June 1st - 15th, 2012 (France)
Progress so far (Click picture to zoom)
1st-7th
Our first morning in France dawned bright, warm and breezy. We headed off to look for a supermarket and ended up walking up to the next village through lovely countryside and great views. Unfortunately, we had forgotten the French custom of long lunch hours and arrived to find the supermarket closed. We retraced our steps and managed to buy a couple of baguettes from one of the cafes and walked back to the boat for a quick lunch before leaving on the outgoing tide. With a following wind, we motor sailed down through the tidal gate of Chanel du Four, reaching 11.8 knots at one point, before anchoring in a little bay for the night.
During lunch the following day the wind pick up and changed direction, so we were on a lee shore. It also started raining, the first day time rain we'd had since leaving Ardrossan, so we motored across to the marina in Camaret sur Mer, where all the visiting boats use the breakwater. Unfortunately, we were on the outside of the breakwater with a smaller French boat tied up alongside us. The wind was blowing us off, but it was very uncomfortable with the lines snatching and groaning all night. During our evening meal Mike had gone up to the cockpit to turn off the gas, when a man came running up and asked if he could help retrieve his dinghy which had parted company from its shackle and was drifting out to sea. They launched our dinghy, attached the outboard and headed out after it. Luckily, a local fishing boat had caught sight of the stray dinghy and managed to get hold of it until the intrepid pair arrived to bring it back. Naturally the outboard, which has always been very reliable, decided to play up and cut out, taking quite a while to get started again. All ended well and Mike arrived back some time later to finish his meal. The next morning we received two vanilla slices in payment for the help, which were gratefully accepted.
We left Camaret later that afternoon and sailed under the genoa alone into the Rade de Brest which is like an inland sea with flat water. We anchored in a small bay and had a much more peaceful night, before motoring up to the Moulin Blanc Marina in Brest. The wind was forecast to be strong S-SW force 7-10 for the remainder of the week so we decided that this was the best place for us to be. We had hoped that after all the gales we'd had last year, it would be a while before we had any more but this has not proved to the case. Again we were moored to the breakwater, but at least this time we were inside the marina, although at times it was uncomfortable.
Although it’s been very wet, it’s quite warm and the rain hasn't kept us in. We went for a long walk around the botanic gardens, which are in a deep valley and completely sheltered from the wind. It was great to be able to hear the trees rustling and birds singing instead of the constant wind whistling and shrieking through the rigging. Luckily the rain held off until we were nearly back at the marina and we popped into a cafe for a cappuccino to wait for it to go off before returning to the boat.
8th-15th
Most of the rest of our stay in Brest was spent catching up on odd jobs around the boat, which seem to be never ending. The only other thing of interest was a visit to Oceanopolis, an aquarium a couple of minutes’ walk from the marina. We spent an entire afternoon there until we were thrown out at closing time. There are three separate pavilions - polar, tropical and temperate, all housing fascinating displays of marine life. The penguins were amazing to watch underwater as were the sharks and other big fish. Apparently there is an even better aquarium in La Rochelle, so we may visit that one as well when we get that far south. A very enjoyable evening was spent with Peter & Dianne Davies on Aeolus II, a Sunbeam 39, whom we had met on the day we arrived in Brest.
On 11th we left Brest and headed back out of the Rade de Brest to Camaret sur Mer. Just as we cast off the lines, the heavens opened and the visibility closed in considerably. There was no wind so we motored for a couple of hours and luckily by the time we arrived in Camaret the rain had gone off and the sun came out. This time the marina was fairly empty and we managed to get an alongside berth inside, much more comfortable than the breakwater of our previous stay.
The following morning was bright and breezy and we were one of about a dozen boats to leave early, heading south through the Raz de Sein, another strong tidal gate. The wind was NW force 3-4 and we had a really good sail down, although the swell height of 1.5 - 2 metres made it a bit uncomfortable at times. We spent the night in a small harbour which had installed pontoons last year. We’d seen an advert in the marina office in Brest and thought we’d see what it was like. We were directed to an eight metre pontoon which meant that nearly 5 metres was overhanging, so it was quite difficult to tie the boat up properly and we ended up with lines over to the adjoining pontoon to keep ourselves straight. Lesconil is a pretty little fishing village with plenty of bars and restaurants.
Pictures and video taken by Peter and Dianne Davies on Aeolus II
We had intended to sail down to Vannes and leave the boat there when we head back to Scotland next week to attend my godson's wedding, but because the forecast was once again for more strong winds, we decided that we may as well stay up in this area, so on 13th we sailed up to Loctudy to ask if we could reserve a berth. Unfortunately, marinas here won’t take reservations; if they have space you take it, so we have decided that we will stay here for two weeks until we return.
The weather for the last couple of days has been pretty miserable, with the boat dancing around on the mooring lines and we finally succumbed to raising the cockpit tent (our conservatory!). Last night the wind died down and the sun came out so it was lovely and warm sitting in the tent and we had our evening meal up there watching the boats bobbing around on their moorings in the bay.
