A Week (or so) in Concarneau
The 12 nm trip to Concarneau was uneventful – we departed Loctudy, when the tide had risen sufficiently, into a flat calm day where the sails never saw the light of day. We set 2 waypoints along the leading line into Concarneau, but its daymarks were clearly visible from well off – confirming, if nothing else, that the waypoints had been set accurately as the autopilot steered us the last mile or so into Concarneau, keeping the daymarks bang in line.
Dolphins, Le Guilvinec & Loctudy
Dolphins come to play………..
Le Guilvinec was not on our radar until we chatted to a young French sailor in a bar – he said we shouldn’t miss it – a large harbour with little in the way of visitor moorings, but a very interesting working harbour, where fish can be purchased from the trawlers (so he said). Indeed we read that 17% of France’s fish is landed here.
Chenal du Four, Camaret, Raz de Seine & Audierne
Heading around the corner in benign conditions
We had waited 13 days in L’Aber Wrach waiting for the strong Westerlies to subside – and when they did they calmed down dramatically and went round to the East. There was not enough wind to sail and so we motorsailed the whole 36nm trip. The sea was calm as we passed the Four lighthouse……
L’Aber Wrac’h was better than we thought…
We had read that L’Aber Wrac’h (hereafter “L’AW” as it’s a bit of a finger-full) was a busy crossroads for yachts arriving from all points of the compass en route to/from Biscay, England and other parts of France – sitting as it does on the tip of Brittany and a good place to time a passage through the Chenal Du Four – but it is said that there is not much there. We had intended to stay for only a day or two before heading on to Camaret.
Crossing La Manche
A nearly perfect crossing…..
We had crossed the English Channel by sail once before – from Southampton to Alderney, then back again, at the end of October, overnight, through the shipping lanes and in a gale. We thoroughly enjoyed that experience with a pro skipper (from BOSS) on board, but wanted something a little less taxing for our first venture on our own, with Calypso.
Losing our Virginity in Falmouth
Our rafting virginity, that is!
We were able to leave Plymouth at civilised hour – and at 09.05 on Sunday 28th May we radioed the lock and passed straight through. We hoisted the mainsail to give some stability but winds were mostly too light to turn off the engine and we motored almost the entire 42 nm to Falmouth, other than for a 2 hour sailing stint.
Plymouth Again – but NOT in the Haven!
We had initially thought that we would revisit either Dartmouth or Salcombe, but in the end, with France still some way in the distance, we opted for another long day’s sail (well, motoring, actually) and press on to Plymouth.
As usual we timed our departure to have the tide with us most of the way. Fortunately on the 24th May this was 09.00 am – just after breakfast, how civilised!
A Brief Break in Brixham
We were keen to get to France after being delayed by Westerlies in Weymouth. We did, however, want to stop in Brixham, which we missed on our way to Southampton last year. We understood it to be a very picturesque harbour.
Waiting for the wind in Weymouth (with Woger – weally!)
…Before escaping to Brixham to rest the liver…
We stayed longer in Weymouth than we would have ideally wished – 11 nights in total, until the forecast wind no longer had any West in it and we could head across Lyme Bay.
We described Weymouth as a cross between Whitby and Scarborough – here is the Whitby bit:
Hamble Point, Yarmouth and Weymouth
We watched a good week of easterly winds go by as our departure from Hamble Point was delayed by ………Thrustergate!
We made the most of the good weather by walking firstly into Hamble village for a farmers’ market and the following day to the Solent boat jumble at Netley, 3.5 miles up Southampton Water (and picking up a few bargains).