St Evette to Benodet / river Odet

Jean-luc was as good as his word with the bread delivery albeit 30 mins late. So it was at the ungodly hour of 9 o'clock that we were able to drop the mooring buoy, raise the main and carefully head out to the west Cardinal marking the edge of the rocky shoal known as La Gamelle. We then turned south for a long passage past a coastline strangely reminiscent of Lancashire, albeit with sunshine! There was the long featureless beach of Ainsdale, and there in the distance Blackpool tower..........of course it was a trick of the eye. But flat and featureless the Bay of Audierne certainly is.

The wind began light but soon settled to a lovely force 3.

The sea was as flat as a stamp or more correctly " slight" as Lynne has recently taken to referring to it. She's been swotting up on weather terminology, yet more words for stuff!

We were making a comfortable 6 knots down the large sandy Baie d'Audierne drinking coffee and watching a veritable armada of yachts heading up towards the " Raz". We guess the majority were Brits heading home to the south coast.

After three hours or so the wind fell fitful and died to a force 1 just as we were fighting the first of the flood tide around the Pointe of Penmarche.

The sea became " smooth " and for the first time in Brittany, we had a real flat calm.........

 

We passed the Men-Hir light beacon and Eckmuhl light ( the unusual name is a reference to a Marshall in Napoleons army ) very slowly, which gave us the opportunity to appreciate the many reefs and rocks extending out up to 200 Mts and a mere precursor to the extensive rock garden and reef bonanza to come!

Keeping us company, but disconcertingly heading in the opposite direction was a continuing fleet of yachts.

The weather was by now HOT......although there continued to be just enough breeze to cool us down. We continued around the south coast passing the point de Penmarche which officially marks the start of South Brittany and is known as " The Gateway to the Sun " 

Very true today! The wind continued light and on the nose for a good few miles as we buoy hopped the cardinal buoys marking the edge of the offshore reefs, as long as we kept to the outside in theory we cleared all dangers. We approached the final Cardinal in my approach plan " Le Boulanger " and then as the tide had risen we chanced a dash over the shallow banks toward Loctudy.

This was not however our destination, a few more buoy hops brought us to the entrance to the Odet river at Benodet.

We slid past the beach at Anse du Trez, noting it as a future anchorage and continued up river past the very crowded Marinas and moorings passingg under the road bridge ( clearance 30 mts ) to the peaceful meanders of the beautiful wooded river Odet. We finally decided after failing to find an anchorage that wasn't filled with mooring buoys to pick up a vacant one opposite the rather lovely Chateau Kerouzian.

Again here is our AIS track, about 35 miles or so.

And here is a bit of chart showing the many rocks, reefs and Cardinal buoys on the south coast past Pte de Penmarche.

The Raz du Sein

 Overnight the wind and swell dropped off, and we awoke to what for Brittany passes for a flat calm. We tidied and watered the boat and made ready to leave. We had enjoyed our stay at Douarnenez and were sad to leave such a delightful spot, but needs must so we said our farewells to Dave and Carol, Dave was expecting his new prop to be delivered and we promised to meet up further south. We made the mistake of leaving at lunchtime so all the sailing children were heading back into the harbour, we avoided any mishaps and Lynne began to get fenders away.

 We took a last look at Douarnenez and  out old friend the sardine lugger gracefully sailed by in the light airs, also heading in for lunch.

 

It was, or felt quite a long way out along the south coast of Douarnenez Bay. In reality it was probably about 18 miles. As usual the wind was right on the nose however by the time we had arrived at the small bay just before the Raz ( baie du Trespasse ) the wind was blowing force 5.

As we headed out towards the lighthouse  called La Platte the overalls were getting rather playful.

We managed to get some sail up as we bore away downwind past the notorious light, it does look rather dark and spooky.

The Raz du Sein is along with The Chanel du Four a notable and well respected area for tide races, and as we were very close to springs the tide was barrelling us along.

We continued to bear away and despite only having our Genoa up we were soon travelling at over 7 knots due in part to the fresh North easterly breeze and to us also having the tide in our favour.

By this time I was getting tired so Lynne took over the helm for a long and very enjoyable sail down the south coast of Cap Sizun.

 All too soon we were in sight of St Evette and Audierne and we had a bit of a think as to whether to carry on or stop. We didn't think too much as we were both tired after a bit of a fitful night so we elected to pick up a mooring buoy at St Evette, the northerly wind meant we would have a bit of a lee from the land even though it would still be a bit breezy.

We sought out a free buoy and had our first experience of French mooring "Bouls". We were determined to moor properly, that is to the shackle underneath the buoy rather than the pick up loop that most French boats seem to favour!

Within an hour of us mooring the Boat in front of us had been hit by another boat, we then realised just how close together the buoys were and how grateful we were to have a steel boat!

I

We dined in the cockpit bathed in evening sunshine, Lynne had made a cold plate which included some of her new found favourites, pate en croute, piemontes salad and carrottes frappe all washed down with a cold beer. The young man Jean-luc who had been hovering in a dinghy took our money for the night and agreed to bring us fresh bread in the morning. The moorings filled quickly as the sun set and as a chill set in we retired below.

Our AIS track for the day.

Douarnenez

As the weather was looking a little windy for the next few days it didn't take much persuading for us to stop and explore Douarnenez. I have visited the town in the past and remembered it as being very pretty and a boaty kind of a place hosting a maritime festival every few years where hundreds of traditional craft gather.

We decide to begin by walking into town over the passarelle or small footbridge to the floating part of the maritime museum. Dark Tarn was actualy moored on the opposite side of the river on Treboul. We enjoyed looking at the many small craft and we're glad that we had chosen to stay a little away from the inner basin as it was very busy and popular with visitors hence a little noisy.

We had a look in some of the little shops I had memories of many more but these would turn out to be in the old part of town which we would rediscover later. As we continued up the river we came across some locals smoking fish by the road.

As we walked away the delicious smells  made us stop and decide there and then on dinner that night! We bought two pieces of smoked haddock which were just as good as they smelt.

A little further on we came across a skateboarding competition, skateboarding is something of a passion with our son Alex, and we stayed awhile to listen to the music and watch the skaters performing tricks .

That night we joined Dave and Carol from Hocus Pocus for a drink around town and ended up at a bar called " Porquoi Pas" which I seem to remember was the name of a French Antactic exploration vessel. The bar actually felt as though you were aboard an old sailing ship.

The following day Dave got a waterproof camera under his boat and discovered the missing propellor. He would have to order  a replacement from England luckily the marina office were quite happy to accept delivery.

As I walked to the boulangerie in the morning I discovered that the circus had arrived in town. Unlike circuses in England French circuses still seemed to have performing animals and there was a good selection of zebras tigers lions and camels as well as the inevitable elephants.

To be honest neither Lynne or I were convinced that the elephants in particular were happy as they seemed to spend a lot of time rocking in what I have learned to recognise in humans as " self stimulating behaviour ". We didn't go to see the circus and it was gone the following day as quickly as it had arrived.

We were dodging rain showers but when the sun did show its face it was still very hot. We replaced our damaged tender as my repair had proven to be slightly leaky.

The local chandlers proved very helpful and gave us and our new dinghy a lift back to the boat which avoided a very wet walk!

During a trip to visit the older part of Douarnenez we visited the chapel of St Michel. We had walked past it a prior evening but to go inside proved a revelation.

 Upon looking up the ceiling was completely covered with paintings. It was one of the most beautiful and deeply moving churches I have ever seen. The sense of history was overpowering.

 As well as the beautiful painted ceiling there were a great number of statues of various saints arranged in alcoves around the transepts. A stunning experience.

We continued to explore the winding streets of the old town with its sometimes quirky collection of shops and cafes.

We wandered down towards the port du Peche and decided we had earned a coffee.

Much of the history of Douarnenez is tied up with the sardine and as we walked around the fishing harbour there were various photographs and explanations at key points to illustrate changes to the town. One of the old fishing luggers of which the old harbour used to shelter hundreds, was moored very close to us at Treboul. The old seamans home, (these are found throughout Brittany and for some reason are always pink) was now home to the French classic boat magazine " Chase Maree " the fish factory's and cannerys are still to be found in this part of town but are much reduced from their heyday.

As we walked around the headland we had a different view of both our mooring pontoon and the Isle Tristan.

Every time we ventured out at Douarnenez we seemed to discover something new. A lovely place.

Morgat to Treboul / Douarnenez

The winds died down as predicted during the night and Lynne and I were able to get an undisturbed nights sleep. We awoke early as my plan was to sail to Douarnenez about 12 miles away across the bay. Lynne raised the anchor which had held us so securely during the recent gale, it took a lot of effort to finally break free and as we drifted slowly out of the bay on a gentle breeze we unfurled the Genoa and sailed downwind at a stately 3-4 knots. I decided that was OK for my plan which was to arrive at Douarnenez at or about high water in order to get over the Cill into the inner harbour. Lynne started the log at 9 o'clock and we drank an early morning coffee as we fell into an unofficial race with a Bavaria which was sailing in the same direction but under full sail.

The Genoa was pulling well and without the mainsail blanketing it was keeping well filled. We slowly gained and passed the Bavaria yacht and he bore away in order to fill his sails off to starboard. We however bore. Away to port in order to take advantage of the morning land breeze.

Just then we saw Dave on Hocus Pocus leaving the anchorage about a mile behind us, like us he had elected headsails only, it makes life simpler on a run downwind. The wind filled slightly and before long we were bowling along nicely at 4.5 knots the only attention the sails required was to occasionally gybe the Genoa as the wind shifted from one quarter to the other. Lynne studied the chart and pilot to familiarise herself with the approach to the Grande Passé, which is the main approach to the harbour.

An alternative to the inner basin was the visitors pontoon outside Treboul. As Lynne busied tying on fenders and getting lines ready it became apparent that the pontoon was nearly empty!

We immediately decided to berth there rather than the inner harbour and due to Lynnes diligence and unlike most French couples we have seen we were good to go having fenders out on both sides and lines ready and free of tangles. We came alongside and attached a mid line while we got sorted.

The pontoon was suffering a little bit of swell due to the NW wind but that would change as the wind swing to the SW later that day, besides the island opposite  Isle Tristan had a spooky looking Adams Family house on it that Lynne adored so that was it , we were staying!

It really was a very nice spot and after we had tidied up Dark Tarn and put the kettle on we had the satisfaction of seeing the Bavaria we were jousting with earlier entering past the breakwater, he sportingly waved as they passed. Surprisingly we had also arrived before Dave, hocus Pocus is not only 50 feet long but being a catamaran should theoretically be a lot faster than us, I think the light winds had favoured us on this occasion. Dave took Hocus Pocus to the old harbour on the opposite side of Isle Tristan in order to get fenders and lines ready, like us Dave likes to be prepared. Unfortunately as he motored in to the pontoon Dave said one of his engines was not engaging forward gear, it later turned out that it was because it no longer had a propellor!

However Dave is quite skilled at manoeuvring his big cat on one engine so berthing was accomplished without any drama. It had been a lovely sail across Douarnenez Bay in the light winds and sunshine. The forecast for the next few days wasn't as encouraging and I felt glad we had snatched the window of opportunity from a perfect day.

Gale @ Morgat

The .we had planned to go to Dournenez however Dave and Carol from Hocus Pocus who we had last said goodbye to at the Helford River wherein Camaret and sent a message that they were coming around to Morgat in the afternoon. So we waited another day and right on time just past dinner time Hocus Pocus. Came around the headland.

We jumped in the dinghy and went over, we had a very pleasant afternoon catching up and helping Dave get rid of his 10 litre box of Merlot. It was very pleasant catching up on each other's experiences. The talk fell to future plans and as we checked the weather were a little shocked to see a strong wind warning for that night. We took the oportunity to nip over and explore the "grottoes du Morgat which were evident in the headland opposit the anchorage as the calm before the storm conditions were ideal.

The sea conditions were flat calm and as there was virtually no wind the optimist kids were paddling their little boats about. If they could do it then surely two slightly overweight old blokes would be safe in an inflatable paddling pool! We are really not yet totally happy with inflatables.....

Dave and I pootled over to the limestone cliffs and poked about in the caves, grounding the outboard on occasion. The colours were very vivid on the cave walls and we regretted not bringing a torch.

We soon had to return to our respective boats and prepare for the nights entertainment.

Leaving the caves for another day.

Around about 11 pm I ŵas reading in the saloon listening to the rising wind when I felt a tremor go through the boat, not a bang but more like a gentle shove. I went on deck and was surprised to find Hocus Pocus had dragged and was trapped across our anchor chain and pulpit. I shouted to Dave and he put out some fenders as she drifted down our side with me fending her off with my bare feet.

I took a very bad photo but if you look very closely you may be able to spot Dave looking worried.

The night was very dark and the wind got up steadily until by 2 am it was blowing 30 knots over the deck. Again something didn't feel right and on going out into the cockpit to check our position and make sure we weren't dragging our anchor I noticed that rubber duck our tender was Looking decidedly deflated having a six inch gash through one of its tubes, the outboard was gradually sinking beneath the now sizeable waves and I quickly shouted Lynne to assist me in retrieving the outboard, by the time Lynne was out of bed and changed I had managed to pull the dinghy alongside from the stern where she had been and as Lynne came on deck I jumped into the swamped dinghy and attempted to retrieve the outboard before everything sank beneath the waves which were thundering down Dark Tarns hull. Lynne was looking pretty worried at this rash and possibly stupid behaviour but said nothing. The outboard was rescued and as I clambered back on deck between us we managed to haul the damaged and swamped inflatable aboard quickly tying it down and retreating below so I could change my wet trousers!

Suffice to say it was a long night, as Douglas Adams once said, a long dark tea-time of the soul. The wind howled, the swell coming from the south was making life very uncomfortable being on occasion 2-3 metres high and breaking, I fretted until the dawn where a spectacle was revealed among our neighbours of flapping sails and flying covers, luckily no one appeared to be dragging and frankly I still can't believe no one did given the appalling conditions. The wind began to shift into the North ( where the forecast said it should have been last night ) and the swell finally began to abate after lunch. Dave kindly ran us ashore for some supply's and as I write this the wind is back blowing hard from the North however the boat is a steady as a rock as there is very little fetch from the beach.

The forecast is good for a run to Dournenez tomorrow so an early start is needed to get into the inner harbour for a little shelter. It's. Probable Dave will accompany us.

I spent the afternoon repairing our dinghy, I will have to wait for at least 24 hours to see if it will hold air.

Fingers crossed!

As the late evening sun came out and the storm clouds began to clear we had a new neighbour come to set his anchor just astern off us.

I think this is a Breton boat we last saw in Roscoff.

Brest to Morgat

I We had become quite comfortable in the Marina at Moulin Blanc. Several jobs got done and with Jimmys help we had a few hours with me up the mast again. The weather took a turn for the worse and we decided after a day cooped below to get the bus to Brest and visit the Maritime museum.

This was fascinating and is housed in a chateau, well it's a fortress really that has been on the site since Roman times, a very interesting diversion and it did keep us out of the rain!.

Sadly Jimmy and Shari have had to go home for family commitments and are leaving Aquila at Brest for a few weeks.  They had also unbeknown to us come into Brest to check out buses to Roscoff and we bumped into each other on the bus home to Moulin Blanc. We had decided as the weather cleared to move down the coast to Morgat, in the morning  I helped Jjimmy with his enormous bags to the bus stop and after a sad goodbye to the Aquilas we left the Marina in the early morning mist.

I had wanted an early start as the tide and wind would be opposing each other in the narrow entrance channel, to the Rade de Brest known as the Gulet de Brest. The waves were quite impressive but luckily only one or two were breaking over the boat, one however was quite memorable causing us both to shout out loud, I had better not say what we shouted. Lynne patiently listened to my lecture about "wind over tide" probably wondering why we left the marina in the first place.

The wind was as usual for us these days bang on the nose so although we had the mainsail up we were under engine until we reached the tricky little passage past the lighthouse at Point du Toulinquet that led between the Roches du Toulinquet and the headland, one of the rocks is named " the Lion"

To be honest I couldn't see it myself, however something I have never seen while threading Dark Tarn between the many submerged rocks and hazards was a flock ( if that's the correct collective noun) of cormorants. As we couldn't deviate from our course, being on a leading line that cleared all dangers we barged straight through them, it was quite impressive when they all took flight together.

The rocks visible in the distance are les Tas de Pois, and it is possible to go between any of them with variable degrees of difficulty but Lynne tactfully requested that we go around the outside.

The coast of North Brittany really is a graveyard of ships and it's not hard to see why, there are cardinal marks all over the place, rocks visible and hidden, charted and uncharted, named and unnamed. We passed  " Le Bouc " and " Le Chevreau " as we made our way, thankfully now under full sail to the next headland the Cap de Chèvre.

 After threading yet more rocks the very attractive coastline down to Morgat came into view.

Although strangely there was no sight of the town, however I had no time to think about it as we were engaged in following " rule number 1 ", that is to say, " any two boats in close proximity are in fact racing "

The boat in question had been ahead of us since the Point du Toulinquet and we had gradually overhauled him until he was about 200 metres in front of us and the next few miles became a very enjoyable downwind duel.

However it didn't detract from us admiring the really beautiful coastline, we were now officially in South Brittany and in some undefinable way it felt more southern maybe it was the sandy beaches or scrubby pines, I don't know. As we passed the last headland the wide sweeping bay of Morgat came into view and we were forced to use our new rock dodging skills to avoid a load of wee kids in tiny " optimist " dinghys with brightly coloured fan sails in order to find a nice spot to anchor. They certainly seemed to be enjoying their sailing, there were two kids to a boat the size of a small chest of drawers and the skills they had were fantastic. I am very impressed by how the French introduce sailing at every stage seemingly to children. We anchored on the outside of the mooring buoys and just outside the entrance channel for the Marina.

Morgat on this chart is the small bay right up at the top centred on the yellow sectored circle.

I also discovered that we had at some point round about the north end of the Chanel du Four accidentally switched on our stealth mode switch so our AIS was not transmitting, oops! We fixed that.

However as we had been " silent " there is no track.

We had a very late lunch and then went ashore to explore.

Morgat is a typical ( we are led to believe ) French holiday town, largely developed in the past by the founder of the Peugeot car company as a place to send his executives on holiday. The beaches are fabulous.

There was a craft fair in progress and there was obviously an entertainment planned for that evening. 

We enjoyed watching some buskers. I have no idea what the instrument on the right is called but it's an impressive piece of plumbing!

But we were fairly tired after our early start so we returned to Dark Tarn and enjoyed the evenings entertainment  under the stars in the cockpit. This turned out to be a female Accapella group singing in Breton and an Irish fiddle y dee band who were very good but made Lynne very homesick for Ireland!