Paimpol - Fowey!

The weather forecast for the rest of the week slightly changed the plan.  We had hoped for another night in Paimpol and to go to the Tuesday market, but the strong winds forecast for Wednesday meant that we needed to leave or wait until the weekend.  After a whizz round town for necessary supplies (cowboy hat, saucisson and bottled water!) we set sail at around 4pm french time for a crossing from Paimpol to Fowey, where Dan and Jane are staying for the week. 

The forecast was for a force 3 Southwesterly which would have been great for our North Westerly course.  We initially set off motoring into a light NW wind which stayed with us until we had fully cleared the french coast.  This  gave way to a S/SE wind which was dead behind us - again  not ideal for our direction to Fowey.
So the whole passage was a combination of just about sailing the course and motoring -  it felt like we'd motored more than half the way but when Harry added up the engine hours it was only 8 hours.

I started off quite enjoying helming in the dark keeping an eye out for the lights of the ships but before too long the combination of the motion of the boat and the smell of diesel meant that I was ill on and off for quite a long time (and H was sick too).   Once morning came the weather was lovely and we also found that we could receive  radio 4 which perked me up significantly. It seemed to take an age before we could see the English coast, eventually sighting land when we were about 25 miles off.  By this time the wind enabled us to sail in at a respectable 6 knots.   Fowey is hard to spot from a long way out - but we could pick out Rame Head and Polperro and eventually came into the river.  Dan was there to meet us on the pontoon and couldn't believe we'd been sailing for 26 hours.

We moored the boat up on a pontoon at upriver Mixtow Pill so that it would be sheltered from the forecast incoming gale then, after showers and a very nice meal at Sam's Bistro, we both felt human again quite quickly. 

Ile de Berhat-Paimpol

We had a very calm night in our snug anchorage, although slightly marred by by a regatta party with a strange prog rock/early 70's heavy blues band French style until the early hours. But after a bit of a lie in we went ashore for a look round the island. Much bigger than I expected, but everything packed in almost in miniature, although there were many big houses lots of pretty cottages, with small bits of farm land dotted between them. A very touristy town square but with the usual French necessities (boulangerie!) And plenty of creperies.  The island had a slight feel of the Channel Islands to it, must be a very a place for weathy, bourn out by the shop selling the international version of the FT! Unlike Iles Chausey the island did feel lived on, although probably by many retirees.

After a bit of lunch on the boat, we worked our way out of the rocks and headed across to Paimpol, negotiating more rocks, before locking in to the marina(For future reference, we had min 2.8m depth with at a neap high water of 7.6m in the approach channel)

Paimpol felt much more down to earth after the touristy island, which suited our plan to refresh ourselves and prepare for the longer crossing homeward.

Erquy/Ile Brehat

We had a lovely morning in Iles des Hebihen, perfect sunshine, and perfect beach where we went ashore and sunbathed and swam before it got too busy. Just as hoards of motor boats were arriving we went back to our boat and set sail west for Erquy, a 15 mile trp around Cap Frehel to the west. Still having the north easterly we continued our luck with good sailing winds and made 6kts most of the way to Erquy.
Erquy is basically just a fishing and harbour, and as such has no real facilities for visiting yachts, but it provided a good anchorage with the neep tides and easterly winds. once we found where to land our dighny we were rewarded with excellent seafood especially the scallops, for which it is known.
But the best meal was probably the takeaway paella we bought in the lively market the next morning.

After our shopping trip on Saturday morning, we set off for northern Brittany, specifically Ile Brehat, a 25 mile trip, again the winds were excelent, and we made good time in calm seas, eating the best ham from the market for lunch. Once we arrived in La Chambre on the east side of Brehat we pick up a slightly unsuitable bouy, until we realised we could take advantage of the neep tides and anchor in the most snug of anchorages, comleatly enclosed by rocks. We could never get in here other than at dead neeps, as we only had a few centmeters below the keel at low water, so very lucky with our timings.

St Suliac - Ile des Hebihen

A very calm peaceful night in St Suliac - we took the dinghy across to get supplies in the morning and then had our breakfast croissants on the way to the barrage.  This time we got through!  There were quite a number of boats in the lock with us, the little launches and day boats went through under the road bridge while the yachts sorted themselves out behind.  We were entertained by a gregarious french skipper who said that he had a 'Blithe Spirit'  and proceeded to share his local knowledge.  We told him of our plan to head to Paimpol before heading home and he nodded vigorously saying 'yes, from Paimpol - Guernsey:1 day - England: 1day.'   It felt like ages before the bridge lifted and we were released!

We sailed along past the luxurious beaches of  Dinard (saving those for another trip) and made our passage quite close to the shore, amongst the outlying rocks.  The Ile des Hebihen. in the bay of St Cast was clearly a playground for leisure boats from St Malo and the surrounding area,  we anchored on the west side - it was sheltered from the NE winds and there were several yachts and other boats in there but by the evening there was a westerly swell and only one other yacht left so we decided to go round the corner in the hope of more shelter. A walk on the Island showed us a very crowded anchorage with a perfect beach on the east side, but the forcast was for wind to veer to the east, so we considered ourselves better off where we were. It was initially a bit rocky from the swell and Harry got up in the night to extend the anchor chain, but when we woke (late) in the morning, it was calm - sheltered by the extending reefs at low water.

The River Rance

After St Malo we headed up through the barrage into the River Rance.  It is strange to be inland after so many days on the coast.  The river is wide and peaceful and we were able to sail up slowly.  We spent a night at the marina in Plouer - attracted partly by the assurances in all three of our books (even Reeds) that Mademoiselle Lilian Faustin would ensure we were well looked after (she did) but also because they have a book swap in the office with English books - hooray! We wandered - or rather hiked - up the hill into the town, unfortunately it was half day closing but we managed to find a beer and the Super U to stock up.

Next day was a trip a little further up through another lock to Le Chatelier.  From here we abandoned Blithe Spirit in the marina and continued in the dinghy for three miles up to Dinan.  Dinan is a really pretty ancient walled town and we had a lovely afternoon wandering the streets and walking along the ramparts followed by dinner overlooking the river.

This morning we headed back down through the lock and back to the barrage.  Unfortunately we hadn't reckoned on the inability of the french to queue and we missed two openings of the barrage as they pushed their way past.  So we turned around and picked up a buoy outside St Suliac, another picturesque riverside village with a few simple shops and restaurants.  We cooked our dinner on the boat and then after watching the sun go down we buttoned up against the mosquitoes and went to bed.

The River Rance

After St Malo we headed up through the barrage into the River Rance.  It is strange to be inland after so many days on the coast.  The river is wide and peaceful and we were able to sail up slowly.  We spent a night at the marina in Plouer - attracted partly by the assurances in all three of our books (even Reeds) that Mademoiselle Lilian Faustin would ensure we were well looked after (she did) but also because they have a book swap in the office with English books - hooray! We wandered - or rather hiked - up the hill into the town, unfortunately it was half day closing but we managed to find a beer and the Super U to stock up.

Next day was a trip a little further up through another lock to Le Chatelier.  From here we abandoned Blithe Spirit in the marina and continued in the dinghy for three miles up to Dinan.  Dinan is a really pretty ancient walled town and we had a lovely afternoon wandering the streets and walking along the ramparts followed by dinner overlooking the river.

This morning we headed back down through the lock and back to the barrage.  Unfortunately we hadn't reckoned on the inability of the french to queue and we missed two openings of the barrage as they pushed their way past.  So we turned around and picked up a buoy outside St Suliac, another picturesque riverside village with a few simple shops and restaurants.  We cooked our dinner on the boat and then after watching the sun go down we buttoned up against the mosquitoes and went to bed.

Blithe Spirit, Port Vauban, St Malo

St Malo- Plouer-sur- Rance

We locked into first lock on the evening high water, about 7.50pm to reach the Port Vauban basin marina, which is just outside the ramparts of St Malo. I thought this would get us nicely berthed by 8.15, but the lock was busy , and quiet an experience jostling with all the other yachts squeezing in. We then had to wait while on guy in a dory found berths for all the new customers out of the lock. Those who could hold station at near the front got served first, whether they arrived first or not. Our boat wont stay still in the slightest of breeze so consequently had to keep moveing around, meaning we got served last. We rafted up to a Canadian boat just after 9pm then rushed straight into town for food. Luckily found one of my books recommended bistros down one of the narrow streets very quickly and had a very pleasent meal.
We left on the high water lock in the morning and headed up to the Rance hydro-electric barrage, where we just caught an open lock in time, or else we would have waited an hour, and run short of tide up river. Although it is fairly difficult to work out times and hights of tides as the levels are controled by when the turbines in the barrage are operating, which is not always to a set schedule.
We turned off the engine just above the barrage and sailed gently most of the way to Plouer-Sur-Rance where there is a very pleasent peaceful marina.

Another Picture from Iles Chausey - Blithe Spirit rafted up middle of picture

Chausey - St Malo

Had a good trip south from Chausey to St Malo. The south westerly moved round to the south and allowed us to reach the approaches St Malo with relative ease  rain although to windward. We were hit by a large rain storm as we were approaching the outer marks, and another one now as we sit on a mooring off Dinard awaiting tide for St Malo,s marina. But generally it's warm and sunny and is very relaxing listening to the tennis and all the other medels we are winning in the Olympics. Seems there was no need to worry about loosing 5 live down here!

We have come down here to lock into the River Rance and head inland up to Dinan, for something a bit different. We will do that tomorrow.

Iles Chausey

Stayed here one more night as was so beautiful. Weather not perfect, been a bit cloudy, but still warm and storm clouds and sunshine look amazing over the sea, rocks and Islands.

Iles Chausey

The second night in Granville was a bit  rocky with the swell bashing the boat about even in the marina.  In the morning the weather wasn't great and we were caught in the rain on our way back from the town.  All this did  not bode well for our planned next stop at Iles Chausey, an archipelago of mainly just rocks, with only shelter in settled weather.  We left Granville just as the rain stopped and barely ten minnutes before there wasn't enough water for the sill.  A brisk 7 knot sail took us over in an hour and 1/2, and we picked up a buoy.  The afternoon was lovely and we had a french lunch of good bread, good cheese and good wine whilst sunbathing on the boat.  Later on we explored the rocks, a maze of sandy beaches and weed covered rocks that appear at low water, and then went across to the main island - the sun stayed out until well into the evening so we were glad that we'd left the dinghy high on the beach (there's a range of about 12 m here) so that we could have a drink at the hotel overlooking all the moored boats.  It's beautiful here so we decided to stay another day.

Granville

Gorey - Granville

After a brief morning stop in Gorey to eat a crab sandwich and send our last UK postcards, we set sail.  The initial plan was to head for Iles Chausey but as we couldn't quite get the direction we set a course for Granville - our first stop on the french coast.  At first the sailing was lovely and we made a comfortable 7 knots through calm waters, once the engine was switched off, we continued to listen to the Olympics on Radio 5.  With excellent timing we turned on just in time to hear Bradley Wiggins taking gold.  This led to the bizarre situation of entering french waters whilst Harry raised our french courtesy flag, with the English National anthem from the medal ceremony playing in the background.

We passed Iles Chausey and then the wind began to drop.  With a couple of hours still to go before Granville we decided to try the Spinnaker.   By the time Harry had got it rigged - the rain started.  Il pleut toujours! The visibility closed in and though we were only about 4 miles from the coast we couldn't see anything.  The last bit of the passage was very wet indeed, but the marina at Granville is well sheltered and as we arrived the rain stopped and we got hot showers and a pizza which revived us.

Up early this morning due to a slight confusion over the time zone so have already had a lovely wander around the old town,  a nice coffee in a quiet square and a crepe in the town.  Hoping for some sun to relax in this afternoon.

Blithe Spirit at anchor off Rozel Harbour

Rozel, Jersey

Found a great Portuguese restaurant in St Hellier, and felt much recuperated after a lazy morning on Monday. We decided to leave the marina when there was enough water for the sill, to let our French neighbours out, but also to travel round to an anchorage on the East coast which would give us shelter fromthe South Westerly winds. We headed for St Catherines Bay, negotiating the rocky Violet Bank that juts out 4 miles from Jerseys South East corner.
We sighted dolphins on the way, but they didn't come over to play, so was unable to tell if they were the bottlenose that reside around here.
Picked up a vacant mooring in St Catherins Bay, protected by a large breakwater to the north, the land to the West and South West, and a rocky reef to the South East. Unofortunatly we then heard a wind warning for strong winds from the south in the channel overnight, which would undoubtably mean southerly wind for us, although not so strong. This proved to be the case and although the wind did have a little west in it it did manage to send some swell over the reef, which meant anouther lumpy night. It was worst in the early morning when the wind died down but the boat laid to the swell which rolled us a little. So as sonn as we could manage we moved to the next Bay round and found some more protection, at the expense of poor holdng on the rocky ground for the anchor. but we got it dug in and had bit more sleep.
A hot sun burnt it's way through the heavy grey clouds, and by the time we got ashore at lunchtime the tourists were arriving in the sleepy little fishing village of Rozel. It was a lot more inviting than it first appeared at  8.30am. So We booked into the fish restaurant on the front for the evening, which means we'll be staying here tonight. There is not much else here other than the restuarant, a tea room, and the Hungry Man kiosk, but it's all we need. It now feels hot enough for a swim, shame I,ve just eaten a late breakfast!

Dixcart Bay, Sark

St Hellier

Having trouble posting, especially pictures, as much as we would like. However after a realxing day, taking some hired bikes o a beach, on Guernsey we set off for Sark on Saturday. A few hours brought us round the South of the island to Dixcart Bay, only open to the South and South East, so with winds from the West we thought we would be in for a quiet night. On returning from a walk through the dense wooded valley up to the Stocks hotel for drink, we found that the bay had emptied of other boats bar one- did they know something we didn't? Probably.
The Westerly winds managed to whip round the South of the Island and create an onshore wind in the bay, which kept the sea rolling in. Added to this there was an occasional gust from the west down though the valley which blew us side on to the waves. Fortunately none of this was too extreme, and the anchor held, but we rolled enough to keep us awake.

Today was a 4 hour sail with a strong beam reach west about Jersey to St Hellier. Cool conditions on the water with a cold westerly, but hot sunshine awaited once we were in the shelter of St Hellier marina- We soon feel asleep in the cockpit after rafting to a French boat.
It's the same on land with a cool wind blowing in but hot when the sun is out. Possibly the sea is cooler than normal after May/June sunshine hours, and is cooling down the air, even though we are having quite a lot of hot sunshine

A good rest for a couple of days, to make up for Dixcart Bay, before we head on South for St Malo, depending on wind direction.

Beaucette

Blithe Spirit farthest boat, to left of Union Jack. You can see the narrow entrance into the marina, which is an old quarry.

Briony Asleep In The Alderney Race!

Briony Asleep In The Alderney Race

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Yarmouth - Beaucette, Guernsey

We're officially on holiday!  We arrived at Beaucette Marina at 9.30 yesterday evening after our (well my) longest passage ever - 91 miles, 17 hours from Yarmouth.  Setting off at 4.30 am seemed very early, but it was worth it to perfectly time our arrival at the Alderney Race which looks very calm in the picture.  Conditions were good for the crossing - we motored at the start for several hours, then managed an hour with the spinnaker before the wind moved forward and picked up and we were on a beam reach for most of the rest of the passage.  We were also able to receive radio 4 and the English coastguard  all the way across - result!  The shipping channels were quiet - we only saw about although there was a lot of radio traffic, we didn't see many other yachts, however on the approaches to Guernsey we saw a Malo 36 which we took an interest in as my Mum's cousin Phil has one and we always look out for him (but never see him) in the Solent.  Amazingly it was his boat Kaprys - we tried calling on the radio and catching up with them but didn't manage to make contact and they went in to St Peter's Port.  Despite several phonecalls we couldn't contact Beaucette Marina but took a buoy outside to wait for the sill to be passable, the passage between the rocks seemed very narrow but the size of the boats inside suggest that we won't have any trouble!

 On arrival we were greeted by a family who also keep their boat in Portsmouth who helped with our lines and gave us a glass of wine: a lovely welcome after such a long trip.  As usual there were a couple of points where I was wondering why I choose to spend my holiday feeling so rubbish, but after 12 hours sleep, a hot shower and a cup of coffee I'm looking forward to the rest of  the trip.

Briony didn't mention that we are heading for Guernsey today, hence the early start. Should be there this evening, but we are hoping some wind will kick in to speed us along. At the moment we are motoring in a very flat sea, with the sun rising on our port quarter.

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A very early start from Yarmouth - up at 4.30 - so already on my second cup of tea before 6 am. After a busy day getting ready in Gosport, we spent the first night of the trip at anchor in Osbourne bay. Miraculously, Harry caught 3 fish on the way so our first dinner afloat was fresh mackerel - lovely. It was beautiful the next day and by the time we left, there were a lot of other boats basking in the hot sun. We motored against the tide to Yarmouth where we filled up with diesel, enjoyed a drink (or two) overlooking the harbour, and bought fish and chips for dinner. All going well so far apart from the demise of my kindle, good job I packed a couple of real books too!
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