Blog 03: 25 June-1 July – Port La Forêt and the Golfe de Morbihan

Port La Forêt is at the head of a secluded, drying creek where in the old days oysters were cultivated and cherry and apple orchards surrounded the traditional village. Then came a 1000 berth marina – but surprisingly the quiet ambience of this pleasant spot has survived! And probably the income generated by the marina and its associated businesses – bars, restaurants, marine engineering and sail repair companies, etc – has helped the village to thrive.

In any case Port La Forêt is a delightful place with a beautiful beach as well as an attractive village and all the day-to-day services you need close by. This is important on a boat, as you are limited by not having a car – you need to get all your shopping locally and carry everything back.

We also don’t have a washing machine on board, so this was an opportunity to catch up on the laundry in the marina’s very efficient laundrette. But it wasn’t all domestic drudgery! This is how we passed the time waiting for the tumble dryer to finish!

The first day dawned bright and sunny and the marina looked at its best – the big ocean racing boats in the foreground have been, or are about to go, around the world …

It’s a lovely walk along the creek to the village …

… where we found the Sunday Market in full swing!

… a market with a beautiful view!

… and some delicious looking food stalls.

This is the town church …

On the way back we came across a little sort-of amphitheatre created by grass and stone terraces. The brass band was playing enthusiastically, and it’s obviously a place for locals to gather on a sunny Sunday, so we stopped and listened for a while – everyone was enjoying the music except this border collie who obviously doesn't care for jazz!

I was amused by the little girl toddling across the front of the stage - her parents were obviously playing in different sections of the band and she trotted from side to side several times during the performance! No-one seemed bothered – it was all very relaxed – and her parents just carried on playing without missing a note!

We walked back to the marina along the other side of the creek which gave us a good view of the village of Port La Forêt …

I spent a couple of afternoons on Kerleven beach – beautiful, clean white sand and the sea was lovely and clear and warm enough for a swim …

I’m very happy to spend hours on a beach with a book when I get the chance, sunbathing and swimming – but Charles finds beaches boring and sandy!! For some reason, he’d rather fix the engine or do some other job on the boat!

Back on the boat we had another visit from ‘The Pidge’ – a pigeon with attitude which has been visiting us regularly while we’ve been in Port La Forêt, looking for food and a convenient loo!! Sort of annoying, but we also got quite friendly with him – he was so tame – perhaps a racing pigeon who was lost or resting as he had tags on his feet …

Sunset over Port La Forêt Marina on our last day …

The following day we left pretty early and had a long day of passage-making to reach the shelter of the Golfe de Morbihan before the expected strong winds arrive. We had to motor at first …

… but gradually the wind got up and we had a glorious goose-winging sail along the west side of Ile de Groix ...

This is the view looking up at the sails and mast from my sunbathing position on deck!

We only took the sails down when we reached the tricky waters of the Morbihan with its strong tides, swirls and back eddies. This is the swirling water off Port Navalo at the entrance to the Golfe de Morbihan …

It was a nice sunny day and the Morbihan looked very pretty – it is a beautiful estuary with many islands including some inhabited ones. It has been described as similar to Poole Harbour, with strong tides and shallow patches, except that if you get it wrong you’ll hit rock rather than sand and mud!

In this picture the ripples and whirlpools are caused by different tidal streams meeting and being forced through narrow passages between islands and rocks – at times the speed of the tide can get up to 8 knots, so you need to make sure you arrive at the right time so the tide is with you rather than against!

Our favourite island is Ile d’Arz, not least because it is the home of our friends Amanda and Yves, but also because it is a lovely, peaceful, unspoilt island with hardly a car. We anchored off the jetty at Penera in the evening sunshine …

… and it all still seemed nice and calm at bedtime …

Unfortunately, the forecast was right and the good weather didn’t last – it became unseasonably stormy for June in this part of France. It was quite rough and choppy even in a sheltered anchorage! And to cap it all our outboard wouldn’t start! Charles had a go at taking it apart and cleaning things, but to no avail!

The weather was very changeable; much of the day we had grey skies and winds gusting up to Force 7 with squally showers, but then suddenly there’d be a brief outbreak of sunshine, a rainbow and a pretty view like this …

Eventually the following day, when the wind had died down a bit, I rowed ashore and took the outboard to Stephane on the island, who knew everything about outboards and was just the right person to sort out the several different problems for us.

Even when the weather is not so good Ile d’Arz is still a charming spot and we enjoyed our few days there. Ile d’Arz is a small island and you can cycle or walk around its 18km coastline easily. Rather a grey, gloomy view today …

In better weather, there are lovely beaches and lots of opportunities for water sports. There’s some local farming and you can buy milk, yogurt and cheese fresh from the cow! The community was originally based around fishing and there are still some charming fishermen’s cottages, many of them now holiday homes …

… interspersed with a number of larger ‘Captain’s Houses’ – this is Keriane where we enjoyed catching up with Amanda and Yves …

Quite a few of the houses have a mysterious door on the upper floor …

This front porch is an ingenious way of putting an old dinghy to good use!

Ile d’Arz was not looking its absolute best until just before we had to leave! While we were enjoying lunch on our last day in Amanda and Yves’s garden (all wrapped up in jumpers and jackets!) …