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.