Sailing (drifting) across the Bay of Quiberon on a beautiful if windless day

-

After the business of the lock , the tranquility of the Bay of Quiberon was wonderful. We only had around 25 miles to do and had a very gentle sail / motor across.
Quiberon itself is a pretty place with a wonderful, soft, sandy beach - had a very pleasant swim - with an eagle eye out for jelly fish - it's that time of year unfortunately. Found a lovely little crepe restaurant with a picturesque garden, where better to try the very traditional Breton curried mussels!!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our first overnight at the top of the River Auray at Le Bono

-
Image
We moored on a convenient buoy and took the dinghy up to the centre of Le Bono. It's a really pretty spot and well worth the visit. One of it's claims to fame is that it is the final resting place of the legendary French sailor Bernard Moitessier (who sailed in his boat Joshua in the original Golden Globe alongside Robin Know Johnston in 1969. For French people their sailing heroes are like rock stars - rather unlike the UK !
Read more

our final sailing day before we return to the UK at the end of the week - and it was a perfect day

-
Image
We decided to leave Port Haliguen to allow ourselves time to sail the length of the Bay Of Quiberon and to be at the entrance of the Vilaine for the tide and to catch the 14.00 lock opening. The weather was kind and we had an excellent 4 hours close reaching with full sail across the bay at between 5.00 and 7.50 knots. We could not have asked for more perfect conditions. It was also a very pleasnt 26'C We arrived at the lock to enjoy the usual French scrum to get in but once again it all seemed to work out fine and we emerged to the tranquil waters of the Vilaine. We decided to motor a mile or two up river and to anchor in a particularly nice spot we'd identified on our way through before, and found ourselves in the Beneteau owners club - 1 on either side (but well-spaced!) Anchor down and first swim on the day . The river is as interesting colour, well, river water but the temperature is really ideal. Not too cold but still very refreshing. We have had 2 swims this ...
Read more

The Raz de Sein and St Evette - now we really are in Southern Brittany

-
Image
I have to admit that we rounded "the Raz" with a feeling of some relief. It has a fearsome reputation (see youtube !!) and needs careful planning and navigation. The day dawned misty with visibility less than a mile. Should we leave Morgat ? We wanted to continue south and were concerned that if we left it another couple of days the neaps would become springs and the tide around the raz would become that much stronger - but we cant really see very far. We waited as long as we could and then left , hoping that the 3 hours it takes to reach the raz would give time for the fog to lift. Unfortunately as we progressed it just got worse. We saw one other boat but then when we looked again it  disappeared into the mist. We looked on AIS and the boat was called "Jubilare" and seemed to be approaching the Raz with some confidence so we decided to continue. Nearing the point of no return when the current would make going back impossible we committed and happily the fog lift...
Read more