Mike's
recall to hospital for a further op in January negated our plans to cruise
to/in Greece in 2015. We now plan to
sail Island Drifter to the Canaries again for six months over this
winter.
INTRODUCTION
The
idea of cruising this summer with Alan and Lynn evolved during the early months
of this year. We had first met them in
the Caribbean in 2000 when they were chartering. Soon after they bought their
own boat Bucks Eagle, a 34ft Sadler, which they now keep in Falmouth.
 |
| Alan and Lynn aboard Bucks Eagle, their Sadler 34 |
We
decided to cruise north-west Brittany in July. The overview of our final route is shown below:
Once the date was agreed, Alan and Lynn accelerated their refurbishment
of Bucks Eagle, which in particular included: repair of the delaminating
skeg and deck leaks, replacement hatches, guard rails, Autohelm, windlass and
bilge pumps, sole moulding and keel bolts – together with a host of other
issues including preparation for sea.
By the time we arrived in Falmouth, the boat was in good order and ready
to go.
 |
| Overview of route taken on Brittany Cruise |
FALMOUTH
On
Monday 6 July we caught a train from Paddington to Falmouth and were met by
Alan and Lynn. We unloaded and sorted
out our gear before supper, had a few drinks and an early night. It was decided to give Tuesday a miss as our
departure date in view of the 25kn SW winds forecast as compared with the W/NW
15kn wind predicted for Wednesday.
Alan
and Mike therefore used Tuesday to read up the pilot books, Almanac, etc. for
passage-planning purposes while Lynn and Helen shopped for last-minute essentials.
CAMARET
After
a pasty and baked bean lunch we left Falmouth at 1400hrs on Wednesday 8th
July with the flood tide. We had a good
crossing of the Western Approaches and even spent the second half of the
passage de-powering the sails to avoid arriving too early at the start of the
Chenal du Four’s tidal race.
Our
passage through the Chenal du Four and across the Goulet de Brest to Camaret
was uneventful. On arrival at approximately 1500hrs at Camaret marina, we
pulled on to the inside of the large wave-breaking pontoons at the edge of the
marina. In total our 120-mile sail had taken 25 hours.
 |
| Camaret Harbour viewed from Crozon Peninsula |
Later
that afternoon we strolled into town along the sea front to the boatyard area
where we found a shellfish plant with a very nice shaded outside
bar/restaurant. There we had our first local oysters, prawns and cider as an
appetizer before supper on board.
 |
| Local fare |
Next
day (Friday 10th) we had a ‘rest’ day, since strongish southerly
winds were forecast in the area of the Raz de Sein, through which we needed to
pass. Apart from looking around the
town, we made an 8-mile hike around the Crozon peninsula. On the way we passed the magnificent surfing
beach of Anse de Dinan before following the GR34 coastal path past the
semaphore station and back to Camaret.
 |
| Anse de Dinan, surfing beach close to Camaret |
Camaret
is the ‘traditional’ stop-over point for yachts passing through the Chenal du
Four and Raz de Sein. It is an attractive old fishing port that has
successfully transformed itself into a boating and tourist centre. The town has the shops, bars, seafood
restaurants and good beaches that typify the Brittany coast. It even has
history in that the Notre Dame du Rocamadour church near the marina is named
after the pilgrims from Britain and Ireland who used to disembark there prior
to setting off overland for Rocamadour in the Dordogne.
 |
| Rocamadour pilgrims’ church, Camaret |
The
town of Camaret is built around the western extreme of the Crozon peninsula
which separates the Rades de Brest and Douarnenez. Brest is a major
yachting centre, home to the French Naval Academy, has a large marina in the
centre of the town and is a major naval and commercial port.
AUDIERNE
At
0800hrs on Saturday (11th) we left Camaret and motor sailed in light
airs south through the Raz to Audierne.
We arrived at the tidal gate of the Raz at slack water – just before the
tide turned south.
In
Audierne we moored on one of the 30 visitors’ buoys off Ste-Evette. The old
anchorage is situated behind a large outer breakwater. We did not go up the river to Audierne
itself since access is only possible one and a half hours either side of high
water and it would have restricted our departure the following morning. The town, which we have visited before, has
a very nice small marina with visitors’ berths, and is a typically
pleasant Breton town.
 |
| Chenal du Four to Concarneau |
 |
Dusk
in Ste-Evette anchorage
|
We
enjoyed a pleasant sunny afternoon in the cockpit with a clear blue sky and a
light breeze. All of us drifted off to sleep at one time or another.
Unfortunately,
on arrival, we had discovered that the batteries were very hot. Later, when they had cooled down, we
disconnected and cleaned up the terminal connections in the vain hope that this
would solve the ‘battery problem’. To
an extent it did in that the batteries did not overheat again, but … see below.
CONCARNEAU
On
Sunday 12th we left on the 39-mile passage from Audierne to
Concarneau, initially sailing on a broad reach in a 15 knot breeze. We did, however, run the engine in neutral
to test if the batteries were overheating again and how well they were
charging. After three hours the domestic battery voltage collapsed. We therefore turned them
off and used only the engine battery for the rest of the passage. We chose to
pull into Concarneau because the write-ups in the pilot book and Almanac
suggested that the town had good yachting support services. The marina itself is pleasantly situated and well
protected.
 |
| Concarneau marina viewed from walls of the town’s citadel |
Next
day (Monday 13th) A&L went off to find an electrician to check
out the boat’s electrics. Since Tuesday 14th was Bastille Day and
therefore a major public holiday throughout France, we were not optimistic
about resolving the battery problem quickly. To our surprise, however, A&L
found a local electronics engineer, Davide Arnault, who was willing to
help.
When
Davide arrived after lunch he also concluded that, hopefully, the domestic
batteries themselves were the only problem. He therefore went off to acquire
new ones. He reappeared later, fitted
the new batteries, checked the system out and everything appeared to operate
properly. The old batteries were found
to be bulging and had leaked acid into the battery compartment.
 |
| French electronic engineer investigating batteries |
The
old citadel of Concarneau adjacent to the marina is on a small island connected
to the mainland by a drawbridge. Within its massive defensive walls is a maze
of beautifully preserved little streets, lined with tourist shops, bars and
restaurants. There is also an interesting commercial fishing museum.
Today
the sizeable town of Concarneau is a busy fishing and leisure port. Along with most other Breton towns it
claims to be the birthplace of the Kouign Amann – a highly calorie-laden cake
of butter, sugar and flour.
 |
| Traditional Breton cakes, laden with calories – delicious! |
 |
| Poisonnade in Concarneau, Bastille Day celebrations |
 |
| Balloon seller celebrates Bastille Day with Mike! |
PORT
HALIGUEN
On
Tuesday 14th, with a 55-mile passage ahead of us, we were up early and quickly folded away the canvas ‘conservatory’ over the cockpit, which had
given us extra living space and kept us dry the previous day.
 |
Bucks
Eagle’s cockpit ‘conservatory’ – very
effective
|
 |
| Concarneau to Quiberon Bay |
Port
Haliguen lies on the east coast of the Quiberon peninsula which protects the
bay itself. It is one of the three very
large marinas in the bay and has good boat services and facilities. The toilet
block in particular deserved four stars.
It
was market day in the small fishing and holiday village surrounding the marina.
Quite the best open-air market we’ve been to.
 |
 Market day in Port Haliguen |
Today
Quiberon Bay is a major sailing centre. In 1759, however, the British fleet
under Admiral Hawke chased its French counterpart into the bay and during the
‘Battle of Quiberon Bay’ destroyed most of the French ships. This turned out to
be a major turning point in the Seven Years' War.
Before
leaving Port Haliguen, we pulled Alan up the mast to try to repair the wind
instruments which were giving intermittent and sometimes false readings due
probably, we were advised by another Sadler owner who had resolved a similar
problem, to water ingress and corrosion at the mast connection. While we continued to have problems with the
instruments during the cruise, they worked adequately for our purposes but will
nevertheless need replacing.
 |
| Alan repairing the wind instruments |
PORT
DU CROUESTY
Next
day, Wednesday 15th, we crossed Quiberon Bay to Port du Crouesty, a
huge six-basin marina with 1400 berths, some two miles from the entrance to the
Gulf du Morbihan – 50 square miles of shallow sheltered waters with deeper
channels, fast tidal streams and plenty of counter-currents – which unfortunately
we did not have time to include on this cruise. The size of the marina was such that on arrival we were met by
an escort boat.
 |
| Met by escort boat on arrival at Port du Crouesty |
Around
the marina and local beaches a holiday village has grown up which supports the
bars, restaurants, tourist shops and supermarket in the area.
 |
| Dusk at Port du Crouesty |
ÎLE
DE HOUAT
On
Saturday 18th we sailed on a beam reach back around the southern end
of the Quiberon peninsula to the Île de Houat. There we anchored in sand off
Treac’h er Gourhed, said to be one of the best bays in Brittany. It is famous for
its ‘pyjama parties’ caused when the fickle Vent Solaire (or north-east land
breeze) blows hard at night and those at anchor have to leave at speed to avoid
dragging onto the lee shore.
 |
Treac’h
Gourhed – one of the finest bays in Brittany Al relaxing in cockpit anchored off Treac’h Gourhed |
After
lunch we blew up the dinghy and rowed ashore to look around. Port St Gildas, the only village on the
island, was a ten-minute walk away. Its harbour is less attractive but better sheltered
from the prevailing south-westerly wind than our anchorage. However, boats
there do instead suffer more from the vent solaire and wash from the ferry. The holiday village that has
grown around the port is pleasantly laid out.
 |
| Town square and mairie, Port St Gildas, Île de Houat |
Although
it blew and rained hard overnight and indeed the wind direction changed through
270 degrees, our anchor remained well bedded in and we had a comfortable night.
 |
|
Our
anchor held well all night even though it blew ‘a bit’
|
BELLE
ÎLE
On
Sunday 19th we managed a good sail to wind for the 14 miles from our
anchorage at Île de Houat to Sauzon on the north-east coast of Belle Île. We had to tack only once.
Belle
Île is the largest of the Breton islands, being 10 miles long and 5 miles
wide. It encourages holiday homes,
hiking, cycling and boating. It has
one other harbour, Le Palais, on the north side of the island and ten or so
reasonable anchorages around it. Ster
Wenn, a beautiful fjord-like inlet on the north-west corner is rated (by some)
as the finest in France.
Le
Palais, the capital, is a bustling ferry port and tourist town. Its principal
attraction, at least to us, is its citadel, a massive star-shaped fort built by
Vauban in the 18th century.
It was thought to be impregnable until the British took it in 1761.
Sauzon
is by contrast a pretty little town.
Its inner harbours dry or at least partially dry other than in isolated
pools and channels.
 |
|
Sauzon
inner harbour
|
 |
Deep-water mooring buoys,
outside Sauzon harbour
 |
LA TRINITÉ
We
left early next morning (Monday 20th) and had an excellent sail along the coast of Belle Île, then around the Quiberon peninsula
(again!) and across the Bay to La Trinité – a flourishing sailing and oyster
centre to the east of the Gulf du Morbihan.
Oyster beds in estuary on approach to La Trinité
 |
| La Trinité marina |
 |
Alignements at Le Ménec near Carnac
|
 |
| Alan and Lynn waiting for a table at Le Quai restaurant |
ÎLE
DE GROIX
Up
early at 0500hrs on Tuesday 21st we then enjoyed a 38-mile fine
reach to Port Tudy on the Île de Groix which lies ten miles west of
Lorient. It is an attractive 19th-century
tuna port which is now primarily organised around tourism. Boats raft up fore and aft on large buoys
in the outer harbour. Although it was
relatively empty when we arrived, it soon filled up and by tea time you could
almost walk across the raft of boats to any of the three harbour walls.
 |
| Rafting Port Tudy style on fore and aft mooring buoys |
ÎLES
DE GLENAN
We
departed from the middle of our raft in Port Tudy at 0900hrs, causing ‘no more’
chaos to our French neighbours (who had been forewarned) than is normal in such
circumstances. Yet again, we had an
excellent fine reach for our 20-mile sail north to the Îles de Glenan, ten
miles south of the Benodet peninsula.
Visibility during the passage was down to less than 300 meters at times
but this did not prove a problem with our radar and AIS working – now that the
batteries had been replaced.
Fortunately
the mist lifted slightly as we approached the islands and anchored in a small
bay on the east of the Île de Penfret (the most easterly of the Îles) and just
south of its famous lighthouse.
 |
| Île de Penfret lighthouse |
The
anchorage was well sheltered from the westerly wind forecast for
overnight. The islands’ beaches are
said to be as similar to the Caribbean’s, on a good day, as you can get in
South Brittany. However, on a misty
day with poor visibility and rain it was more like anchoring off an island in
western Scotland!
 |
Isolated
anchorage off Île de Penfret in the Îles de Glenan
|
LOCHTUDY
Before
leaving next morning we noted, as part of our engine check, that the salt-water
filter was full of weed. We couldn’t get the Perspex filter cap off and were
not prepared to risk breaking it while away from any support services. We
therefore took the alternative risk of motoring slowly in zero wind the 15
miles across the Benodet Bay to Lochtudy watching the water filter and engine
temperature like a hawk. We
entered the river into Lochtudy against a strong ebb tide and finally berthed
on a visitors’ finger pontoon in the marina in an 'interesting' cross-tide.
 |
| Entering river into Lochtudy |
Lochtudy
turned out to be a pleasant combination of active fishing port and yachting
centre. Île de Tudy, on the opposite side of the river, is a picture postcard
Breton village used for holiday homes and tourist accommodation.
 |
| Dawn breaking over Île de Tudy |
The
marina, surprisingly, had two excellent chandleries in one of which we were
amazed to find an identical salt-water filter to that on Bucks Eagle. We simply purchased it and replaced it on the
boat – before taking the old one apart (without any breakages) and servicing it to
be used as a spare.
The
highlight of our visit to Lochtudy, however, was the dozen very large Grade 1
oysters that we bought in the market for less than 40p each. We opened these ourselves, having been given
advice on how to do so by the stallholder.
Alan and Mike ate them as a starter, washed down by a bottle of chilled
white wine.
 |
|
Alan
and Mike enjoying oysters and wine
|
To
our surprise a Countess 37 sloop (similar to our own ketch currently on the
hard in Lagos, Portugal) came on to our visitors’ pontoon. Called Slipstream she had been bought
five years ago by the current owners, Tim and Sarah Sharp from West Sussex.
They were taking her to La Rochelle where the boat will be based for the next
year.
CAMARET
We
left Lochtudy early on Wednesday 22nd for the 57-mile passage
north. We had planned to stop in
Audierne, again on a buoy, but became concerned that a nasty-looking low was expected
in the Western Approaches by the weekend.
We therefore decided, 40 miles into the passage, to give Audierne a miss
and to push straight on through the Raz since, fortuitously, the tidal gate
would be in our favour when we arrived.
 |
| Lighthouses on a calm day at the Raz du Sein |
We celebrated our return to Camaret by going out for
supper at the Côte Mer restaurant where, surprise surprise, Alan and Mike had oysters, moules
et frites and cider.
L’ABER
WRAC’H
After
spending the evening and following morning in Camaret, we timed our departure
to catch the start of the north-going tide at the southern end of the Chenal du
Four on our 32-mile passage to L’Aber Wrac’h.
We motor- sailed most of the way since the wind was light and on the
nose.
L’Aber
Wrac’h is located in a deep-water estuary on the western extremity of Northern
Brittany. It has long been a popular staging post for yachts going south
towards the Raz de Sein or Biscay, or those returning north through the Chenal
du Four. Eighty miles from the Lizard
Point, the passage is one of the shortest crossings of the Western
Approaches.
The
marina has been subject to a major upgrade in recent years. After negotiations, since we were leaving early next
morning, we rafted up on Heavy Metal, a 60ft Trintella, and
consequently, with such a large fender, had a comfortable night even though it
was ‘a bit windy’.
 |
Bucks
Eagle rafted on large Trintella
'fender'
|
ROSCOFF
We left at dawn on
Friday 24th to catch the favourable wind and 6-hour tide for the
37-mile passage along the rocky north coast to Roscoff. It poured (and poured) with
rain all day. Indeed, we’ve since heard that England had a month’s rain in that same
day.
 |
| It rained throughout our passage to Roscoff |
We,
however, had a fast reach all the way to Roscoff in a F5. The toe-rail was not
exactly in the water but the passage did test the repairs to the deck
leaks.
 |
| Testing for toe-rail leaks |
Roscoff
is a major ferry port, which connects the town and France with Plymouth and
Ireland. The region has specialised in
onion cultivation since the 17th Century. Onion sellers, known as ‘Onion Johnnies’, used to travel to
Britain on bicycles laden with strings of onions, which they sold in the street
and from door to door.
 |
| Roscoff’s famous onions drying in the sun |
When
approaching the town its austere granite buildings, dominated by a strangely
shaped Renaissance church tower, appear to rise out of the flat and featureless
coast.
 |
| Renaissance church tower viewed from across Roscoff's old port |
Visiting
yachts no longer have to dry out in the Vieux Port, following the recent
completion of a modern, 670-berth deep-water marina with excellent facilities
and support services. Not surprisingly,
there were many British yachts there since the annual cost for a 34ft boat at
2240€ compares more than favourably with the £5000 it costs to keep the same
boat in Falmouth!
On
Saturday 25th we enjoyed a pleasant stroll through the ‘old’ town
and port before picnicking on delicious quiches and cider seated on a bench in
the sun.
 |
| Picnicking on local produce |
Afterwards
we caught a vedette (small ferry) to the Île de Batz, a mile off Roscoff’s
headland.
The island provides a challenging inshore route to Roscoff when approaching from the west. We gave it a miss on the way in since at 7 knots we were enjoying the outer route.
The island provides a challenging inshore route to Roscoff when approaching from the west. We gave it a miss on the way in since at 7 knots we were enjoying the outer route.
Harbour at Île de Batz
The DailyTelegraph has described the island as a ‘hidden gem’ which one should make
a point of visiting before rushing off south from the ferry. The population of
500 appear to exist well on tourism and market gardening. We walked around the
island and had no difficulty finding the 44m high lighthouse which had
dominated the skyline on our sail from L’Aber Wrac’h.
 |
Île
de Batz’s enormous lighthouse
 |
 |
| One of the many superb beaches on Île de Batz |
Since
the forecast showed that the weather would continue to deteriorate over the
next few days and we all wished to be back ‘home’ by 30 July, we decided to
depart immediately after supper on Saturday and make use of the final small
weather window that indicated that a F3 would increase to ‘no more than F6’
over the latter part of our 97-mile passage to Falmouth.
After
sailing for ten hours, the B Watch (Mike and Lynn) were woken by the A Team
(Alan and Helen) who were running fast downwind in a 35 knot squall – with too
much sail up. After dropping the sails (and getting soaked), we heaved to under
bare poles, apparently in the middle of the route used by commercial shipping. For the next six hours we monitored the AIS
and communicated by VHF with approaching vessels to avoid any problems.
At
an early stage in the gale, when we were taking down the sails, we experienced
lightning and thunder immediately overhead and while no damage appears to have
been done, we believe we were struck since a large blue flash crossed the
cockpit and hit Lynn’s arm, which ached and tingled for the next 12 hours or
so.
After
the gale started to abate, we raised a spitfire jib and sailed on it for the
rest of the way into the Falmouth estuary – most of the time in the top end of
a F6.
Bucks
Eagle heaved to and sailed well in
these conditions. We did, however, take
one rogue wave that partially flattened us, filled the cockpit and put a fair quantity of water below,
since we were changing watch at the time and the washboard was out. Helen (yet
again) proved the value of keeping clipped on until well inside the boat since
she was caught midway and flung out into the guard rails. Al, already below,
ended up accelerating across the saloon and head butting the VHF.
When
we approached Falmouth we turned on the engine, which we had not used since
leaving Roscoff. It soon started to stutter and reduce in power once turned
on. We suspected that the problem was
fuel starvation, almost certainly caused by dirt from the sides of the fuel
tank being shaken free in the rough conditions and blocking the filters. (Time
will tell.)
The
end result was that we sailed as far as we could into Falmouth harbour and then
coaxed the engine with its ever-decreasing revs up the remaining mile or so of the
river to Falmouth Marina. The engine
stopped twice en route, but we got it going again. Five metres from the hammerhead pontoon it stopped again. Fortunately we had enough momentum to glide on to the pontoon. We arrived at 0400hrs, toasted Neptune, the boat and
ourselves, and went to bed.
On
Monday morning (27th) the marina staff, under the direction of our
old friend Dave Smith, used their dory to move Bucks Eagle into her own
pontoon finger berth.
Dave Smith helping move Bucks Eagle
into her berth at Falmouth
We
had a couple of days in Falmouth before leaving. The first was spent washing
(selves and gear), drying out (selves, boat and gear), sleeping (a lot),
eating, and taking the ‘occasional’ drink. On the second day we packed,
decommissioned the boat and walked into Falmouth to shop and to eat our last
pasty, accompanied in the Beerwolf pub/bookshop by local ales.
 |
| Laundry drying in the ‘conservatory’ |
Alan
and Lynn gave us a lift to Exeter St David’s for a train to Paddington, then we
took a tube to Hammersmith and a taxi to Will and Lesley’s flat in Brook
Green. We enjoyed three hours with
Emelia, our new granddaughter, and Lesley before leaving at 2000hrs (after the
traffic died down) to return to our beach chalet at Calshot.
SUMMARY
Our
cruise took nearly 21 days during which we covered 619 miles and visited 15
ports, marinas or anchorages. While we
are no experts on Brittany we do feel that we have got a fairly good
understanding of it and would not hesitate to return. We could visit places we
did not see this time, could cruise further south of Quiberon to the Spanish
border or indeed, having negotiated the Raz, sail direct to and cruise the rias
of the north coast of Spain itself.
All are perfectly viable options in reasonable weather for a month’s
summer cruise.
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