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!