masted ships access to Rochefort and one of only six such bridges still working in the world.
The marina is in the heart of this city and surrounded with buildings which was especially unfortunate as we’d arrived during a heatwave and not a breath of any breeze could penetrate between them to reach the oven that was our boat. That said, the city breathes French history and Napoleon’s fingerprints are to be seen everywhere.
To say the marina was tight is an understatement. For almost the entire week of our stay, I constantly questioned how on earth I was going to spin her round to leave, but that is for next time.
This now becomes our furthest point ever sailed South
5th September 2023
Trip Mileage 28 miles
Mileage Completed 2216 miles