Nick and I had sailed ‘Aquitaine’ in several ‘hops’ from Levington (Ipswich) to Brighton with the ultimate destination being La Rochelle where I intended to base her that season. It had been a useful shakedown voyage with the chance to check everything was working. I had then moved Aquitaine to Poole.
Vernon had been tasked with provisioning whilst Nick and I busied ourselves with refuelling and tidying all loose items ready for our departure. Vernon arrived at the pontoon with 2 shopping trollies full of ‘useful’ provisions including Arrowroot biscuits and lots of fruit to prevent ‘Scurvy’… and powdered soups and well, actually £189 worth of ‘stuff’ for our proposed 3 nights at sea! Vernon is a Doctor and both Nick and myself felt reassured we would not die of hunger or dehydration (12 large bottles of water + the 420litres in our tanks would ensure we would not go ‘thirsty’…)
Our log shows ‘ Departure Poole 1050, yacht now sitting 3cms below ‘normal’ waterline due Vernon’s provisions…!’ We turned off the engine at 1125 and set sail 225degrees towards the North Brittany Coast and settled into our 3hour ‘watch’ routine.
At 1830 we adjusted heading to 250 degrees until midnight when we altered heading again to 223 degrees. At 0130 we saw lightning towards the Northwest but no thunder or rain.
At 0900 the Navtex spurted out a Gale warning for Biscay and this changed our plans. We decided to divert to L’AberWra’ch and proceeded to review the navigation sequence and tide. At 0930 we were ‘buzzed’ 3 times by a French Coastguard aircraft before realising I did not have the VHF ‘on’ and as soon as we called them they said they were looking for yacht ‘Sarah’.
By 1400hrs we were navigating the entrance to a very inhospitable looking L’AberWra’ch. Grey with breaking seas and quite a sinister looking place. We tied up alongside ‘Esprit’ a Moody moored to the only available visitors buoy and after inflating the dinghy made our way ashore to ‘L’Escale’ Café for food and a couple of beers. This was probably the most dangerous part of our trip, especially the return journey at night, the tide runs fast here!
Upon our return we noticed a yacht ‘Sarah’ had tied up alongside another smaller yacht nearby but nobody was on board. We waited a day but the forecast got worse and eventually we left Aquitaine there and got a train to Paris and then London having given away a lot of our perishable provisions to our neighbouring yacht!
It was a couple of weeks before I could get back and the weather forecast was suitable. RLB and I flew to Brest but ended up remaining tied to the mooring as fog and drizzle persisted. So much for the forecast. Again the most risky part of our trip was the dinghy ride ashore and particularly back at night in fog! Eventually I got back and the weather was ok and we routed along the coast through Le Chenal Du Four where we were accompanied by Porpoises and into Camaret Marina. Again the weather deteriorated and I ended up leaving her again and flying home to ‘re group’.
Finally the weather stabilised and routeing Morgat and then Douarnerez and thereafter Raz de Sein to Audierne spending an uncomfortable night on a visitors buoy with the sound of the sea crashing on the reef nearby. Departing with the intention of non-stop to La Rochelle we encountered a Fog bank and diverted to Benodet where I spent the next few years exploring that part of the beautiful South Brittany coast and offlying islands.
Benodet offers a couple of excellent Marinas. Sainte Marine on the West side and Le Port de Plaisance de Penfoul on the ‘Benodet’ side of L’Odet where I keep my current Beneteau 36cc.
Benodet also has a couple of excellent seafood restaurants. Notably L’Alhambra (my favourite!) where we can pull our inflatable dinghy up the beach in front of the terrasse with a fantastic view across the mouth of L’Odet. It is quite nice sitting there with Pink Clams from Iles de Glenan in Garlic with a bottle of Bandol watching the sunset! And La Croisette near the port for Moules and Frites where you can sit outside for lunch and watch the traffic in the river.
Flying to Quimper takes around 3hrs in PA28 or 2hrs in PA32 routeing towards Wing then SAM,ORTAC, through Jersey Zone and then Iroise TMA to ARE. It is a relatively straightforward flight and several clients have done it with me for the ‘experience’! Usually we spend the night ‘on board’ and fly back the next day. During the Summer Quimper has Customs otherwise we have to drop into Cherbourg each way which usually only takes 15mins. The landing fee at Cherbourg at the time of writing is Euro 12 and Landing and overnight parking at Quimper Euro 23 with a Euro 40 taxi ride to Benodet.