Practical Guide to La Rochelle
Click here for a link to some of our lessons from picking up in La Rochelle.
Apps
We have set up an iPad pro to use as our boat device and it sits at the nav station. We have one screen with all of the apps and links we use on a regular basis for sailing and navigating. Here are the main ones.
Volvo Penta Dealer Locator
This one came in pretty handy to find a service agent for our first engine service that is recommended at between 40-60 hours. Its basically to change the oil for the engine and transmission and check everything. Finding someone close to a marina in a town that is on your way to where you are going to be when you think you will have used the engines for that time can be a challenge. This app shows you your options and helps plan and make contact in advance. Probably best if you plan to stay in a marina and the staff will help you coordinate with the workshop.
Navily
This app shows both anchorages and marinas, you can use it to book some marinas and if you plug in the details of your yacht you might be able to get an idea of price. We did not use this function though as they charge a service fee. Also the quoted price may be quite different to what the marina will quote directly. People post reviews of both anchorages and marinas and its nice to add to those if you can as a lot of them are from French sailors, originally written in French and the translations are dodgy.
Nebo
A social network site where you can set up a profile, friend with both land and water based folk, track your journey, add photos, stats and share your location. Each day they email you with your daily log. It did crash on me 2.5 days into the Bay of Biscay trip, as well as crossing from Balearics to Sardinia, which was a shame, and you do have to remember to start it as you fire up the engines.
Marine Traffic
This is a handy one to see what boats are around you, or where your mates are, based on AIS. It shows the country of registration and details of each vessel. Its free to set up an account and just add your own boat to your fleet. Shipfinder is another similar app.
VictronConnect
Our battery monitor has a blue tooth function that will allow you to monitor your battery state from your iPhone or iPad. Very handy to look at first thing in the morning after being at anchor overnight.
VictronToolkit
Another Victron App which tells you what the sequence of LED flashing lights on your controller mean. That is helpful, however even once you know that you have a "temperature sensor error" you still don't know what to do about it or what it means...
Anchor
This app is an anchor alarm which can tell you if you are dragging or not. It takes a bit of getting used to but basically at the moment you drop your anchor you hit the "anchor" button to put a pin in the map exactly where it hits the bottom. Then you decide based on the amount of chain you put out, conditions, boats around you etc what circumference you are safely able to swing through. If you dip outside of this a (very loud!) alarm will go off (particularly if you went for the BOSE upgrade and you are connected to Fusion!). It uses the GPS on your phone so accuracy may vary and it does suck the battery. It can send an email to another phone in case you are not on the boat, but you would need to leave the primary phone (or iPad) on board.
Active Captain
This is Garmin's app and it is great for planning on the chart, you can also control the helm from it as well (and freak out the person watch...) Importantly though you can do your software updates using the app. Put a blank SD card into the card reader on the Garmin at the helm, connect the app to the internet to download the software updates, then connect the app to the helm station and download the updates. Works a treat so far!
Facebook Groups
Women who sail the Med
A women's only group where women can ask questions and share information in a safe and supportive environment.
Med Sailing
General group where people ask for recommendations and offer information about anchorages, scams, technical stuff, bureaucracy etc.
Aussies and Kiwis sailing the Med
Similar to the above but also making social connections with the like minded Antipodeans.
Fountaine Pajot Owners Forum
Some great sharing of tips, tricks, hacks and advice on how other owners have set up and managed their yachts. Watch out for comments from Cote Mar, the guru of all things FP from an owners perspective. We have used alot of his tips and advice.
Websites
Orange France for topping up the Orange Holiday SIM.
Noonsite which is an online cruisers forum. Create a login so you can add comments. This one is useful if you find yourself without a pilot for an area, or to supplement the pilot. It is sorted by country and region. It does not seem to cover anchorages, mainly marinas but has good info on formalities.
In Italy Pagine Azzurre is a handy reference for marinas. Its only in Italian but google translate can help here.
Blogs
We enjoy following Starry Horizons on their world tour in their Helia 44. Out Chasing Stars is a great source of information and great to share Amy and David's knowledge and travels.
Ana and John on SV The Dream, who we met in Tunisia, have been a great source of information particularly on formalities of checking in and checking out of various locations and countries. If you have a dog you must follow these guys.
Click here for a link to some of our lessons from picking up in La Rochelle.
Apps
We have set up an iPad pro to use as our boat device and it sits at the nav station. We have one screen with all of the apps and links we use on a regular basis for sailing and navigating. Here are the main ones.
Volvo Penta Dealer Locator
This one came in pretty handy to find a service agent for our first engine service that is recommended at between 40-60 hours. Its basically to change the oil for the engine and transmission and check everything. Finding someone close to a marina in a town that is on your way to where you are going to be when you think you will have used the engines for that time can be a challenge. This app shows you your options and helps plan and make contact in advance. Probably best if you plan to stay in a marina and the staff will help you coordinate with the workshop.
Navily
This app shows both anchorages and marinas, you can use it to book some marinas and if you plug in the details of your yacht you might be able to get an idea of price. We did not use this function though as they charge a service fee. Also the quoted price may be quite different to what the marina will quote directly. People post reviews of both anchorages and marinas and its nice to add to those if you can as a lot of them are from French sailors, originally written in French and the translations are dodgy.
Nebo
A social network site where you can set up a profile, friend with both land and water based folk, track your journey, add photos, stats and share your location. Each day they email you with your daily log. It did crash on me 2.5 days into the Bay of Biscay trip, as well as crossing from Balearics to Sardinia, which was a shame, and you do have to remember to start it as you fire up the engines.
Marine Traffic
This is a handy one to see what boats are around you, or where your mates are, based on AIS. It shows the country of registration and details of each vessel. Its free to set up an account and just add your own boat to your fleet. Shipfinder is another similar app.
VictronConnect
Our battery monitor has a blue tooth function that will allow you to monitor your battery state from your iPhone or iPad. Very handy to look at first thing in the morning after being at anchor overnight.
VictronToolkit
Another Victron App which tells you what the sequence of LED flashing lights on your controller mean. That is helpful, however even once you know that you have a "temperature sensor error" you still don't know what to do about it or what it means...
Anchor
This app is an anchor alarm which can tell you if you are dragging or not. It takes a bit of getting used to but basically at the moment you drop your anchor you hit the "anchor" button to put a pin in the map exactly where it hits the bottom. Then you decide based on the amount of chain you put out, conditions, boats around you etc what circumference you are safely able to swing through. If you dip outside of this a (very loud!) alarm will go off (particularly if you went for the BOSE upgrade and you are connected to Fusion!). It uses the GPS on your phone so accuracy may vary and it does suck the battery. It can send an email to another phone in case you are not on the boat, but you would need to leave the primary phone (or iPad) on board.
Active Captain
This is Garmin's app and it is great for planning on the chart, you can also control the helm from it as well (and freak out the person watch...) Importantly though you can do your software updates using the app. Put a blank SD card into the card reader on the Garmin at the helm, connect the app to the internet to download the software updates, then connect the app to the helm station and download the updates. Works a treat so far!
Facebook Groups
Women who sail the Med
A women's only group where women can ask questions and share information in a safe and supportive environment.
Med Sailing
General group where people ask for recommendations and offer information about anchorages, scams, technical stuff, bureaucracy etc.
Aussies and Kiwis sailing the Med
Similar to the above but also making social connections with the like minded Antipodeans.
Fountaine Pajot Owners Forum
Some great sharing of tips, tricks, hacks and advice on how other owners have set up and managed their yachts. Watch out for comments from Cote Mar, the guru of all things FP from an owners perspective. We have used alot of his tips and advice.
Websites
Orange France for topping up the Orange Holiday SIM.
Noonsite which is an online cruisers forum. Create a login so you can add comments. This one is useful if you find yourself without a pilot for an area, or to supplement the pilot. It is sorted by country and region. It does not seem to cover anchorages, mainly marinas but has good info on formalities.
In Italy Pagine Azzurre is a handy reference for marinas. Its only in Italian but google translate can help here.
Blogs
We enjoy following Starry Horizons on their world tour in their Helia 44. Out Chasing Stars is a great source of information and great to share Amy and David's knowledge and travels.
Ana and John on SV The Dream, who we met in Tunisia, have been a great source of information particularly on formalities of checking in and checking out of various locations and countries. If you have a dog you must follow these guys.
