A fine sail from Douarnenez

Alison had looked at the weather forecast for today with Piers on Carlotta and was worried about the swell left over from the storm. The forecast was for 3m but it only dropped a little over the next couple of days while the wind dropped a lot. That would leave us with an old sea with no wind to steady us. So I wanted to poke our nose out and see what it was like. We could divert to Morgat or Camaret if it got bad.

We got out of Port Rhu and moored up at Treboul to pay and buy bread and then we were off. One reef and the small jib. It worked well for a while and we were in good company!

Les Vieux Moines with St Mathieu lighthouses beyond

The wind slackened and we shook out the reef and then it died. The engine went on for 15 minutes and then the wind came back. The swell increased past the Cap de la Chevre but was long and easy.

We hit the entrance to the Chenal du Four bang on time to carry the tide all the way to L'Aber Wrac'h.

The wind eased even more and we changed up to the big jib. The sailing was a delight.

Theta in the Chenal du Four

We were not alone going through the Chenal, but most of the boats passed us, as normal!


Around 16:00 through the Chenal du Four proper with 16 miles to go Alison said she was tired and would like to go into Aber Ilduit. I was assuming we would carry on but it did make sense. I could cook dinner on a mooring more easily than at sea. We thought we were past the strongest tides and could carry on in the morning and have two shorter days.

The little marina in Ilduit now has a visitors pontoon and we ended up in the middle of a raft of three with a friendy French modern boat inside and a lovely little plywood gaffer outside. We bought a replacement control cable for the engine, cooked, showered and charged the laptops. A very pleasant evening.

I should mention that this was a scheduled work day for me but as it was the last good day of wind in the forecast we sailed. I had three meetings by phone and caught up with emails on passage and then later in the evening. There is a bit more I need to do but it can be spread through the week.