Once again we loaded the boat to the top with all the nice things Sal's mum likes and headed for Guernsey. The crossing was as usual a nice sail with the wind in the NW but a large swell that kept us rolling. While in Guernsey we caught up with friends and family and were kept busy with all their news. We met up with Jason Wood a very good friend of ours we had'nt seen for 5 years and he and his girlfriend Aga a polish girl kept us amused with all their tales. We didnt get the chance to go to Dielette this year as weather and time didnt alow it. The Guernsey sea festival was cancelled due to bad weather but it was no loss as it has turned into a regatta for snoby racing yachts. We saw the last night of the proms on a big screen in the marina and a firework display after.All very nice. We left Guernsey with a good forcast of NW 2-3 and 2-4' swell only to find after 5 hrs we had a SW 2 with a 3.5 metre swell from the NW so turned back and left on the sunday after that and had a wonderfull sail back to Treguier. We got in after the office shut and left in the morning before it opened but left the money for the night in the office post box too many people try to get away without paying which we feel is not good for the others that sail in the area.Now back in Morlaix for the winter we have logged 621.7 miles in varying degrees of wind,rain and sun but all in all a good summer. We are asked by alot of people why we dont go father afield our answer is we have sailed Feels Good from alicante in spain around the Spanish and Portuguese coasts and find now I am getting older we like to day sail around the brittany coast which we still consider to be one of the most beautifull in western europe. Dont be in a hurry to head south you will be missing a treasure chest of beauty with some of the most interesting and friendly people you could meet.
One morning we found it was blowing a full gale and the swell running in the aber entrance was running about 4-5 metres. An english solo sailor came in and told us he was picked up on a wave at the first port marker and dropped by the east cardinale mark that has to be 300 metres and he was surfing at 14 knots he said he had'nt been so scared in all his atlantic crossing. I think people forget that L'Aberwrach is on the NW end of Brittany where you can get big swells and is open to the worst of the atlantic winds. A good point to remember. We left L'Aberwrach for Morlaix in a nice beam reach which saw us through the Isle du Batz passage at LW (scary) and up the river in time for the first lock 1.5 hrs before HW Morlaix. On arrival we saw that our friends Clive and Jenny Smith from Veronica were there for the summer so caught up with their news.
We go to Camaret quite alot as its probably our favourite place. This time we were kept there because of bad weather which was to plage us all summer. We met a lovely dutch couple Louis and Karen and Mipy the cat (14 years old) they were on their Hans Christian 42' heading for North Spain for the winter. They felt like us that life is for living and its quite a suprise when you realise how little you can live on when you try. There was another Dutch motor yacht there but in another class 90' long and costing €11,000,000 a little out of our class but the owners and crew were very nice. We decided to go up to Port Launay which means that we leave Camaret at low water and head up the L'aune river about 30 miles to arrive at Gully Glas locks at HW. we arrived in company with 2 other french boats to find no lockkeeper so one of the skipers knocked on the lockkeepers door to see when he would open only to be told he wasnt opening that night. because of this we had to head back down river back to the anchorage at Terenez as you are not permitted to navigate the river above this point after dark. On the way back we saw a british yacht making her way up and told her to turn around as there was no lock. We all just made it back to Ternenz to anchor for the night by the old navy boats for a quiet night. The next day we headed back to Camaret to make a formal complaint as we felt the lockkeeper had put 4 yachts in a possition of danger having to navigate an uncharted river after dark. We had some good weathr in camaret so could catch up on the washing and clean the boat. After waiting for the gales to drop we decided to go no further south but would head back up to Morlaix.
Next stop was Pontrieux 14 miles from the entrance to the Trieux River you go up the river to Lezardrieux then further up under the bridge and then a further 7 miles up one of the most beautifull rivers in Brittany passing under the famous Chateau Roche Jagu then on up to the L'ecluse (Lock) at Pontrieux where the Lock keeper is waiting for you to be let into the river basin where you tie up alongside the quay. On arrival the harbourmaster Stefan 1 asked us if we wanted to stay for 10 days as we could then stay for the rest of the month free also if we wanted a yearly berth for our 9.6 metre boat at €450 for the year. We declined as we have a yearly berth in Morlaix €960 per year. Waking up to the sounds of silence and the ducks and swans asking for breakfast was wonderfull. There is a market town just 10 mins walk from the marina and a supermarket that will deliver to your boat also there is a little english B&B that has internet access and doesnt charge but a cup of tea and a bun is cheap so why not help his trade. You can get the train to Paimpol from the station which is 2 mins from the boat and costs €2 but I got a reduction as I am over 60 a bonus but you have to ask for it.
