TripSailor.com® Sailing Blogs

<!— @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } —

26^th May 12nm

We slipped our mooring at a civilised 1000 and motored out into the bay. It was relatively quiet compared to the traffic on our arrival. We set full sail and enjoyed our best sail of the year so far. After turning east after a couple of miles we had the wind just aft the beam for a few hours gliding along at 3 to 4 knots. No tidal gates to negotiate, no worry about depth on arrival at our next port, bliss. The entry into Concarneau was straightforward in the good conditions. We tied up to a pontoon on the north side of D, only to realise that we were blocking half the channel, so warped out and tied up on the south side where the channel between potoons is about twice that on the other side. A phone call from home informed us of worrying results from Linda’s recent blood test, and we decided to return home for further investigations.

After a lot of research on the internet we decided the best option was to travel south to Nantes for a flight to Leeds. Three buses, three trains two taxis and one flight all flowed smoothly for once and we arrived home, having brought the sun with us.

Morgat to St Evette

23^rd May 26nm

As the wind was forecast to die during the day we allowed plenty of time to arrive at the Raz de Seine at the end of the north going flood tide. It worked out well and we were abeam La Plate within 15 minutes of our planned time. As we headed south the wind did drop to near nothing and we motored on to St Evette picking up a buoy. The bay was very calm with hardly any swell to disturb a very peaceful night.

St Evette to Benodet St Marine

24 th May 33nm

We left St Evette about 0730 the next morning with the promised east wind making for a fairly fast sail across the bay towards Pte dePenmarc’h and more fine examples of Brittany’s rocks scattered around ready to catch the unwary. The quiet sail was a contrast to the hive of activity in the approach to Benodet. We had not realised this was a bank holiday and all the locals and quite a few visitors were making the most of the sunshine by taking to the water. We saw a vacant berth on the visitors pontoon at St Marine and took the opportunity to tie up, in time for a late lunch. We watched the world go by for a few hours

The next morning Ronnie and Glennis arrived tying up on the berth immeditely astern.We had a few drinks in the cockpit that evening, before we set off for Concarneau the next morning.

21^st May 19nm

The weather was smiling on us again as we left Camaret in a sunny NE 3 to 4. We had a very pleasant sail south in gentle conditions. Arriving in Morgat was like being transported to the Med, with clear blue-green water and a long beach backed by wooded hills. The temperature was mediteranean too. We enjoyed a couple of days relaxation in the sun, and met up with Ronnie and Glennis on Quarante again.

18^th May 36nm

With light winds forecast, and reasonable tide times we decided to go for the Chenal du Four. Geoff and Liz from on Surf Song waited near the start of the Chenal and we sailed south in company, very pleasant. Even when the wind was almost non existent and near slack water there was still a lot of w churning about under the keel. As we approached the Rade de Brest the sun came out and the wind picked up enough for a decent sail to Cameret.

When we tied up on the wavebreak we were joined by Ronnie and Glennis for a reviving cuppa.

After a fairly rolly night on the wavebreak we moved across to a pontoon nearer the middle of the harbour. We spent a pleasant evening on Quarante and realised we had similar plans in generally heading south in a leisurely fashion, making for the far side of Biscay this year.

The trip to Cameret saw the exhaust smoking worse then ever, time for action. After picking the brains of everyone who would listen, contaminated fuel was suspected. The smoking had become gradually worse and the fuel consumption was approaching double the normal rate. A long hot day was spent emptying then cleaning out the fuel tank. The inside of the tank had a liberal coating of black slime, particularly in the hard to reach corners of the baffles. More trips along the pontoons with fuel cans, to the entertainment of all, saw the tank filled with fresh and treated diesel. It was worth the effort when the engine ran with a nice clear exhaust.

Dave returned to Alphora to move south to France. After a few days wait for suitable weather another boat manoeuvering in the harbour snapped off a stanchion. It was a bank holiday and everywhere was shut. The Marina staff were, as ever, very helpful and found an engineer and welder who made a new stanchion before lunch the next day.

Guernsey to Trebeurden

12^th May 72nm

Dave set off at 0455 for the sail across to France. Once again the sea was flat and the winds light and variable. Just right for the first single handed trip for a while. It was a long day mostly motoring, especially the last 10 miles or so against the tide. After negotiating the winding entrance channel into the marina the crew from Rosabella kindly took the lines and we were safely in France. It was interesting to look at the approaches to Trebeurden at low water the following day,

must be challenging in heavy weather.

Trebeurden to L’Aberwrac’h

14^th May 51nm

Despite a good forecast the sky was a deep red as Dave left Trebeurden as the sun was rising. The wind was the forecast southerly F3/4, making for a smooth and quite quick sail as far as the Ile de Batz. The weather then pulled a fast one, the wind went SE and quickly built to about 30 knots, with wind against tide the sea became lumpy very quickly. Just as the boat came nicely head to wind to put a reef in the main the autopilot belt snapped, jamming the wheel. After a quick wrestle steering was resumed. A few goes at tying the wheel and using the Hyrdrovane to keep head to wind failed in the bouncy conditions. As soon as a wave knocked us off course the boat speed rose too much to control with the wheel locked. The genoa had also decided it was time to not furl fully, making for an interesting mess of wrong sails for the conditions. After several attempts to stabilise things the best compromise was to motor sail with the sails sheeted right home, keeping close enough to the wind that they were not really pulling but not flogging either. The wind kindly dropped as we approached Libenter West Cardinal mark, as did the visibilty. The approach into L’Aberwrac’h saw things calm down nicely. The sight of Ronnie and Glennis from Quarante on the wavebreak ready to take lines was most welcome.

The autopilot belt was replaced and the genoa reefing easily sorted in about an hour when tied up at the wavebreak, both jobs that were not even worth trying in a strong wind in a lumpy sea.

Linda flew into Brest the following day, so it was a day on the buses and a couple of days relaxation before we set off for Camaret.

27thApril 25nm

Dave and Linda returned to Alphora on 20^th April then had a few days sight seeing and boat fettling before sailing to St Helier on the 27^th. We had a very steady slow motorsail across in mist and fog for the first half of the trip. Our recently fitted AIS was put to good use enabling us to make an early detour around the track of a large and fast ferry heading north We found it helpful to know the speed , heading and direction of turn of another vessel before we could see it in the murky distance. The weather gradually improved as we neared Jersey and it was hot sun by the time we moored up.

29th April 28nm

We decided to return to St Peter Port after a relaxing day in the sun on Jersey. The return trip was uneventful in a gentle wind with a flat sea. We had a wait outside the entrance to Victoria Marina for the depth over the sill to increase. Linda was not feeling well so we flew home the following day.

Starting Cruising 2010

The first leg was from our winter berth in Port Solent to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight, with Dave and Edd on board. An early start at 0530 on 7th April was rewarded with a very pleasant sail down the Solent with the forecast winds S 3/4 actually materialising. Topped up with fuel and did a lot of those last minute jobs that are often left till after the last minute.

Bright and early start the following morning saw us passing Hurst Castle about 0600 in sunshine, but with little wind. We had a fair sail until about half way across the channel when the wind died. After a couple of hours motor sailing the engine decided to reduce its revs to a slow tickover. After playing with the controls for a few minutes we realised 1200 rpm was all that could be maintained for any length of time, and assumed a blocked fuel filter. We decided to press on for Braye Harbour on Alderney about 4 ½ knots, in the fortunately flat sea. We shared a visitors buoy at Braye, being early in the season there were only about 15 buoys laid. A smelly couple of hours saw the fuel filters changed, system bled and engine fired up and running well. A late supper and a good nights sleep saw us well set for the short trip to St Peter Port on Guernsey.

We entered a relatively benign but still churning Swinge at 0900 the following morning, once again in sunshine, but very little wind. We did manage to sail without engine for about half the trip to Guernsey. This was the first real try out for our new genoa which pulled really well in the SE of about F3. This is a 125% sail, replacing our previous high cut Yankee which coped well in anything over F4 but left us crawling in light airs. After a couple of hours on the waiting pontoon we went into Victoria Marina and headed for the nearest curry.

Edd had to return to his other life as a farmer so we flew home for a crew change.