We collected the boat and set of from Plymouth in very fine weather at around 6pm on the Monday.
It went very cold during the night but the Tuesday dawned clear and bright. We continued along at just over 6 knots, reaching the French port of Camaret in the late afternoon. Here we had our first of the many French meals to come and also found a good store to purchase a hose pipe and several metres of narrow line, both of which were not on the boat, presumably because it was so new and had been chartered very little before us.
Having been fed, watered and rested overnight we then set off with the correct tide for the "Point Du Raz" and began the long leg down to the start of the Gironde river.
We eventually arrived a little early at the mouth of the river and found that we were making very little progress against the outgoing tide. There seemed to be no point in wasting gallons of fuel to make such slow progress so a suitable anchorage was found for us to wait until the tide turned.
Once this turn had taken place we travelled up the river with the tide doing well above10 knots over ground in some places. This pace up the river meant we were still far too early to enter the marina at Pauillac and were forced to anchor again until the flow was slack.
Pretty well on time we entered the marina and tied up on an available pontoon.
The next day was spent in an interesting way for Jan, David, and myself as we caught a bus to Bordeaux and walked around the city, had a ride on one of the trams to the station, and finally caught a train back to Pauillac.
Having collected our first extra crew member,
Don, at Pauillac we then departed on the return trip and called at the small port of St Martins on the Ile-De-Re. This place had what we described as a certain "wow factor"
and will surely be revisited in the future with a longer stay maybe than a single afternoon.
Next stop was La-Rochelle where we would collect Ian, another new crew member.
The marina at La-Rochelle was very crowded but we did manage to find space where we could stay overnight and get a fuel top up the following day.
Then it was off to Les-Sables where we would collect our last member of the crew, Bryden's daughter Simone.
Next stop was Belle-Ile and the charming little port of Sauzon at the Nothern end of the island
a place I have been several times before but still completely enjoy.
Across then to La Trinity to top up with water again and get stores from a supermarket before entering the vast expanse of the Morbihan.
However plans were dashed a little here as after stopping at anchor overnight we had intended to visit one of the small towns using the dingy. The weather though had other ideas and it would have been dangerous to attempt a landing. We therefore headed into the haven of Port Du Croisty to ride out the storm overnight.
With the weather moderating nicely the following day we set out again, this time for Concarneau as the tide would not be suitable for the Point-Du-Raz until the next day. Once again a nice resteraunt was found and a good meal enjoyed by all of the crew
Then a good sail up to the Raz which was fairly calm when we arrived to pass through once again to Camaret. This would be our last night in France before setting out for Plymouth and returning the boat to the charter company.
The channel was fairly calm for the return crossing and after a little light rain at dawn the sun came out as we got nearer to Plymouth, arriving at around 16:00 which was an hour earlier than we had predicted.
Finally some cleaning up of the yacht and it was returned in good condition to the owners.
John Essex July 2005
So where to next year?? Watch this space and the answer may appear in the future.
Meanwhile click on the wheels below to see some of the pictures from our voyages.
Why not leave a message in our ships log before you go? ===>
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