Stormy Weather

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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!