During the stopover, the crew of the Saint-André fulfilled its religious obligations on Sundays, attending mass at the closest church. When they had little time or there was urgent work to be done, the men were split into two groups that went to mass one after the other. The mates usually went to high mass, but on February 10, almost all the men went to Saint Martin's Church on Ré Island. Built in the fifteenth century, the church was called the Great Fort because of the fortifications that protected it. It had been restored in the early eighteenth century after being bombarded by the Anglo-Dutch fleet in 1696. One of its chapels already had ex-votos offered by the seamen. But let us get back to our pilot's log.

Sunday, February 10, 1754

At 7 a.m., I went ashore in our shallop with eleven men to go to mass at Saint-Martin-de-Ré Church, and then I spent the rest of the day with the captain. I advised the whole crew to return to the ship around noon, or 2 o'clock at the latest. Around 4 o'clock, I asked two men to look for the rest of the crew because they had not returned as I had requested. They all returned in the shallop, except the carpenter and Jacques Philippe, an apprentice. ³⁵ That did not prevent us from going back to the ship. We returned to our ship when the inshore pilot from Ré Island arrived, introduced himself and boarded to take us upriver. We arrived at the ship between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m.

Monday, February 11, 1754

Around 6 a.m. we raised our anchors, and prepared to leave Fosse de Loix ³⁶ and sail up the Seudre. After casting off, we sent the shallop ashore to look for, and pick up, the carpenter and Jacques Philippe. They were there and boarded immediately. As soon as everyone was aboard the ship, we got underway, the winds being WNW.

During the day, the winds were west and WSW. We dropped anchor at the north beacon around 5 p.m. since the winds were too close for us to anchor in the current.

Tuesday, February 12, 1754

Around 6 a.m., we cast off from the north beacon in SW winds. We beat ³⁷ until Fosse des Landes, two cable lengths south of the fort of Chapus, ³⁸ where we anchored around 8 a.m. ³⁹ We spent the rest of the day and the night there because of a head wind; we could not sail because the afternoon tide rose too late. ⁴⁰

Wednesday, February 13, 1754

At 5 p.m., there were strong WNW winds. We took the precaution of casting our small anchor for the night.

Thursday, February 14, 1754

At 8 a.m., we raised our two anchors and prepared to leave Fosse des Landes and head for the Seudre. ⁴¹ There was a moderate NNW breeze. We arrived there around 9:30, secured the ship with our two anchors ⁴² and lowered the sails. At 2 p.m., the captain left in our shallop with five men to attend to business in La Tremblade. ⁴³ He returned at 6 p.m. with the men.