This summer holiday we have already predetermined the destination for a change ... we really want to go to Southern Brittany this summer ... and that's why we'll have to wait and see if the weather will cooperate in the first week. That's certainly the case because five days later we're after having sailed over 475 nm and after nice stops of a day in Guernsey and 'l Aber Wrac'h in Bénodet and thus in Southern Brittany.
We sail around for more than two weeks in Southern Brittany with the Gulf of Morbihan as our furthest point. The weather is lovely, we can sail a lot and the distances are clear. Nice that we finally met the Indian Summer in Lorient. The food is delicious. We realize this all the more when we visit the English south coast on our way back home and notice how lousy the English food is, especially for lunch. In Brittany we eat fresh crunchy baguette every day, regularly a crêpe for lunch and tasty oysters as a starter in the evening. We don't meet many foreign tourists, they're mainly French.
Highlights include the islands of Île d'Houat, Île de Groix, Île d'Arz in the Gulf of Morbihan, the river Odet and the caves at Morgat on the way back. Nice small islands and/or beautiful anchorages. Belle Île is also beautiful but a bit too touristy for us. The weather is absolutely fine, lots of sun during the day, warm enough to be able to swim and lie on the beach and at night it cools down and we sleep under the duvet. We use the dinghy a lot, also for longer distances and then the 15hp engine is very nice. The least nice thing is that Toine suffers quite a lot from a gout attack in his toes of the right foot. This starts in Lorient and is only over on the way back in Morgat.
The way back we do in three long trips along the English south coast. The first part we sail 150 miles in 25 hours from Morgat to Dartmouth in a pitch dark night but all sailing. We stay there for 12 hours and immediately sail on to Wight and spend two nights in the cosy marina of Yarmouth. The last stretch we sail 200 miles in 30 hours from Yarmouth to Vlissingen and then on to a beautiful anchorage on the Veerse Meer. There we spend the last night and the last day we sail with beautiful northwest wind to Bru. In total we sailed 1240 miles, sailing 5 times a night, 15 times in a marina and 10 times at anchor or mooring. It is a wonderful holiday with nice weather, a lot of variety and different sail finishes/sail directions so we get to know the sailing behaviour of the SeaQuest better. A good choice to go to Southern Brittany this year.
The holiday from day to day ... we leave Bru on Friday 17 July at 2 p.m. and sail via the canal through Zuid-Beveland on the Westerschelde. Pieces of sailing and meanwhile juggling in the kitchen for the vegetable lasagna of HelloFresh which tastes very good. In the vicinity of Breskens around 10 pm the current stops and the wind starts blowing a little harder. Why sail on now? We have plenty of time and so we can pass the trough first. We slept a couple of hours in the marina of Breskens and at 5 o'clock we went back up through the North Sea along the Belgian coast through the Channel. With a lovely sun, fairly flat sea and a weak wind against. Around dinner we pass Calais with a lot of ferries around us. Without any effort we all take up the rhythm and our activities as we are so used to sailing. In the night from Saturday to Sunday we cross the Seine Bay. A quiet night with hardly any shipping around us. The girls walk together for the first time a watch from 22 to 24 hours. Sitting outside together and listening to music. Nice to hear! The night goes very quiet. And so another 24 hours has passed.
On Sunday we quietly tuck on, still on a fairly flat sea with very little wind and sunshine. Beyond Cherbourg through the Race of Alderney. There we reach a speed of 14.5 knots with a current of 6 knots! A flat sea, but a lot of 'violence of nature' in the form of currents around us. We sailed straight through the 'fleet of Ocean People' and entered St Peter Port on Guernsey around 7pm. The jetty in the outer harbour is now connected to the land, so it's a great place to be. We have a nice dinner in a nice tent.
On Monday the 20th of July we'll stay a day at Guernsey. We make a walk from St Peter Port to St Martin's Point in the south-east. Beautifully through the woods along the coast and in the south over the high cliffs. With the bus back is also an experience through the narrow streets with all walls and hedges on the side. In the evening you can eat out again; nice eateries there in St Peter Port!
The harbour is getting fuller and fuller, but most of the people around us are leaving on time, just like us the next morning. It is nice and sunny and we are getting ready for a sailing trip to Northern Brittany. We don't know exactly where to go yet, we'll see. The first two hours on the motorbike until we are around Guernsey. And then the engine is switched off and we sail with Bft 4 from the west and current high on the wind to the coast of Brittany. Lovely sailing! Once we reach the coast at the end of the afternoon near Trebeurden, we tack and then the current starts to resist and the wind blows a bit harder. Not nice to continue sailing so time for a tee-stop and so we decide to drop anchor behind a deserted island off the coast that is not in the pilot but where more boats are moored. A bit open, so not so nice for the night, but fine for a short stop so we can lay still and eat. After dinner at 10 p.m. we continue on the engine along the coast against the weaker wind to 'l Aber Wrac'h. Then the girls can have a good night's sleep and tomorrow we have a day on land. It is a pitch dark and eerie night with the occasional heavy swell. Not really a nice trip for us but the girls sleep through everything.
Just after it gets light we sail into Aber Wrac'h at 6 o'clock. Once at the jetty we crawl into our bed for a few more hours of sleep. We have a lovely day in 'l Aber Wrac'h ... a small village on a river with a lot of activity around us from the local sailing school. The sun shines all day long. We have lunch with a crepe and after that we take a nice but brisk walk along the estuary. Once back on the boat we deserve a drink.
The next day we leave early for a trip of eventually 90 miles all the way along the western tip of Brittany. Through Chanel du Four and Raz du Sein and also around the tip of Penmarch to Bénodet. Again the whole day on the motorbike in the sun against very weak winds. So a lot of motor hours, but we assume we can sail a lot for the rest of the holiday and the whole way back. Now we have to get to the south of Brittany before there is a strong wind next weekend. And we have succeeded! Benodet is a nice little town on a river with a strong tidal current. We arrive at 9.30 p.m. and pick up a mooring.
We'll make a good night. And the next day a lovely day in Benodet. Around lunch we take the dinghy to St Marine to pay for the mooring and look for a baker and a supermarket. They turn out to be closed between 12.30 and 15.30 hours. Then there is nothing else to go for lunch at a nice little tent on the water. Delicious food ... real French baguette with cheese, sausage, salad and some oysters and a glass of white wine. Really enjoy! Then with the dinghy on the river but all the way until Quimper is too far. A beautiful river with a few castles on the shore and nice anchorages. We save that for next time.
On Saturday the 25th of July we sail down the river to the sea after Marinthe and I first bought some delicious crispy baguettes and oreo cookies in St Marine with the dinghy. We agreed with the Indian Summer to meet each other in Lorient. It is quiet weather with lots of sunshine while in the Netherlands code red is issued due to a very rare July storm. We sail with a calm sea and the genaker on the 32 miles to Lorient. On the way the girls can sunbathe. A wonderful sailing trip. At the end of the afternoon we arrive in Lorient and there we are immediately welcomed by the Indian Summer and the Villa Mare, two boats that are also in Bru and the Indian Summer is also an HR48. In Bru we never managed to meet each other. A cozy place! First having a drink together and then eating out. We stay for two days because it is a bit less weather with a lot of wind and the first morning only rain.
We're lying fine and cosy next to the Indian Summer. Our boats are almost the same (only a few months difference in age) and it's very nice to discover some differences and to exchange a lot of experiences, both of us learning useful and fun new things. A museum visit with the three boats is planned for Sunday afternoon, but when we get there after a long hike it's so crowded that we're not allowed in anymore. So we have to buy tickets for tomorrow. Once back at the boat of course we have a drink and a chat. The girls have nice contact with Donald and Charley from the Indian Summer who are of the same age.
On Monday we get up early and this time we take the dinghy to the museum. That's a lot faster. There is hardly anyone there yet and we can do all the attractions right away like in a simulator of a fast racing cat with big waves and getting really wet! Then a visit to a real submarine and the indestructible bunkers for a whole fleet of submarines made by the Germans in the 2nd World War and paid for with French money. Very impressive ... Lorient had a hard time during the 2nd world war and had to be evacuated from 1943. Once back on the boat Madeleine, Toine and I go by bike to the sailing shop and a large supermarket. In the evening bread with cheese because the lunch in the museum was already firm. Finally an evening drink while the girls watch a movie at the Indian Summer. And so we had two very nice and cozy days!
On Tuesday the 28th of July the Indian Summer and the Villa Mare return to the north and we continue a little further south, to Belle Île. An excellent sailing trip of 20 miles half wind bft 4 and a somewhat restless sea. We arrive at Le Palais just in time to be able to enter the town's marina around high tide through the lock. We're fine there, a bit noisy and busy around us, but nice view and we're lying still! In the afternoon it rained a bit and we stayed on the boat. After dinner we make a short walk to the fortress designed by Vauban (a diligent owner who designed many forts along the French coast) with a nice view over Le Palais.
The next day we get up early because we rented a car. We drive around the whole island and that is easy to do in one day. First to the north to Sauzon and to a beautiful lighthouse on the point with next to it the ruins of a big house of Sarah Bernard, where in the 19th century dances were held for painters like Monet. Then via the rugged northwest coast back to the south. A beautiful coast, but very busy with many tourists. This kind of coastline we have seen in Scotland at least as beautiful and then with a lot less people. So we are spoiled 😉
We have a real Breton lunch ... a bit too much for the crepe Toine orders ... Andouillis de Griminez sits on it and it stinks of nausea. Let's google ... it turns out to be gastrointestinal sausage stuff with a very pungent smell that not everybody likes ... well indeed, not eating it. We know that again. After lunch we drive to a nice beach and for the first time this holiday we lie on the beach and the girls swim in the sea.
At the end of the afternoon we left the harbour at high tide and after an hour of sailing we dropped anchor in a beautiful large bay on the east side of Île d'Houat. There are many dozens of yachts, but there is plenty of room. A very nice spot ... that invites for BBQs. The wind is good and the first night we sleep well.
Île d'Houat is 4 km long and 1 km wide and fun to walk. Unfortunately Toine starts to get more and more gout attacks in the toes of his right foot. This is quite painful. So we take it a bit slower and make only a small hike. The girls are fine with that because then we can go to the beach all afternoon. Toine takes us and stays on the boat and we have a great time. Marinthe even goes for a run along the beach. And of course BBQ again, only this time with greasy merquez sausages less successful.
The second night is also a lot worse. We should have taken a closer look at the weather forecast and then we would have known that the wind would turn until right into the bay. Then we could have been a lot calmer in the bay around the corner. But we didn't and together with dozens of other boats we had a very restless night with a lot of sea going into the bay. We are still relatively quiet compared to a lot of other boats. We didn't get much sleep and the most challenging thing is to get the dinghy with engine out of the water on the SeaQuest with the high swell. Luckily that goes fine ...
The beautiful sailing trip of 1.5 hours to Trinité-sur-Mer high on the wind and a calm sea makes up for everything. Really enjoy with the beautiful new sails. Trinité is a nice place where Toine can go to the doctor for medicine for his gout and the girls and I can shop well for very nice dresses for the girls and a t-shirt for me. For that we also pay a lightning visit with a tourist train to the menhiers in Carnac.
I was there a long time ago with my parents. We are lying next to the Elegast with a Dutch couple that has 3 months time for this area. They get checked by customs and have to pay €150 because they don't have a valid ICC certificate. Good thing they don't check us. In the evening we go out for dinner, with oysters growing in the river as an appetizer. After dinner we have a drink together with the Elegast crew at a small tent where music is made by two men in the style of Elvis Presley. Accompanied by the 'blue moon' which is beautiful in the sky; blue moon is the rather rare phenomenon that for the second time in one month it's a full moon.
The next day we take it easy because we can only enter the Gulf of Morbihan around 2pm due to the strong current, especially close to spring tide. It is a nice spectacle to sail with the current into the bay. We find a nice anchorage in the south of the bay where we are all alone. The area reminds us of parts of Chesapeake Bay, but also of the Swedish skerries and a bit of Lake Veere. Once at anchor we take the dinghy to the beach. A bit of rocks but nice water for swimming. And in the evening on the boat again BBQ's and after that we watch the movie 'Into the wild'.
We stay another day in the Gulf and in the morning we first go to our 'private beach'. Then we move on to Île d'Arz. An inhabited island of 4 by 1 km without cars. With a nice little Breton village and beautiful beaches. Toine's toes are getting worse and worse, especially after a walk that was just a bit too long. At home those anti-inflammatories do help, but not here. That's why from now on there are no more hikes and also no alcohol at all, because the latter seems to counteract the effect of the medication we read.
Monday, Aug 3, we sail out of the Gulf again and begin the "return" journey. We sailed under Quiberon back to the northwest to Île de Groix. Half wind force 3-4. A day of rest on the boat will do Toine good. We arrive at around 14:30 and are lucky .... the harbour is full and there is certainly no room for our size boat.
We'll anchor outside the harbour, but that's quite a roll. Just when we want to sail away, another boat leaves and we can stay anyway. At the jetty where some fishing boats are moored and in front of the lifeboat. A great place! We reserve scooters for tomorrow and get fresh oysters in the harbour as an appetizer. Lovely! It is a cozy place in the harbour, the ferry sails off and on and has just room to turn around right in front of us. Île de Groix is a very nice island. As far as we are concerned, more fun than Belle Île. It is smaller with few cars and mostly cyclists.
The fact that we rent scooters is mainly for the foot of Toine, but actually also very nice and luxurious. Sometimes a bit exciting (finds Mira) on unpaved small paths with that style going up or down with lots of stones. We drive via the north coast to the west point where there is a beautiful lighthouse and the waves are rough on the rocks. We have lunch at a small tent with crepes (fromage et sucre). Toine just has to get some cash to be able to pay. Then we pick up our swimming gear and go to the most beautiful beach in Europe (that's what the guide says). Well it really is a very nice wide dunes beach with beautiful light blue water.
In the evening we eat on the boat with tasty fries. Next to us is a French boat with four small children in the age of 0-4 years. Pooh, we give them to do it. A very nice day! On Wednesday Aug 5 we sail a little further northwest to the river Odet. It starts at Benodet and runs about 10 miles inland to Quimper. A trip of 30 miles with very wide winds bft 4 and a very confused sea with annoying high waves from behind. Not such a nice trip because of that. We do see orcas or whales spouting water, have a white abdomen but not a tail like whales, so that is why we think it could be orcas. A very nice sight.
Those annoying waves make us all cranky and especially me (Mira). Especially when in the evening the cheese fondue fails completely and becomes a thick lump of plastic. Probably because of the cheese. The spot where we are lying makes up for a lot. A very nice anchorage 8 miles up the river in the woods with some nice houses on shore. We lie there alone and it is completely quiet around us.
The next day we take the dinghy to Quimper, 2.5 miles up the river. Quimper is an old Breton tourist town. A bit cluttered and a bit busier with the weekly market in the old part of town. We walk around a bit, have lunch and return to the SeaQuest in time. With the dinghy in plané and current we are there in no time. It is nice and sunny and the water is warm so nice opportunity for a nice swim around the turning point. Also the second evening and night is pure enjoyment in this area. It is a very clear night with many stars.
Then it's time and the right weather to go north again. We sail 90 miles from Bénodet to Douarnenez, flowing around the tip of Penmarch and through the narrow passage of Raz du Sein. The first part is nice sailing. Then a very large part on the engine with little wind. Again we skip Audierne, just like on the way there. We will never include that in the planning again. Once we have reached the tip of Raz du Sein in the direction of Douarnenez, with half to high winds, we can sail for another three hours on a flat sea.
In Douanenez we moor next to a belgian boat with a nice couple from Antwerp. We meet them again later on Wight. We end the day with a nice dinner.
Saturday the 8th of August we sail a very small part of the bay to Morgat. We have heard from the Indian Summer that there are beautiful caves here where you can take the dinghy. Because of the northern wind, it is a good anchorage for the night as well. They are indeed very beautiful caves and also the beach is beautiful. We enjoy it extra because we know that this is the last beach day with really nice weather. The coming week it will be a bit more changeable and it is also time to sail home. A nice anchorage always includes a BBQ, with the last marshmellows roasted on the BBQ for dessert.
The next morning we leave at half past seven as soon as it is light. We want to sail in one piece to Wight about 200 miles. That way we cut the way back in two, because from Wight it is another 240 miles back to Bru. We sail the first part on the engine against light wind until we pass Chenal de Four and round the west point of Brittany. The wind comes from behind and is light (3-4 Bft) and we have to find the best sailing position.
Genaker doesn't work, eventually we end up with reef 1 and cutter bucket on the tree. There is a large seaway and therefore with this course (160 degrees) it swings back and forth quite a bit. Do we have to keep this up for more than 24 hours? We don't feel like it, so we sail a bit higher and head for Dartmouth, a bit more to the west in the south of England. With this course (120-130 degrees) and sail position it sails a lot better. We sail all day and night and arrive in Dartmouth at 7 o'clock in the morning.
It's a pitch-dark night with regular fog fields around us. A bit of 'spoekie' because you can't see anything outside and it's completely reliable on radar and AIS. Luckily that goes very well, also crossing the shippinglane. Once in Dartmouth we crawl into bed for a few more hours. Dartmouth is a beautiful English town with an impressive entrance between high hills with a castle on both sides. After 'breakfast' we take the water taxi to the shore. We want to make a walk to the point but notice that we didn't eat enough. So we walk into a pub ... what lousy lunches the English serve, especially if you're used to France. Thinking about it like that there are so many cultural differences between French and English. So the food isn't much, but the surroundings make up for a lot. We make a nice walk of two hours to the castle and overlooking the sea. Then it starts itching again; we still have 300 miles to go home. Tomorrow the wind will be against us and tonight not yet.
That's why we leave for Wight at 6pm. It is a beautiful evening and night with a calm sea and a very beautiful starry sky. What a difference with yesterday's night. Around 6 o'clock in the morning we sail past The Needles and a little later we arrive in Yarmouth. The harbour is full so we first moor outside the harbour and go to sleep for a few more hours (until noon). The girls sleep so long as well, so we have a shifted rhythm. We can enter the harbour and are in a good spot next to a HR46. In the afternoon we take the open hop-on hop-off double-decker bus that drives around Freshwater Bay and The Needles.
Another lousy lunch in Freshwater Bay. At The Needles we see the Antwerp sailors again. From The Needles we walk back over beautiful heather with blackberry bushes and ripe blackberries. The last part again by bus. In the evening we eat a sizzling sirlion steak in a real English pub. Nice concept; order your own food at the bar and get your drinks there. Dinner is a lot better than the lunches.
We stay another day because the wind is strong and we have some doubts about what to do. Another place on the Solent or stay there easily. We choose the latter and on the advice of our English neighbour we take the bus to the south of Wight. That's too far and too long in the bus we notice, so we continue from Newport to Cowes. Good choice, because it is Cowes-week and that is nice to see. For the rest just a long ride in the bus. What is the right time to leave for the last part to the Netherlands? There is a low pressure area through the canal with thunderstorms and around those showers there is a strong wind and for that low pressure there is still wind force 5 against. Especially I (Mira) find that exciting and afterwards I don't really understand why, because the whole trip is nothing.
We leave Thursday morning at half past 12 (after our English neighbour 'finally' threw up). The first part is above Wight against the wind with rain but straight through more than 8 different sailing races of the Cowes-week. A spectacular sight. Especially those fast trimarans. Once past Wight it doesn't rain anymore and also further on we don't get any rain and certainly no thunderstorms over us. It is still some wind against, but the wind subsides against the evening and the sea is fine.
In the evening and night we motor along Beachy Head and Dungeness to Dover. Just past Dover we cross the shippinglane and then it is already 6 o'clock and it gets light. The crossing and the first part along the belgian coast is nice sailing. The promised ZW Bft 4-5. But not for long ... the wind drops completely and we motor over a flat sea all afternoon to Vlissingen. The sea and light have strange colours. The water is greenish and the skies dark blue (with rain) interspersed with light blue and sun. The rain falls especially far around us and almost not on us.
Probably because the sea is so flat we see a few times dolphins and a seal catching a big fish. What a zoo; we have never seen so much on the spot. Around 5 pm we entered the lock at Vlissingen. We decide to sail on to the Veerse Meer and look for a nice anchorage there. The canal, with five bridges and two locks, is pretty smooth and at 8.30 pm we are at a nice spot on the Veerse Meer. In the evening it rained very hard and with thunder and lightning.
The last day we sail with northwest wind Bft 4-5 all the way back to Bru. A nice sailing trip to conclude. With a lot of rain in the afternoon. We have a chat with the Indian Summer and then we go home with a dinner at the japanner at the end of the holiday.
As mentioned above ... it was a wonderful holiday!!!!