The next day, a pilot from La Rochelle took the ship to the roadstead of La Flotte to shelter it from the prevailing winds. When he went ashore at Ré Island, Le Roy encountered problems. The clerk at the admiralty of the port of La Flotte requested a declaration and a fee. He threatened to fine Le Roy and the other pilot. Le Roy refused to comply with the request. Upon his return, Captain Bellet decided to travel up the Seudre without a pilot by following another Norman ship whose captain knew the area well. But the weather was not in their favour. Surprised by strong easterly winds, the Saint-André ran into difficulty. Le Roy lowered the ship's small ensign to half-mast to request assistance in taking up the anchor. The port authorities at La Flotte did not respond to the distress call. They may have been too busy, or perhaps unhappy because of Le Roy's refusal the previous day. The pilot was on his own. In the afternoon, as a precaution, he anchored the ship at Fosse de Loix. ³³

Tuesday, February 5, 1754

Around 2 o'clock, after midnight, the winds began to blow from the SE, and the inshore pilot felt it was best to anchor in the roadstead of La Flotte ³⁴ because the winds would blow from the south and the west. When we arrived at the roadstead, we took the pilot ashore. Once there, the admiralty clerk told us that we could not take on a pilot to sail up the Seudre unless we made a declaration. I informed him that the captain had already made his declaration at La Rochelle, so he should let us pass with the pilot. The admiralty clerk said that the inshore pilot would have to pay a 50 livre fine if he boarded a ship whose captain had not made a declaration. So the captain decided to proceed upriver without a pilot, by following Captain Hulin from Honfleur, who knows the area well.

Wednesday, February 6, 1754

Around 9 a.m., our large cable broke due to a strong easterly wind. We cast our small anchor and clinched its small cable. We changed the broken cable, then we prepared our two topails, ready to sail in case our small cable broke. We placed our small ensign at half-mast to ask for a shallop from the port of La Flotte, since we could not raise the anchor with our own shallop in such a strong wind and rough seas. Since no shallop came from La Flotte and our small cable is worthless, we took precautions for fear that it would break and we'd run aground during the night. Around 2 p.m., we raised our small anchor and left the roadstead of La Flotte to anchor at Fosse de Loix.

Friday, February 8, 1754

Around noon, the captain went ashore with five men to save our large anchor and buy a new small cable or have one made. He remained ashore for the night and the five men returned with the shallop around 3 p.m.