Sainte Evette - playing the waiting game

Anita mooring the boat in the fog

Monday.  Well, Derek did make it back to the boat in time for us to leave on the morning tide today, but as we motored down river the fog closed in and by the time we had reached the river mouth at Sainte Evette, visibility was down to less than half a mile.  We picked up a buoy next to our friends Richard and Rowena on Galene to wait for the fog to clear. By midday it was still thick, so we went online to see whether it was a local problem and found that it was stretching across Biscay, and is forecast to remain for another three days!

Fully loaded with water, baguettes and folding bike

Wednesday.  The fog has finally cleared, but has been replaced by very strong south westerly winds (ie, head on for the direction we want to sail). It looks like the wind won’t ease and turn west until the weekend, so once again we’re playing a waiting game.

We’ve made the most of our few days in Sainte Evette, getting on with boat tasks, taking the dinghy across to the slipway to top up with water, have coffee in the little internet cafe, and exploring the local area. We even braved the foggy ‘mizzle’ to walk the  couple of miles back up the river to Audierne for an excellent lunch at the creperie. Cliff and Derek chose what they thought was a two course set menu of crepes with Brittany sausage followed by apple cider ice cream, and were rather surprised when it all arrived on one plate! However both pronounced it a delicious combination.

Breton recyling - a true boat house!

Friday. Note to self, take heed of warnings in the nautical almanac. Of the moorings at Sainte Evette it says: 'in strong SE-SW winds swell intrudes and it is very uncomfortable'. We had 35mph SW winds last night and despite some protection from the breakwater, the resulting swell made it very bumpy on the mooring. The boat rolled violently from side to side, the wind whistled through the rig and the waves crashed against the bow and slapped against the stern. Trying to sleep in the aft cabin was like being inside a washing machine. Eventually Cliff and I moved to the main saloon where the wave slapping was replaced by a cacophony of sounds: the braced mainsheet vibrated with a low hum, wires in the mast jingled to and fro, the genoa lines slapped against the deck and from somewhere aft there was a constant jingling.  None of us slept well, and when we got up this morning we decided to seek shelter back up river in Audierne.  We are now safely tucked up in the marina and hoping that wind and waves will reduce enough for us to start our Biscay crossing tomorrow.

Audierne



Richard and Rowena enjoying the sun

T shirts out at last!

The sun came out when we arrived in Audierne and we put on t shirts and shorts for the first time. Our mooring on the end of the pontoon gives us an excellent view of the activity on the river and we’ve enjoyed lazing in the cockpit watching the world go by. Rowena and Richard had decided to stay down in Sainte Evette to make the most of the free moorings but walked up to visit us and arrived just in time to share our French bread and Breton pate.

The port of Audierne - Sandpiper is on the end of the first pontoon

The Chateau at Audierne

We’ve heard people say Audierne is one of their favourite towns and we can see why. The architecture is typically Breton with shuttered slate roofed houses, some dating right back to the 17^th and 18^th centuries. The river banks are lined with white sandy beaches and an impressive chateau sits across from the town on the wooded hill. It has a long history as a fishing port and still has a thriving fishing industry today. Yesterday we bought fish from the market and barbecued it on the back of the boat. Today we walked out to Sainte Evette and had an excellent lunch of Moules with Richard and Rowena in a little restaurant overlooking the estuary.

We’re planning to leave for Biscay tomorrow and Derek was due back from the UK tonight, but all hasn’t gone according to plan. His flight was delayed and he missed the last train out of Brest, so he’s staying in a hotel overnight and setting out at the crack of dawn to catch a train and two buses to Audierne. We're keeping our fingers crossed that he will make it back here before the 9am deadline for leaving the port on the morning tide.

Camaret to Audierne

The Vauban tower at Camaret

After a night in Camaret on June 19 we set sail again towards the next rocky channel, the Raz de Sein. I was already nervous about this passage as the pilot book was full of warnings about the potential hazards of the Raz, and this wasn’t helped by Cliff’s insistence that I look at a You Tube video of a small motor boat being flipped by rough seas mid channel! In reality the Raz was a pussycat with hardly a wave in sight, and we had another brilliant sail all the way down to the port of Sainte Evette where we picked up a buoy for the night.

We had now reached our jumping off point to cross the  Bay of Biscay, but the weather Gods were still against us, showing gale force winds in the  bay for later in the week, so the next day we decided to motor up river to the town  of Audierne and stay in the marina for a few days. Getting up river proved more hair raising than going through the Raz. The river is only navigable around high water, and the pilot book gave clear instructions about following leading marks to avoid hitting the shallow banks on either side. The problem was, visibility was poor and we couldn’t see the leading marks! Cliff and Derek insisted all was fine while I panicked as I watched the boat zig zag in and out of the channel on the chartplotter. Of course, it was fine and we reached the marina without going aground.

Yesterday Derek decided to head back to the UK for the weekend as it looks as though the next ‘window’ for the three day sail across Biscay will be on Monday or Tuesday next week.  

L'Aber Wrac'h

Sandpiper in L'Aber Wrac'h

We stayed in L’Aber Wrac'h for six days waiting for fair weather to sail down to S Brittany. To make this passage we would have to sail through two rocky channels with fierce tides and potentially dangerous sea states, so it was important to get the weather and timing right.

In the meantime L’Aber Wrac’h was the perfect place to wait. Our friends Rowena and Richard arrived on their boat, Galene, the day after us, and we managed to spot them in time to give them a welcome toot on the foghorn as they sailed into the port.

Galene finally arrives 

Our mooring had stunning views of the Aber Wrac’h  bay and the islands off it,  and (in between the rain showers) we enjoyed some great walks up the river and round the bays and headlands. The port has an internet café, basic provisions and good choice restaurants, we had an excellent seafood meal at L’Ecailler des Aber. However the supermarket is in the town of Landeda - a 20 minute walk up a very steep hill - so we quickly worked off any additional calories!

Unspoilt beaches around the peninsular

On June 18 we headed out of L’Aber Wrac’h accompanied by two other British boats, Galene and Tumbalong, and sailed down the first of the two channels – Chenal du Four. We timed the passage to coincide with slack tide and with a gentle wind the Channel was no problem at all. As the wind picked up we had a brilliant sail on a broad reach down to Camaret.

Calm seas in the Chanel de Four

Left Plymouth in pouring rain at lunchtime on Monday, had a wet and bumpy sail for the next 19 hours, but arrived at L'Aber Wrac'h in Brittany at 8.30 this morning in glorious sunshine. Very pretty port in a sheltered estuary. Now on our way to stock up with French bread and pâté.

On our way

12th May, a rather premature leaving party!

27th May, we're finally off

Sandpiper leaving Gosport

After three weeks living on the boat at the Royal Clarence Marina in Gosport we finally left to head for the West Country on 27th May. We were given a truly Royal send off by our good friends Richard and Rowena who were also berthed at the marina and about to set off on their own adventure.

We had hoped to leave earlier but had completely understimated how much there was still to do. This included connecting up the solar panels that will provide our power, installing an inverter that will allow us to use the laptop (and my hairdryer!) at anchor, a wi-fi booster aerial to ensure we can keep connected, mosquito nets for the hatches, fans in the cabins....the list seemed endless.

Our first stop was anchoring overnight in Studland Bay, a good test for our new Spade anchor, which held well. The next day we set off at 4am  for a long sail in gentle winds down to Dartmouth, and the following day continued on to Plymouth, our departure point for France.

We had expected to have to wait a few days for a weather window to cross the channel, but it's actually been almost two weeks! We have kept busy getting more things done....I had imagined sitting out on deck reading a book in the good weather, but whenever it's been fine Cliff's toolbox has had pride of place in the cockpit as he tackles yet another job. The most challenging was fixing a winch that completely seized. We had visions of having to spend around £600 to replace it,  but a strategically placed blow torch expanded the metal and allowed him to take it apart.

Work of art? Actually it's the mole grip attached to the centre spindle of the winch


 Our new rail mounted BBQ has been a big hit

 I'm hoping the next post in this blog will be from France, as it looks as though we finally have the right conditions to cross the channel to L'Aber-Wrac'h. Our friend Derek has joined us for the trip, and we should be setting off tomorrow.