Brest -> Paris

Moulin Blanc marina

It's our last chance. All week we've been threatening to get Laura out of bed with the foghorn. It's now or never. We give her a short blast, and it turns out to be quite effective! She is not impressed. I'll have to remember that one for home...

Breakfast, and then we have to pack our bags and tidy up the boat before we leave. We have a few towels hanging out to dry on the lifelines, but Richard spots a black cloud and suggests we bring them in. Five minutes later it's raining! I get out the hose and re-fill the water tanks while Laura does the vacuuming below. Excuse me, can you repeat that please? You heard it right! Is Richard "Super Nanny" or what? 

Eileen and Laura proudly receive their RYA Competent Crew course certificates! Bravo!!! We thank Richard and say our good-byes. Then grab our bags and head up the long visitor's pontoon. There is a café - restaurant in the marina called Le Tour du Monde (owned by Olivier de Kersauson, apparently) so we decide to stop for a coffee and a croissant. We are in no hurry as our train isn't until late afternoon. We watch Richard leave from the balcony, he's heading back to Camaret. I'm very impressed by his single-handed departure in the windy conditions, and then I think jeez, maybe we should have helped him instead of sitting here sipping coffee? Too late now!

La Tour Tanguy, and the lifting bridge on the right

The plan is to do a bit of sight-seeing in Brest, have lunch, and then catch our train back to Paris. We find a bus stop and figure out which one will take us to the Maritime Museum. It's in the château overlooking the entrance to the Penfeld River which is also part of the Naval Base, the Arsenal de Brest. We're trying to figure out where the entrance to the museum might be, but all we can see is a security check-point. We go over and ask the guard, but unfortunately the museum closes for the winter and won't re-open for another few weeks. I ask if it might be possible to visit the Château? No. Naval personnel only. 

It's turning out to be quite a nice day, and we walk out towards the lifting bridge, the Pont de Recouvrance. I'm keen to walk out onto the bridge but Eileen is tired of hauling our bags around. She and Laura wait with the bags while I take a walk out onto the bridge to enjoy the view. 

Le Château

We spotted a nice looking restaurant near the end of the bridge and decide to go back for a closer look. "Au Deux Tours du Château" turns out to be a very good choice, and would probably have a great view if it wasn't for the tram works going on right outside. 

Time to head for the train station. We'd like to find a bakery first to get some train food, and then get a bus to the station. We walk and walk and walk but don't see a bakery anywhere. Finally we spot one and stock up on food. Now we can't find a bus stop and it's getting late. We are really tired of hauling bags, but we're also afraid of missing the train so we walk to the station. Sore feet all around...

We catch our train, the TGV leaving Brest at 16:46 and arrive in Paris Montparnasse at 21:11. We did it. We survived the storms, the Titanic, the Costa Concordia, and the Ile des Morts. And now I have a competent crew!

Brest Château -> Moulin Blanc

Even the big boats are getting tossed around!

Today Laura learns a new word - hoolie. As in "It's blowing a hoolie!". The tide is higher now and there is less shelter from the breakwater. The boats along the pontoon are seriously heeled over from the wind coming over top of the wall and hitting their rigging. But the seas are only "moderate", so we'll make a quick dash for the Moulin Blanc Marina where we'll spend our last night. It's only about 3 miles east, on the other side of the city.

Breakfast, wash dishes and tidy up. Then put on oilskins and get ready. We leave the marina and stay inside the jetty close to the commercial docks. Not much ship traffic now. Once past the jetty the waves are quite big, and we are getting tossed around a bit. Laura starts singing to calm the nerves! This must be how sea shanties started! 

Richard is hugging the shore, and I point out the fact that we are on the wrong side of that port-hand buoy over there! But he knows the depths here well and it's not a problem with our draught. As we approach the marina we put out fenders and prepare the shorelines. What ever you do, don't jump ashore. If we get blown off we'll try again. 

The rain is pelting down. Richard sees an empty space along the visitor's pontoon. Hopefully it will be big enough for us. He makes a perfect approach and I step off and snag a cleat. Ouf, a big sigh of relief! 

Which way to the South Pole?

Richard recommends a visit to Océanopolis, a big aquarium near the marina. Sounds like a good plan for a wet and windy day. Laura is game! It's a short walk to the aquarium, and they have some interesting and varied displays. Laura takes about a hundred photos of every kind of shrimp, crab, fish, shark, skate, lobster, starfish, jellyfish, and even a small group of penguins. The legs are getting tired so we head back to the boat. 

Tonight we're treating Richard to dinner at a nearby restaurant called Côté Mer. I can't believe it when he says he is past retirement age, and is probably going to continue a few more years. I never would have guessed he was that old. He tells us how he built the boat himself in the UK and then sailed her to France to set up the sea school. She is a Van de Stadt 34 in steel, and took 7 years to complete. She is well finished, full of practical touches and very comfortable. 

I ask what I should do next to improve my skills and the advice is to sail as much as you can with as many different skippers on as many different boats as possible. Sounds like a plan! Although we didn't get to sail as much as I would have liked to on this trip, we did get to experience some bad weather with a very experienced skipper in an interesting area, and just observing how he handled things in difficult conditions taught me a lot. Back to the boat and the last night in our lovely sleeping bags!

Camaret-sur-Mer -> Roscanvel -> Brest

Ile des Morts

Today the forecast is for better weather, before getting worse again tomorrow. So Richard wants to get back inside the Rade. Then if it's not too bad tomorrow we could try to sail up the Aulne River which flows into the northeast part of the bay. 

We're up early to make the most of the good weather. Breakfast, then washing up, then get our gear on.

We head out of the marina and cross Camaret Bay in moderate seas and F4-5 wind. Eileen takes the helm. She's at the tiller for most of the way across the bay, but as we get nearer the Goulet the sea gets bigger and more confused and we start surfing down waves. Steering the boat becomes hard work, and Richard asks me to take over. Eileen's arm is getting tired from sawing the tiller back and forth over the waves. 

The tide through the strait has already turned and is starting to flow against us now, so we stay in close to the southern shore to avoid the strongest of the current and maybe even benefit from some back-eddies. This strategy also has the benefit of giving us good views of the many fortifications that line the cliffs along the edge of the entrance to the bay. Brest has been a naval base for hundreds of years, and the fleet of ships that sheltered here required protection from attacks by the English, Spanish and Dutch. Many a cannonball must have flown through the air over our heads. Even the Germans used Brest as a naval base during WWII and added heavy concrete gun batteries to the edges of the cliffs. 

Roscanvel

As we pass the Pointe des Espagnoles we get some shelter from the Presqu'ile de Roscanvel and the wind dies down a bit. The clouds are breaking up and the sun starts to peak through. Richard says that we will have to be careful of a rock off the Pointe des Espagnoles, and then decides we should pass inside of it. That wouldn't normally be a problem as there is enough depth of water and the passage is wide enough, but the tidal stream boiling through here can add a lot of excitement to the maneuver. Large vortexes of water are swirling around. Richard says that if he is taking Yachtmaster candidates through here he often throws a surprise man overboard exercise into the mix to really spice things up! You have been warned...

Figure of 8 around the islands!

Once through the gap we unfurl the genoa and stop the engine. Bliss! We're on a beam reach heading towards the islands in Roscanvel Bay. Richard suggests that I take over as skipper and sail us a figure of eight around Île des Morts and Île Trébéron! So much for my relaxation. I quickly hop down the companionway for a good look at the chart. Back up on deck for some advice from Richard and we have a plan. We'll pass through the centre of the two islands, turn to starboard and sail around Ile des Morts then pass back through the centre and turn to port around Trébéron. 

There is a good breeze and the water is flat so we are making very good speed. The islands are approaching and we see an impressive looking old gaff-rigger. We're next to the Île Longue French nuclear submarine base. Trébéron was a quarantine for lepers in the 1700s, and Île des Morts (Island of the Dead) was it's cemetery. At least they didn't die in a shipwreck! 

In the 1800s, Île des Morts was converted to a gunpowder magazine for the arsenal at Brest. It was finally decommissioned in the 1960s but remains closed to the public. As we turn to pass between the islands a second time we delay gybing until quite close to the gaffer, which is at anchor now. "Head straight for them!" says Richard mischievously. And we do ;-)

Tack when the destination is over your shoulder (90 to 100 degrees). Richard wants to try to lasso a mooring buoy at Roscanvel and do some dinghy practice. We miss the chosen buoy on the first attempt, but manage to pick it up on the second try. Time for lunch. Big black clouds are heading in from the west, bringing wind and rain. A good time to take a break. The shower passes quickly, and now it's time to do some rowing in the dinghy. 

We each take to the dinghy and do a round of the boat. Laura is enjoying herself so much that she does a few extra rounds! Then we take the dinghy and head for the slipway on the shore. Hum, three in a two person dinghy, feels a bit dodgy! Well, more like two and a half and besides the weather is improving. There is lovely warm sunshine and we are in a nice sheltered spot. We walk along the shore exploring rock pools for a bit and then head back to the boat. Richard is waiting, and we have more work to do. Man overboard practice is next on the agenda. We do several repetitions:

DOB procedure (Dan Over Board): 

• Shout "Man Overboard".
• Get someone to point at the casualty.
• Throw horseshoe, danbuoy, etc. overboard.
• Hit MOB button on chart plotter.
• Send VHF Mayday.
• Head off on a beam reach for 3 boat-lengths.
• Warn crew then tack sharply, furling the genoa. Center the mainsail.
• Check for lines in the water.
• Start engine.
• Approach up-wind of casualty and drift down on them in neutral.
• Pick them up at the shrouds.

French warship on exercise

When Richard is finally satisfied that we might possibly be capable of coming back to get him should he fall in, we head for the Chateau Marina in Brest where we will spend the night.

There are naval vessels all around, anchored or heading in different directions. They must be exercising.  I have that strange feeling you get when you are driving along next to a police car. Even though you haven't done anything wrong, you feel guilty for some reason. Are they watching us? Maybe they're listening in on our conversation? Shhhh, quiet...

Thankfully Laura is at the helm, and she's cool as a cucumber. We're running downwind under genoa only. As we get closer to the marina entrance Richard shows me how to take transits to check our leeway. Suddenly the transit thing clicks with me. We're crabbing along sideways, but heading straight for the entrance. Not sure why, but it never came naturally before, but now I really get it. 

100 year old brigantine "Eye of the Wind"

Looking behind us, there are two ferries approaching. Hey, there is a third one coming from over to starboard! They are slightly menacing-looking unpainted aluminium things, and ferries are not known for giving way to leisure sailors. All four of us are converging on the same narrow passage, and although we have a head start, they have more speed. Richard thinks this is funny, us not so much... They are gaining fast, heading for the ferry terminal up the Penfeld River. I take over the helm as we pass the naval port on our left. Richard points to the marina entrance up ahead on the right, between two concrete breakwaters. Impossible to see what's beyond the entrance. Richard describes the marina. We'll have to hang a very sharp right to come in behind the outer breakwater. And just to make it more interesting, he says we're going to sail in! "That'll show the French!"

We sail in through the entrance and drop our sails, then tie up on the pontoon between a very large wooden sailing ship Eye of the Wind and Bernard Stamm's IMOCA 60 Cheminées Poujoulat. Cool! 

Bernard Stamm's Imoca 60 "Cheminées Poujoulat"

We wander along the pontoon for a bit, admiring the boats. Quite a startling contrast, and a serious bit of evolution in boat design and materials. A guy is actually at the top of Bernard Stamm's mast working on the rigging. You would want a good head for heights, that's 30 metres up! 

Laura is more interested in the schools of fish that are swimming between the pontoon and breakwater. Some of them are really big!

Back on the boat to chill out a bit and have a few beers. Richard entertains us with stories about his times aboard sail-training vessels. Eventually we tidy up and head off for dinner. 

From the marina you can see the top of a ship sticking up over the nearby buildings. Richard says it's the Abeille Bourbon, an Emergency Tow Vessel that is stationed in Brest. When the wind rises above Force 5, she heads over to Ushant and stands by there. This puts her closer to the shipping lanes and reduces her response time. I've seen videos of her predecessor, the Abeille Flandre and I'm keen to take a look so we head off in that direction. 

While I'm gawking at this impressive machine it's starting to rain again and the girls are getting hungry, so it's time to look for a restaurant. There are lots of places along the Quai de la Douane, and we finally decide on the Café du Port. We have a very nice meal and then head back to the boat. The Abeille Bourbon is gone, not a good sign weather-wise. Back at the marina, we head over to the loos. I'm sitting on the toilet thinking "the toilet is moving". Did I really drink that much? I didn't think I was that drunk? Suddenly I remember the loos are on a floating pontoon, and it really is moving!  Back to the boat and our lovely sleeping bags. 

The "Abeille Bourbon"

Météo France : Prévisions pour la nuit du 24 avril 2012 au 25 avril 2012 :

Vent s’orientant au secteur sud en première partie de nuit, en fraîchissant 4 à 6 en Manche, 6 à 7 sur la Pointe de Bretagne, puis 7 à 8 sur toute la zone en seconde partie de nuit, et atteignant passagèrement 9 entre le Raz et Penmarc'h.

Mer agitée, devenant forte à très forte, localement grosse en Iroise.

Camaret-sur-Mer

Low water in Camaret

The wind was really howling during the night. Strong wind in a marina makes an incredible shrieking noise as it whips through the masts and rigging of all the tightly-packed sailboats. Add to that the rocking, knocking and bumping of boats and the splashing of waves and sleep becomes rather difficult. At least it would have been difficult if I wasn't so tired. 

An especially loud halyard clattering against our mast wakes me up in the middle of the night, and I think about getting out and doing something about it. It's really loud and I won't be able to sleep with that continuous clank, clank, clank, clank, clank. Maybe Richard will get up and fix it? Surly he must have heard it by now... It continues going clank, clank, clank, clank. If I get out I'll need my waterproofs, which are in the forward cabin. I don't want to wake Eileen and Laura by rustling around in there for clothes. I lay there thinking about what to do and, clank, fall back, clank, asleep. 

"Morning Robin, kettle's boiled. Breakfast at eight". Richard is first up and puts on the kettle before going ashore, and then returns for breakfast. That gives us a half-hour or so to get ourselves up and dressed, with a cup of tea to get the brain working. 

Laura slept like a baby. She loves the rocking motion of the boat, the more the better!

Lazy breakfast. Richard says he heard a halyard clanking during the night. He waited for a while hoping I would get out and do something, but finally gave up and got out himself.  Laura earns brownie points by washing up. How many points do you need for a brownie? 

The forecast is for 80 km/h winds and a très très forte mer. We'll be staying in Camaret today. Richard wants to do a half-day of theory and leaves us to decide if we prefer the morning or afternoon. We look at the sky, trying to decide if we are more likely to get better weather in the morning or the afternoon. But the weather has been changing so quickly that it's impossible to predict anything. The wind is supposed to strengthen this evening so we choose to go sight-seeing in the morning.

We put on our foul-weather gear and walk up the road that starts at the marina and climbs the hill, heading out towards the point of the peninsula. We are hoping to be able to find the standing stones that are there facing the ocean. 

Shortly after setting out the rain starts. Laura wants to turn back, but we try to keep going for a bit hoping that it will let up in a few minutes. We shelter under a garage entrance for a while and the rain lets up a bit. Eileen and I really want to see those standing stones. Laura really wants to head back. We continue walking up the hill and soon the rain starts pelting down. And then the wind picks up and starts blowing the rain horizontally into our faces. Time to give up and retreat back into town.

It's more sheltered in the town so we walk around some of the old narrow streets. There are lots of art and craft type shops but it's too early in the season and they aren't open yet, so we can only peek in the windows. The rain and wind are letting up a bit so we walk over to the Tour Vauban to see if it is open, but it isn't. We take pictures of the famous decaying fishing boats hauled up on the shore. 

Back to the boat for lunch on board, followed by competent crew theory. This time Richard covers cardinal markers, more knots, 12 things to do in fog, and day shapes.  Once again Laura picks things up very quickly and Eileen struggles to keep up! 

Richard and Laura take some stale bread out onto the pontoon. Richard wants to show Laura the best seagulls in Brittany. He shows Laura what to do. You have to throw the bits of bread up into the air, and the seagulls catch them in mid-flight! Pretty soon there is a whole flock of seagulls hovering around over Laura's head, picking the bread out of the air. Wow, the seagulls in Brest don't do that! 

Dinghy practice has been cancelled due to too much wind. We go to the capitainerie for showers. Most unusually, instead of a lack of hot water, the showers are scalding hot. It's quite a challenge to actually get the soap and shampoo off without getting burnt. We write a note and leave it in the "suggestion box".

We return to the boat for a quick beer with Richard, and then head off for dinner. We walk along the waterfront looking at the restaurant menus and decide on a crêperie called Dundee's. We have an enjoyable dinner and turn in early to bed. Did we have a game of "fish"? Sleeping bags!

12 Things To Do When Approaching Fog:

1. Reduce speed
2. Turn on navigation lights
3. Make sound signals
4. Turn on the radar
5. Rest one of the crew
6. Have white handheld flares ready
7. Hoist the radar reflector
8. Add extra lookout
9. Start the engine
10. Fix your position
11. Put on lifejackets
12. Head for shallow water if possible

Brest -> Camaret-sur-Mer

The plan for today is to head for Camaret, Cornish Legend's home port. We're up early to make the fair tide through the Goulet. This is the "bottleneck" at the entrance to the Rade de Brest. The currents through here are very strong. Time it right and you can add four or five knots to your boat speed. Get it wrong and you could find yourself going backwards! 

Eileen at the helm

Richard warns us that it may be a bit bumpy as we exit Brest Harbour, but thinks it shouldn't be too bad. 

We talk a bit about places we might visit during the week. He refuses to plan too far ahead because the current weather pattern is so chaotic. He shows us a print-out of the synoptic chart from yesterday and there are lows and fronts scattered all over the place. He's never seen one like it. Impossible to predict what will move where. 

But this morning's forecast is calling for an improvement over the next few days, and we are hoping they are right. Things might not be so bad after all. In any case we'll head for Camaret-sur-Mer today and if things improve we'll head south towards Douarnenez. If things don't improve we'll head back into the Rade and maybe up the Aulne river. That would make for some interesting pilotage.


Before heading off we start with a safety talk. Richard covers a litany of gloom and doom. He scares us with every possible disaster you can imagine from engine fires to sinking to gas explosions, man overboard, Mayday, life rafts, helicopter rescue, the list goes on ... Whatever you do, don't attach the hi-line to the boat!


At last we are ready to leave. Except that we are in a tight space with the wind pushing on onto the pontoon and we'll have to reverse out. "Robin, how would you get us out of here?" Good question! Looks very tricky given the tight space, strong wind, and uncooperative prop walk. Richard suggests that we motor forward against a spring to bring the stern out. Then with the stern well out and clear of the boat behind, we can slip the line, reverse out and turn. It works a treat.


The wind is coming from the west now, which is the direction we are heading out the Goulet. We motor out with three reefs in the main. Wind against tide makes things quite choppy but not uncomfortable. There is no slamming on this boat, like on some more modern, flat-bottomed designs. 

Richard points out some of the many defenses that have been built over the ages to protect the harbour from foreign invaders, mostly Englishmen as it turns out!

Squally shower!

As we turn south for Camaret there are menacing black clouds approaching. Richard decides to keep the genoa furled and continue on under reefed main and engine. And a good choice it was because we are soon hit by strong blasts of lashing rain mixed with hail. The sea is quite rough and Laura is starting to feel sick. Visibility is reduced to a few hundred meters and the rain stings the face and hands. Eileen and Laura take shelter in the companionway. 

Richard is perfectly calm and cool as always. I pop my head up over the spray hood every few minutes to look out for other boat traffic. There isn't any. The boat soldiers on and soon we arrive in the shelter of the Port of Camaret.

We tie up in the outer marina to chill out while the storm passes. We go ashore and visit the beautiful little church. Like many churches in Brittany, there are model boats hanging from the ceiling, and oars and other tributes to men lost at sea. A poignant reminder of the power of nature. And a slightly unwelcome reminder of disaster at sea! The church's spire looks a bit worse for wear and in fact it was shot off by an English cannonball during the Battle of Camaret in 1694.

Notre Dame de Rocamadour and the Tour Vauban

We walk past the Tour Vauban, which was built in the late 1600s and is one of over 300 fortifications either reinforced or built from scratch by Vauban. It is now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


The cloud is breaking up and the wind is dying down and we return to the boat for lunch. Then it's time for some more theory. 

This time we talk about buoyage. We look at lateral marks, cardinal marks, safe water, isolated danger, special marks, and the blue and yellow emergency wreck buoy. We talk about shapes, colour combinations (red / green, black / yellow, black / red, red / white), and top marks (cans, cones, wine glasses and easter eggs). Then it's time to go. Richard wants to move the boat to his mooring in the inner marina, and practice some tacking while we are at it. We suit up again and release the mooring lines.


Richard takes us a little way out into the bay and then we hoist the sails and put the engine in neutral. We head back in tacking all the way up the tight channel between the moored boats and the outer marina, and then between the moored boats and the end of the spit that protects the inner marina. There is really not a lot of room and we have to watch moored boats and keep an eye on the depth as well! 

Just to add a bit more stress to the situation, Richard points out the waterfront lined with bars and restaurants just in front of us. Fortunately the earlier rain shower chased the onlookers off the terraces, and we manage to avoid running aground. A fun little exercise! 

The Inner Marina at Camaret

We tie up in inner marina. Once again Richard stresses that we are to step off the boat onto the pontoon, never to jump. Many a sailor has jumped, slipped, and ended up in the water. We tidy up and relax a bit on the boat. Richard shows us his "Eiffel tower" knot trick. Eileen equals the record of 7 knots in one short piece of practice string. Laura also manages to get seven but we suspect there was some cheating going on there... 

The updated forecast for tomorrow looks bad. We'll probably have to say put unless the forecast improves, which it might. Or it might not. We walk along the waterfront and check out the restaurants. We finally settle on Chez Philippe. Eileen and I both have crab and scallops, and it is delicious. A TV is on in the corner and the early results of the first round of the presidential election are being announced: Hollande, Sarkozy, Marine Le Pen, in that order. There is a nice ambiance in the restaurant with many locals chatting at the bar. We have a lovely dinner then return to the boat and our lovely sleeping bags!

Paris -> Brest

Moulin Blanc Marina, Brest

We were up most of the night. Both Eileen and I had work to finish up as well as packing and preparing for the departure. The train leaves at 10:46 from Paris Montparnasse station. We grab our bags and head for the bus. Not much traffic so we arrive in good time and get to our train. We settle in for the long journey hoping to get some rest along the way. 

We cover the first two-thirds of the distance quite quickly. In just two hours we've reached Rennes, the capital of Brittany. The last third of the way is much more winding and twisting and will take a further 3 hours!

At last we arrive in Brest. It's our first time visiting this part of France, so we're not really sure what to expect. We leave the train station and look for a café. We have an hour to kill before we join the boat, and we could use a coffee. We also want to try to figure out if we can get a bus to the marina or if we'll have to take a taxi. 

The area around the train station is not the most inspiring. Maybe it's the fact that we're really extremely tired but we just can't get a feel for the place. We spot a reasonable-looking café and haul our bags over near the entrance. 

Before going in Eileen waits while Laura and I find a bus stop where we're able to get the bus times for Moulin Blanc Marina. Laura calls it Moulin Rouge and does a can-can. It looks like the bus will be quite convenient, so we return to the Cape Horn Café for hot drinks. Lot's of nautical-themed stuff around to get us in the mood. 

We catch the bus for a 10 or 15 minute ride to the Marina. Once off the bus we head towards the forest of masts, and then the Capitainerie. The visitor's pontoon is directly in front of the Capitainerie and our boat should be waiting there.

The wind is blowing hard as we head down the visitor's pontoon toward the boat with the orange radar reflector. Richard comes out to greet us and help with our bags. We climb down the companionway to discover what will be our home for the next week. First impressions are positive, as the boat has a nice cosy, woody atmosphere and the skipper is very welcoming. After introductions and a cup of tea we unpack our stuff and stow away our bags. Richard is well prepared and Laura soon discovers the sweet bowl! We'll have to keep an eye on her now. Richard prepares dinner and we eat on board. The motion of the boat takes a bit of getting used to, but with the tiredness and a few glasses of wine we start to relax and wind down. It's starting to feel like we're on holidays. 

Learning the ropes!

But it's not all rest and relaxation (at least for some of us!). The two other crew members are on a course, and they have plenty to learn. By the end of the couse they will know how to tie 7 different knots (figure of eight, sheet bend, reef knot, clove hitch, rolling hitch, round turn and two half hitches, bowline). So we start with a few of them. I also learn something new as Richard shows the "proper" way to tie a bowline.

We chat about the French presidential elections. The first round is coming up and Hollande is favoured to win. We chat about different accents. We talk a bit about where we are from and then Richard has a question about Ireland. How is it that people starved during the potato famine? Surely there was something else to eat? Oops, touchy subject in mixed (English / Irish) company. Eileen explains how the potato crop failed and that was all the Irish had to eat because the rest of the food was all exported to England. And how the English occupied Ireland for 700 years, Cromwell, cow's blood, Irish language outlawed, etc. Hmm, the atmosphere is getting a bit heavy now, maybe we should talk about religion instead? Maybe not! Richard explains that he never learned about the history of Ireland in school. I'm not surprised...

He tells us that when he started in the Naval Reserve there was an Irish radio officer on his ship. Many radio officers were Irish and had been to the Marconi School. This man in particular had a very strong accent and one time he said to Richard "Tis a tick tick tog". Richard was flabbergasted. "A tick tick tog"? Eventually he figured out that there was a thick thick fog. Laura laughs so hard she nearly cries.

We talk about the captain of the Costa Concordia abandoning his sinking ship. Eileen decides it would be nice to go for a walk. The wind has died down a bit so we head off towards the beach that we had seen earlier. There is a playground there and Laura plays a bit on the slides and climbing ropes and ladders. It's getting dark now so we head back to the boat and get our sleeping bags ready. Pretty soon there are loud snores coming from the forecabin... 

Stormy Weather

View Larger Map


Two years ago we went sailing in Greece, last year we went to Corsica. Both are in the Mediterranean where tides are negligible. If you do an RYA course in the Med, you get a special mention on your certificate that says "Non-tidal". The reason is that it is much easier to sail in non-tidal waters. Tides add a whole other dimension to the art and science of passage-making. This time I want to sail somewhere tidal. Knowing my own limitations and those of my crew, I started looking for a skippered charter somewhere on the Atlantic coast. On a small boat. Preferably somewhere warm ...

My search narrows down to Portugal, more specifically the Algarve region. There are a few RYA sailing schools there and they offer skippered charters on smallish boats. You take the whole boat for a week and get as much or as little training as you like. That kind of arrangement would allow Eileen and Laura to get some training and me to have a holiday! They might even be able to do a Competent Crew course.

At the same time I have another place in the back of my mind. I've been checking out the Brittany Sailing website on and off for the last few years, thinking that one day it would be nice to sail with them. The whole of Brittany looks like a fantastic place to sail, like Ireland only warmer. The weather would certainly be better in the Algarve and the winds more regular. It would be more exotic, with a different language, different food, different customs. But Brittany has a more interesting coastline with offshore islands, rocks, lighthouses, and stronger tides. And we can take the train to Brittany. I hate airports.

So that decides it then, I'll send an email to Brittany Sailing and see what they can offer us in April. I figure it might be a bit early in the season for them so if it doesn't work we can always try Portugal. It turns out that they are starting a bit earlier this year and have a week available which suits us perfectly. The second week of the Easter school holidays. 

Brittany Sailing is run by Richard and Sue Curtis. Richard handles the sailing courses and Sue takes care of their holiday cottages. A bit like Con and Mary at Baltimore Yacht Charters. They are quick to answer my queries, and I get a good feeling about Richard and Sue right away. That's important when you are trusting your family's safety to someone. It turns out that I couldn't have made a better choice.

So Eileen is signed up for a Competent Crew course, but I'm not sure if Laura will be up to it. Will she be interested and motivated enough to take the course, or will she just want to take it easy? Imagine if she failed ... It could put her off the whole sailing thing. I ask Richard if she is maybe too young and he says that he has already had a nine year old who passed the course, so it should be no problem for Laura.

Departure day is getting closer. The boat and skipper are booked. We'll meet Richard on board his boat "Cornish Legend" at the Moulin Blanc marina in Brest on April 21st between 17:00 and 18:00. Our train is booked. We leave at 10:46 and arrive at 15:55. Five hours and ten minutes from Paris-Montparnasse to Brest by TGV. I didn't realize it was that far. We still need to buy a sleeping bag for Laura, and I'm a bit worried about her and Eileen not having suitable footwear. I also want to buy a pilot book for the area to see what places we might visit.

This year is the hundredth anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, so there is a lot of talk about sinking ships. In January (Friday the 13th!) the Costa Concordia, a cruise ship carrying 3000 passengers and 1000 crew members struck a rock and sunk off the Italian coast. The captain abandoned ship and became "the most despised man in Italy". I learn a new Italian phrase "Vada a bordo, cazzo!". I find an interesting documentary on Italian TV comparing the two naval disasters. Eileen doesn't want to hear about it ...

Weather forecast (Weather4D)

Departure day is getting really close now, and the weather in Paris is horrible. Wind and rain and cold. And it's supposed to continue. And get worse. Brittany is quite a bit further north than the Ionian or the Algarve, so there was always a certain risk involved in going there at this time of year. 

But part of the attraction of Brest is the "Rade", a large roadstead fed by 3 rivers. If worst comes to worst we will be able to sail in the Rade. If things improve we will probably head south towards Douarnenez, and if things really calm down we might even head to l'Ile d'Ouessant. But that is pretty unlikely given the current forecast. Even if the wind does calm down the sea usually lags behind a bit, so it would still be rough. But I've got my fingers and toes crossed!