Blog 02: 17-24 June – Across the Channel

So at last we’re off! The weather on Saturday was lovely and sunny and the forecast good. Not much wind for sailing, but perfect for a pleasant and easy Channel crossing under engine.

As we leave, Poole Quay looks very attractive with a brilliant blue sky and sunshine …

The sea is pretty calm as we go past Old Harry and his wife – what a contrast to when we arrived in Poole!

In fact the English Channel was like a millpond – how often, I wonder, is it as calm and blue as this?

We headed for the Channel Islands and anchored off Sark for the night. The Channel Islands are notorious for strong tides and you have to time it right to make sure the tide is with you, not against you. Going through the Alderney Race, the tide got up to nearly 5 knots – the boat is doing 7.8 knots, but our overall speed is 12.5 knots with the tide. It’s not often we do that sort of speed – but here’s the proof!!

It was calm enough to set the table in the cockpit and have a civilised dinner in the middle of the Channel – much better than the usual cup-a-soup when the weather’s rough!

After a night at anchor off Sark, we set off at 5.00am to complete the crossing …

It turned into another amazingly calm day with blue skies and sunshine. Time to relax and read in a deckchair on the back deck …

… and enjoy a pleasant lunchtime anchorage off Les Sept Îles waiting for the tide to turn in our favour again …

Finally we got a little bit of wind and managed to sail the last part of the Channel crossing …

… and celebrated our arrival in Roscoff in the usual way!

First thing the following morning, there was a little job to do re-reeving the flag halyard halfway up the mast – an interesting way to start the day and a lovely view from up there! And it’s surprisingly comfortable sitting in the ‘bosun’s chair’ and being raised using the spinnaker halyard …

Roscoff Marina is a large, modern, efficient marina right next door to the ferry port – a nice, safe haven, but nothing quaint about it! We have been here before, but never actually had time to venture into Roscoff itself. So this time, I got out the folding bike and headed into the town – and what a nice surprise! It’s actually got an interesting and attractive old part, and is also a holiday destination with nice beaches and attractive holiday homes.

This was my first view of the town of Roscoff …

This is one of the old streets …

… and this pretty little house was decorated with onions hanging (to dry?) on its walls.

When the Church of Our Lady of Croaz-Batz was built around 1520, it was right on the shoreline of that time. Nearby was the quay for the ferry to take passengers to the island of Ile de Batz. The church was named after a cross on the quay – Croaz-Batz in the Breton language, which is very like Cornish.

The Renaissance Belfry was erected in 1576 and is an early example of a double gallery belfry, with two levels of bells, which are numerous in this region.

The main altar is a highly decorated and elaborate work of art by Guillaume Lerrel in 1684 with dolphins, cherubs, twisted columns and vine tendrils all combining to be rather over-the-top and perhaps not to everyone’s taste – however you can’t help but be impressed! There are two side doors set into it, which look like part of the decoration, but lead into the Sacristy.

Later we had dinner in a local restaurant and enjoyed a view of the marina in the evening sunshine …

Tuesday 20^th June – Roscoff to L’Aber Wrac’h

An early start and we left the marina in the half light of dawn …

… and navigated a tortuous route through the myriad rocks and islets of the Chenal Ile de Batz …

Once out at sea we could get the sails up, but not for long before the wind dropped and we had to motor-sail …

… and arrived at L’Aber Wrac’h Marina in the early afternoon.

It was stiflingly hot, so we put the bimini up, had lunch and read and dozed in the cockpit until it cooled down a bit …

Later when it cooled down we went for a walk along the coast – L’Aber Wrac’h is another attractive little holiday place, with a sailing school and plenty of water sports activities …

Wednesday 21^st June – L’Aber Wrac’h to Ouessant (Ushant)

What a difference a day makes! We woke to a thick sea mist – this is the marina at 7.30am …

But this is the same view an hour later – such a change …

This corner of North West France is notorious for foggy weather, but we left for Ouessant in glorious sunshine and excellent visibility and hopeful of a good passage. However by mid-morning the ‘sea mist’ had rolled in again – in fact it was more like thick fog, a real ‘pea-souper’!

To be honest, most of the day we could only see about 50 metres ahead and a couple of fishing boats and a yacht suddenly appeared out of the gloom as if from nowhere. Apart from that, we didn’t see any other vessels even though they were only a few hundred yards away! Quite scary in a way, but it would have been no easier to turn back, so we carried on. Thank goodness for modern navigational aids – we were using GPS, radar, an electronic chart plotter and the AIS system to identify other vessels IF they have it fitted!

It was also freezing cold and damp – I had four layers on, plus waterproofs, hat, scarf, gloves etc – and only yesterday we were too hot!!

Anyway we made it safely to Ouessant and anchored in Lampaul Bay, which was quite nice and calm and a bit clearer, although still grey and rather forbidding-looking.

Thursday 22^nd June – Ouessant

Again, what a difference a day makes! We had the most fantastic weather for our one full day in Ouessant – we were so lucky to see it at its best, and it is certainly a beautiful and charming island when the weather’s perfect!

We went ashore and wandered around the lanes of the small town of Lampaul and beyond – lots of walls had flowers tumbling over them. There are hardly any cars here – only residents are allowed to have cars – so the roads are lovely and quiet.

We just kept walking and were soon in open countryside with views over Lampaul Bay (where we’re anchored) and the town beyond …

All the houses on Ouessant seem to be built to exactly the same design, whether old or new – square cottages with a chimney stack at each end – and there are some very pretty gardens with lots of hydrangeas

There are banks of wildflowers too, and such a clear view out to sea – when we arrived yesterday we could only see this island when we were almost alongside it!!

Back in Lampaul, the Church dominates the town and seems very big for such a small place …

It’s another example of a double-gallery belfry, like the one I saw in Roscoff, with two levels of bells

Inside it’s fairly plain compared to the elaborate gilded decoration in the Roscoff church …

After a delicious lunch in the Crêperie du Stang, I hired a bike and set off to explore the rest of the island. There are still a lot of smallholdings and small-scale farming, in particular the raising of the indigenous sheep which are allowed to roam freely during the breeding season.

This is a typical traditional homestead which has been turned into a museum …

The traditional Ouessant houses had no interior walls; instead the wooden furniture was ‘built in’ to form partitions as well as useful storage and bed spaces (behind the curtain). The furniture was often made of wood gathered from wrecks and painted to hide the imperfections, often blue and white to put the house under the protection of the Virgin Mary!

The house was separated into a kitchen end and a parlour – in the Breton language the word for parlour “penn brao” means “the pretty room” and this is where all the family’s most treasured possessions and best plates would be displayed. The balls hanging from the ceiling are not Christmas decorations; they are heavy balls of glass and mercury which the sailors brought back as souvenirs. They are symbols of fishing and they represented the men of the house who were away at sea.

Back on my bike, and I continued to the North West corner of the island. The coast this side of Ouessant is much more rugged and quite spectacular. It’s also very treacherous for shipping, and the surrounding rocks have been the site of many wrecks, the most famous being the Drummond Castle in 1896 when all but 3 people were lost.

There are six lighthouses around the island, the best known being Créac’h, which has one of the most powerful beams in the world with a reach of 80 miles.

It is also the home of the ‘Museum of Lighthouses and Buoys’ – in 1823, Fresnel’s invention of one light source being refracted in all directions via cut glass segments was installed in the Cordouan lighthouse …

It replaced the previous system of having many individual oil lamps reflected by parabolic mirrors, like this one …

The most absorbing bit for me was the film of lighthouse keepers from the 1940s onwards being transferred at the beginning and end of their period of duty. This is such an inhospitable bit of ocean – sometimes it was incredibly rough and the rocks so close as the boat transferred them using a ‘breeches buoy’ suspended by a rope over the broiling sea – it looked absolutely terrifying! Nowadays the lighthouse is automatic, but people still have to go out there to do maintenance and clean the glass prisms.

I then walked along the footpath towards Pointe de Pern, the most Westerly point of mainland France and enjoyed the spectacular scenery …

… and wildflowers

I cycled back to Lampaul to return my bike via lovely, quiet country lanes, past this old wooden and stone windmill …

… and this pretty little tumbledown cottage with roses rambling all over the roof.

Friday 23^rd June – Ouessant to Sainte Evette

Back to greyness today, but at least the visibility is good and it looks very calm as we let go from the mooring buoy …

That was deceptive though – as soon as we got out of the shelter of Lampaul Bay, the effect of different tidal streams meeting caused a most unpleasant motion and big waves …

Fortunately it didn’t last too long and we were able to sail or motor-sail most of the day, so it was quite a good passage. There must have been some sort of NATO naval exercise going on as half a dozen warships passed quite close to us, including the USS Arlington, an amphibious transport ship, which didn’t have AIS so we couldn’t see it on our plotter – I’m glad we didn’t come across this great hulk when we could only see 50 metres in front of us the other day!!

The weather gradually improved and got quite warm and sunny …

By the time we reached the Raz de Sein – a notorious bit of sea for its ferocious tides - it was a beautiful day and the Raz de Sein was a ‘pussy cat’! The most benign bit of our passage – unlikely but true!

A glass of ale to celebrate getting through the ‘notorious’ Raz de Sein!

Creaming along the coast under full sail …

Approaching Sainte Evette …

A walk on the beach and a nice view of the anchorage …

Saturday 24^th June – Sainte Evette to Port La Forêt

Another early start – 6.00am – but so nice to see the dawn over Sainte Evette …

… and the lovely light shining on the boats …

Enough wind to sail today, which was nice. We anchored in Les Îles Glénan, one of our favourite spots, for lunch …

We almost got mixed up in a big sailing race, but we managed to keep out of their way, and were glad we weren’t trying to get to Benodet which is where we think the race finished! Here they are going downwind with spinnakers flying …