22nd July - Making plans at the Ile de Groix and on to Belle Isle.

Posted at 9:00 PM, Monday, July 27, 2009

Took a few photo’s when in Lorient but regret not getting one of the WW11 Submarine Pens close by the entry.  Impressive to see so long after it was built and obviously hardly marked by any bombing.

But here’s Layni in Lorient about to make her wish at her Birthday party.  We all crossed our fingers and hoped it was a wish for sunny weather.

Here’s a shot from where we were parked up in Avant Port at Lorient, admiring the dark blue night sky as we shared some late night vin and chocolates with Al and Debs close by the city centre.

We slid out of the Avant Port Tuesday fully togged with wet weather gear as the rain continued pour down, to motor across the eight miles to Iles de Groix.  Really for the change of scenery.  Sunboy went ahead as we stopped off to top up fuel - just in case we got the chance to make the big leap and head off across the Bay from there.

Here’s a couple of shots of us taken by Nikki from Sunboy as we arrived. 

Both boats circled, waiting for a large ferry to exit Port Tudy, before we could enter the harbour mouth.

Yes that’s me with my el cheapo Lymington Market rimmed specs.  You’ll note when the rains buckets down one often stands guard on the helm whilst one other takes shelter!

The harbour area open to big ferries is kind of restricted.  There is not room for even one yacht to circle inside whilst the ferry swings itself around as it has barely 10 metres clearance to the harbour wall off each end.  Tight.

Ile de Groix is a small holiday island, barely one mile from top to bottom and maybe five miles wide.  More bicycles and scooters put around than cars.  Port Tudy is very pretty and each harbour bar has a veranda so you can overlook the action.

This port two centuries back was a major tuna fishing centre, but it is now given over almost 100% to the tourist trade.  The small harbour is made up of three smaller parts. 

The main outer harbour crowded with perhaps 15 fore and aft mooring buoys and just enough added space for the big ferries to get in to discharge and pick up passengers and cars.  A second separate, but still tidal section, with finger pontoons mainly for locals but also some visitor space plus the ports fishing and the life boat as well as limited space for smaller foot passenger ferries.  Then a third section only accessible through lock gates an hour either side of high tide but that seemed fully occupied by locals.

We were given a special spot in the middle harbour rafted up together down on the Capitanaires floating dock right in front of the lifeboat.  It proved a bit of a rusty climb up and down iron ladders at low tide.

Despite the small size of the place and the continued lack of sun, what with ferries seeming to arrive and depart each 30 minutes and usually huge groups of families and pals either singing and flag waving people in or out, it all seems pretty lively  here.  Lots of visitors must like it to as their yachts are jammed in, bunched up and banging together on the moorings each time a ferry comes and goes.  Also surprisingly seeing multiple inexperienced yacht people charging around in what’s very limited space at far too high a speed, resulting in a few entertaining collisions and bumps.  We only stopped smiling when one narrowly missed ramming us as we sat tied up to the dock!  It is obviously a popular place and despite the wet weather one could see many people obviously still enjoying their seaside – including us!

Some sun came through but failed to stay around for long.  When it started raining again we four adults decided to hoof it off up one raaaaather long steep country lane to the local super-marche, rather than spending another arvo below on the boat.  What with Al and Debs hospitality and Al’s unrivalled culinary skills we all needed some exercise anyway!

Pausing at a dock side bar on our heavily laden return we all agreed that if (and it is still and IF) the weather does swing as predicted this coming weekend and give us something other than south westerly winds, then we’ll both head off to cross Biscay to perhaps Gijon or La Coruna.   Hopefully there we’ll both find some needed sunshine.

And sod the rest of S. Brittany.

So on Thursday we sailed onward in company the 30 miles further south to the much larger but  magical island of ‘Belle Isle’.

Have to say it lives up to its reputation.

There are lots of sheltered anchorages but as we both wished to stock up if we were to cross the bay, we went into its main port on the eastern shore.

Le Palais has a quite large by Brittany island standards outer tidal harbour, not unlike Ile de Groix with moorings alongside its northern harbour wall.  But in this case lots more room as they oftenhad three ferries all manoeuvring at the same time.  But this basin and the town are dwarfed by a huge Vauban Citadel that was built to keep the English out.  Despite it’s impressive scale, it failed.

Then below the citadel lies a 25 metre wide channel that curves along the front of town, into a drying harbour appearing to be the town centre and full up around the edges with small local boats.  They all sit on the mud each 12 hours as the tide receeds.  You can see the inward channel below as captured from the moorings in the outer harbour.

Then but then if you time the tides right (which we did) you can slide through this town centre basin and proceed towards a ridiculously small gap between two stone walls, under a slowly raised footbridge and through some lock gates, to end up parked slap bang on the towns roadside.  The lock gates shut one hours after high tide, leaving you still afloat as the tide goes out.

I guess for Dutch and Belgium boats that might be used to parking in canals and town centres that this form of mooring is perfectly normal.  But for both of our crews it was unusual and actually very special.  Provided of course that that you’re happy to be studied close up by everyone who wanders along the roadside.  Had a lovely hesitant conversation (qui – en Francais) with an elderly local lady who was admiring Swagman’s rig.  She obviously knew her stuff. Fortunately for both of us lots of boat bit words are pretty international.

Here’s Sunboy rafted up further in than we were.  The bar directly opposite them did not stop pumping music until 3 am.  And they still enjoyed the location!

The town in Le Palais moves on at a buzz.  Not big but sophisticated.  Small crowded streets dotted with cafes, art galleries and seemingly overstocked with car and scooter hire firms.  We were all pleased to experience more of that buzz but a request for a second night in the inner basin was a no go because two ‘ships’ were due tomorrow so not just us but many other yachts had to go elsewhere.

We now know the small inner basin is used as a transfer dock by some quite large sand dredgers operating some days just off the harbour mouth, and we later admired the skill of their respective skippers as we watched them drive in the next day.  Barely a tyres width each side as they squeezed through the lock gates. One of them in reverse!

Well before they arrived we’d got out as requested at 6 am and simply dashed to grab a couple of vacant moorings from the outer harbour vacant buoys.

Did I say I say simple? 

 Wrong word. 

 The placing of the mooring buoys just 30 foot apart - plus the antics of other sailors as they also then attempted to find a empty spot - made this a real exercise in boat handling and diplomacy.  Eventually sorted.  Eventually.

Thursday saw the sun arrive in it’s full glory.  Lovely jubbley we thought, but it was very hot,anf caught us at the wrong time.  It came out of hiding as we were pumping our way up a steep hill covering the 4 km to the out of town big store.  Almost turned into a sweat-ball lugging both stores and heavy damp clothing all the way back down. 

Guess it provided enough of a work out to last another week.  For me it justified the big ice cream on the harbour wall.  But why do the French plan their supermarket locations like this? Don’t they like fat visitors?

Todays later forecast (Friday) promises a return to the rain and S W’ly winds at 20 + knots, and tomorrow THEY SAY  we should see some settled warmer weather plus a swing in the wind that should give us a light but tight reach for Gijon some 290 miles away over the horizon.  The passage should take us less than 2 days and our plans are to hopefully leave early Saturday with an ETA in maybe in daylight Sunday evening.   Sunboy as an Australian registered ship has to go through Spanish entry formalities whilst we enjoy one advantage of EU participation, so we’ll aim to head out early hours so as to make Gijon with time to spare.

Currently all snugged up below with heater on and rain pattering down on the deck.  Cannot access internet in the outer harbour so this will not be posted until we get to Spain. 

Lots of love and kisses and with our fingers crossed for a safe passage.

Sue and John

18th – 21st July – The Lorient

Posted at 9:46 AM, Tuesday, July 21, 2009

After a team discussion with Sunboy we decided to move onward into Lorient, some 40 miles further south east on the French mainland coast.

Lorient is a large fishing port and today boasts six marinas, as well as some stunning anchorages up rivers and inlets.

The weather has remained as was.  Crap.    The upside being here is that it was Lanie’s birthday yesterday, and we had a wonderful dinner with the family onboard their boat.

Duck pancakes, loads and loads of them, followed by sticky date cake. All cooked lovingly by Al.

John was very surprised that the little oven on boat could produce such a feast, as I have always told him the oven is unfortunatley not up to cooking, and that is why we live on pasta and a jar!! Or he has to take us out to dinner! I saw his look sideways at me when Al passed over the recipes.

Getting a bit stir crazy  now. 

Have decided I could not be a world cruiser sitting in an anchorage waiting for the right weather for days on end.   Hoping to move on this afternoon to the Isle de Groix, where hopefully we can do some walking, before moving further south waiting for our weather window to cross the bay. 

We hope the crossing could be this coming weekend, and we want to be round the corner of Finistaire by Tuesday when the weather (if predictions are correct) will turn again and be on our nose.   Brittany and particularly South Brittany are beautiful and the people so very friendly but it is time to move on. 

Have really enjoyed cruising this area, but now have itchy feet .  We are behind schedule and need to make up some time if we want to enjoy the sunny south. 

Sue

14th – 18th July – Holed Up in Concarneau (and lovin it)

Posted at 12:16 PM, Saturday, July 18, 2009

We left Cameret mid morning Tuesday heading south west to round the Raz (pronounced Raaaaz) de Sein and formally enter Southern Brittany.  Above this point it is still seen locally as North.  The Raz has a marginally worse reputation than the Chanel de Four as an important tidal ‘gate’, but the winds that Tuesday had eased to 15 knots, so we banked that the advantages of going with a south flowing tide would outweigh any bumpy seas we might see as a result of the opposing lightly blowing wind.

We thought we’d avoided any issues as we first cleared the cape, having motored the whole way directly into a south westerly wind to the Raz.  We'd just passed it’s formidable lighthouses on the headland and come inside the offlying smaller lights and reefs, hoisted sails - and hit the rough stuff. 

It was like sailing across the top of a washing machine and could have been scary except for the fact we enjoyed getting whooshed along at 10 knots or more by the combo of wind and tidal current.

The bumpy stuff only lasted for thirty minutes or so and then it all flattened out, and we spent a relaxing afternoon slipping the 25 miles across the wide Bay of Audierne in glorious sun making around 7 - 8 knots over the ground.  We sailed along an obviously well favoured track frequented by other yachts sowe had to constantly avoid those approaching, and trim hard to overtake those going our way.  Good sail.

Even enjoyed the company of Porpoises who came to welcome us into Southern Brittany.  Sue went forward to say thank you and have a needed chit chat.

Took a few hours to cross this bay and arrive at the even more impressive D’Eckmuhl lighthouse on Point de Penmarche, where we then turned east on this rounding mark and onward towards the river Odet and Benodet.  You can get a flavour of the extensive rocky reefs running out and how the seas build on them from this picture of that rounding mark.

For sure they certainly build substantial cardinal marks on the important corners around here so you'd need to be a real numpty to hit one.

Here is  a shot of the river entrance to the Odet (actually this was taken as we left next day) - but you can see the suspension bridge in the background and the crowd of boats parked up between the two river banks.

The river separates the pretty village of St Clare on the west bank.............

And the more sophisticated resort town of Benodet on the eastern shore..............

There are marinas on both sides but a majority of sailors obviously choose to do what we did, and pick up a river mooring instead.  Slightly cheaper.    Even free if the young guys taking the dosh don;t bother to visit.

To get a mooring with space enough for us meant going under the 30 metre high suspension bridge.  Damn but it looks lower the closer you get.  And with a rig somewhere close to 25 metres I had to ignore Sues cries that we were going to hit it - close our eyes - and motor under.

Once we'd settled into the peaceful location we dropped the dinghy in to burble back to the Benodet side and choose one of the seafood places for a superb meal.  Lots of people wandered the streets in the long twilight enjoyed this time of year.

Once we got back on board it was almost dark and we blasted the empty river around us with classical music as we contemplated life and the night sky with a final bottle of red ned.

Next day we sailed back out and further east for 15 miles to Concarneau, yet another charming S Brittany fishing port - but this time with a castellated old town and a small marina with space right alongside. 

As we slid into the harbour mouth our phone went off and it was only as we rounded into the marina itself did we see the Sparkes family and their yacht Sunboy already moored up alongside.  They'd been there for some 10 days already.  After Al took our lines and we’d had a team cuddle he explained he was just about to call and ask where we were when he saw us come round the corner.  Spooky eh?

Anyway.  Weather since has been middling to crap.  Higher than averaged winds have seen loads of boats racing for shelter so it was good we came in here when we did.  If you have to seek enjoyment ashore, Concarneau is as good as it gets.

As the winds were piping up to a max of 34 knots the marina staff just kept jamming new arrivals in, and we ended up with a log jam of boats all seeming to huddle together for shelter.  Quite a lot of shouting as well as banging and barging as each new one arrived, but lots of smiles shared also.

With these gusty strong winds our fenders are fully deployed (and resembling pancakes - almost flat) holding our paintwork off the jetty.

One of the yachts that rafted on us was a Hanse 43 ‘Harry’, sailed down from the Solent by Sue and Peter.  So that first night we had a bit of a Hanse convention with drinkies on Swagman for those guys, joined by Al, Debs, Nikki, boyfriend Luke, and young Layni Sparkes also.

Great bunch of people.  A super nice night.

Spend yesterday still harbour bound by bad winds but with sunnier weather, so used the time to do a few boat chores whilst Sue hit the local weekly market. Lots of chatter with Al catching up on where they'd been as he and Nikki helped polish up Swagman to something resembling her former glory.  She does look so goooood today.

This morning the weather looked promising early on as Al and I went exploring for a TV bar, and lots of boats had fixed schedules so we helped them entangle themselves to get away.  But now its early arvo, grey clouds have come back over and it is pouring with rain.  Hence my time doing this lengthy update.

Al and I need the TV bar for later as the Wallabies are playing the All Blacks today.  We heard of one this morning that will definately be showing a replay of the game (and I’ve got eyes and ears blocked so as to NOT learn the score before we watch it) at 3 pm this arvo. 

With the rain pouring down simply cannot think of a nicer way to spend a Saturday with a pal sharing a few beers.   

C’mon Ozzie, c’mon.

Cheers

Sue and John

14th July 2009 – Exploring Cameret-sur-Mer

Posted at 3:29 PM, Tuesday, July 14, 2009

The wind did not stop blowing all day but the clouds frequently parted, enticing us late morning to don the walking boots and head for the hills.

Took a long lazy walk around the heather clad headland allowing us to look back on the town and then later walk its beaches.  Just lovely stuff.  Took lots of pictures.

Here is part of the harbour area showing the two inner marina basins for the locals, and the outer marina and buoy area for larger visitors like us. 

We watched a couple of boats venture out whilst we were on our walk, perhaps thinking the forecast was wrong.  As each got round the corner they soon realised it wasn’t.  Did not take long for most to think again and head back in.  Guess they like us will either snug down aboard or go enjoy looking round the town.

Not sure you could make out the old Church on the end of the harbour wall in that long range shot - with most of its windows bricked up - tucked behind the castle?  This was built way back so those pilgrims travelling from Britain or Ireland and landing at Cameret before then walking overland to Campostella in Spain had a suitable place to collapse - and give thanks for at least getting this far.  Must have been hard.

The church is a favourite of sailors and we both chose and lit a candle for special friends - hoping each gets what they want.

The old harbour landing area is adorned by old deserted fishing boats.  Felt like paparazzi joining the other tourists snapping away - but who could refuse?

The walk around the cliff tops soon showed us why so many bomb craters pockmark the headland. Amid it all remain the concrete foundations of some extensive German  defensive emplacements, mostly overgrown but still impressive pieces of engineering.  I can recall climbing the Brit equivalent as a kid when growing up on the coast, but either the Brits were worse builders or perhaps simply cared less about them invading us than they worried about us invading them!

Anyway the multiple bomb craters perhaps testify just how bad our allied bomb aimers were in those days!  I amsure the locals went round after every raid and simply picked up the stunned rabbits for meat!

 Here’s Sue sitting on the edge of one bomb crater overlooking the manned lighthouse on the headland. You can see the rocky ground has not helped any green stuff to grow back in the craters.

And here's a more artistic shot of Sue paddling as the open Atlantic crashes in around her.  Bloody cold water.

Got caught out in one shower but the sun broke back through to reveal this French Barquentine sailing in towards Cameret, sounding some trumpets as a hello, wearing ship and heading back out.  She would have taught an English smuggler or two a lesson in her day, with ports for at least 8 guns per side.

Here’s a last parting shot of Cameret seafront.  At circa 9 pm tonight one of these restaurants will be serving us seafood and chilled Chablis.  Vive la vacation.

Cheers for now

Sue and John xx

13th July – Aber Wrac’t to Cameret via the Chanel de Four

Posted at 9:14 AM, Tuesday, July 14, 2009

We’d both spent time studying both pilot books and Reeds Almanac to make sure we got this right, as the Chanel de Four is one of the last two tidal ‘gates’ we need to get through on our journey south.

It is the shortest route between the English Channel and the Biscay ports, and avoids the larger seas and heavy ship traffic outside the off lying Ouessant Isles.  The channel is wide enough to tack through and deep enough – and with a trusty chart plotter it is not difficult to see where one is at all times.  But strong tides and exposure to the Atlantic swells often result in steep seas that can get positively dangerous when the tide runs against the wind.

The guides advised us to ensure we got to the narrowest part off St Mathieu right at the bottom, just at slack tide to avoid the worst of any overfalls. 

We left Aber Wrach’t under full sail (it was a lovely sunny day) in a building south / south westerly breeze.  Not really the wind direction we wanted as we were heading that way, but with a goal of getting to St Mathieu at 2.15 pm and itchy pants making us leave at 9.30, we assumed we’d be able to slow down any time we liked.  Got that wrong.

We unfortunately found ourselves in company with a number of other yachts going the same way.  And you know what it’s like when you get a few boats in the same water space?  Yup - it turned into an impromptu race.  Meaning we led this disparate fleet into the top of the channel, lee rail buried under water as we creamed along into a 20 knot wind making at times 9 knots over the ground.

Have to say if felt for me like the beginning of the holiday.  First time we’d really had Swagman blowing away the cobwebs and carrying us to warmer climes.

But as we closed the final big lighthouse (and in this region they do big REALLY BIG lighthouses) off St Mathieu, the winds were almost true south, and strong enough to make us tuck in a single reef on our mainsail. 

Swagman still charged along being assisted by the southerly flowing tide when we saw this maelstrom of white bumpy water stretched out before us from the lighthouse towards the open seas, like a white surfers wall.  We yahooed and held on tight as Swagman shouldered into this stuff like a rugby prop forward doing 10 miles per hour – sending huge bursts of spray off her bow as we blasted and bounced our way for the next ten minutes or so and came out the other side into what was relative calm.

Could then have changed my underwear:-)

The wind was still up over 20 knots and we knew the seaside town of Cameret on the southern shore of the bay is tucked in under high cliffs and therefore sheltered from the SW’ly wind, it proved too attractive a place to ignore.  So we eased our sails, switched direction to due east, and surfed along on a broad reach for another hour before finally fetching up before this pretty little town and it's harbour / marina complex.

The days weather had kept lots of boats at home so the marina itself was full, so we grabbed a visitors mooring buoy off the harbour mouth and settled there for the night.

Did a short run ashore and found some lovely artwork for the new home, ate on board, and were treated to Bastille Day celebration fireworks right alongside us just before midnight.

Today sadly the weather is not good.  Wind stronger at 25 knots - still from the SW (the direction we want to go) but with rain showers and grey sky.  Plus I’m also having a tricky of a job getting Sue out of bed (she just now demanded another mug of tea).  So all in all it’s shaping up that we’ll not make our next tidal gateway of the Raz de Sein today, so let's stop here one more night and look to move onward when the weather eases.  

Here's wishing you all a happy Bastille Day.

Vive la revolution - no worries.

JOHN and SUE xx