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After three weeks spent preparing our house for letting
and making sure the boat was ready, we finally sailed from Poole for
France on 28 April. We enjoyed excellent sailing with moderate
north-easterly breezes, enabling us to reach the north Brittany coast
in a week, with stops in Cherbourg and St. Peter Port on Guernsey. We
planned to spend some time on the north Brittany coast revisiting
places we had visited and enjoyed on earlier trips – Lezardrieux,
Pontrieux, Treguier and Trebeurden and had very pleasant stops in each
of these attractive ports.
However progress through May was a bit slower than we
had hoped as the weather deteriorated and a long series of Atlantic
depressions tracked across northern France, bringing wet and windy
weather. Over the Whitsun weekend a severe gale hit Brittany with
winds blowing force 8-9 for 24 hours and gusting up to 44 knots.
Luckily we were safely tied up in Trebeurden marina but the local
paper told sad tales of loss of life and property.
June has so far brought sunnier and more settled
weather and in the last week we have sailed into new areas to which we
have not ventured before. We sailed from Trebeurden to L’Aber Wrach,
on the north west tip of Brittany, including negotiating the narrow
and rocky channel between Roscoff and the Ile de Batz, which was an
interesting pilotage challenge but well worth it for the scenery on
the island. We also experienced the ”houle” for the first time, a
large Atlantic swell which affects this coast and can make for lively
sailing and queasy tummies ! The picture above was taken as we left
Trebuerden early in the morning at first light.
We spent a pleasant weekend in L’Aber Wrach,
particularly enjoying time spent moored at the top of the estuary in
the peaceful and pretty little port of Paluden.
We then sailed through the Chenal du Four, a passage about which we
had been told many horror stories of rough seas. In the event it was
calm and benign for us, despite a little fog to keep the adrenalin
pumping and we enjoyed a great sail down to Cameret sur Mer, where we
are currently moored. Cameret is a small seaside resort and fishing
port just south of Brest and the coastal scenery in the surrounding
area is spectacular – high cliffs and beautiful beaches. We plan to
stay here until Saturday and then spend a week exploring the Rade du
Brest and the Baie de Douarnenez before heading south through the Raz
de Sein and on to southern Brittany.
We have settled well into the cruising lifestyle and
are enjoying seeing new places and facing new sailing challenges. The
excellent North Biscay pilot book we were given by Simon’s colleagues
before we left has certainly been well used and much appreciated.
Simon and Jo
June 2007
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