L'Aber Wrac'h

We managed to surface early enough.  With two bowls of porridge warming our tummies we got La Premiere ship-shape and the engine started.  Chris went below to put the instruments on and popped his head out announcing that the GPS was only receiving a signal from one satellite!  It needs at least three to get a position and usually has about twelve.  We considered the reasons for the problem; either something was wrong with our GPS (which we thought unlikely), reception was poor here because of the strange Radar Dome over the hill or, overnight, without our knowledge WWIII had started and the American satellites had been destroyed in some star wars battle!!  We never found out because soon we had three signals and by the time we were out of the bay it was all up and running.

The whole trip to L'Aber Wrac'h included a little bit of everything we've experienced so far.  The sails were hoisted and lowered several times due to a fickle wind.  We had good visibility in the morning and were suddenly enveloped in fog about half distance as we approached a small fishing fleet, which again proved how valuable the radar is because while I kept a lookout from the cockpit Chris watched the radar screen for details to relay to me.  Briefly we saw some dolphins playing in the distance and I was disappointed that they didn't come over to our boat.  During the clearer periods we enjoyed more stunning scenery and as usual we were on full lobster pot alert!

This trip was our first experience of the Atlantic swell.  Ignore every reference to swell in all previous web pages.  The waves were approaching 100 metres apart, and as we tipped over the top of each crest an entire valley of the Cotswolds loomed before us.  Awesome.

Perhaps the most impressive sight of this trip was in the approach to L'Aber Wrac'h itself.  On the chart three channels are indicated, but from the pilot guides we had decided the Grande Chenal was the best bet, even though it was the furthest round, because of the many shoals and outlying rocks.  Now, it was a fairly calm day but as we approached the Libenter West Cardinal to ‘turn left’ into the estuary we tracked down a channel between a shoal to Port and a line of rocks to starboard, over both of which the swell was breaking and to either side of us the white surf was lit by the sun.  This phenomenon continued right up to the river entrance and we stuck rigidly to our chosen track, wondering how on earth the local boats manouvre within the rocks to place their fishing gear!

Once safely up the river to the village we moored to a buoy until the tide turned at which point  we could safely get onto the pontoon's finger berths.  The trip had taken about nine hours in total, but it was a fine evening and we strolled up to the village to buy some bread and cakes before dinner. (A mile walk . . . .)

Stuck in L'Aber Wrac'h

It says in the pilots that L'Aber Wrac'h is really only a summer port and we would agree!  But as it is the last deep water anchorage before the Chenal du Four inside Ushant we had little choice.  No facilities (showers etc) were available, but that didn't deter the harbour master collecting his dues eagerly each evening.  I suppose if it had been a one night stopover it wouldn't have mattered but because we were weather bound we were a little frustrated!  The next port of call was to be Camaret, which meant rounding the western corner of Brittany and heading south down the Chenal du Four, a renowned tidal gateway!  Tide and wind needed to suit so we stayed in L'Aber Wrac'h for a total of five nights!

The wind was our main problem.  A strong northwesterly had whipped up the sea and our second night was bordering on the "Alderney" experience because of the direction we were facing on the pontoon, waves were breaking onto the transom.  So for more peace of mind and in order to be able to sleep we moved La Premiere around to the other side!

The village will be lovely in the summer because it is currently undergoing some major renovation and traffic-calming scheme (though we saw very little traffic)!  The supermarket would have been happy to drive us the mile down the hill to the port if we'd wanted but, gluttons for punishment that we are, we said we would be fine to walk, with rucksacks and carrier bags full! . . and then it started to rain.

To make matters worse, it was the UEFA Cup final on the Wednsday evening, but L'Aber Wrac'h was hardly the "cosmopoliton" place we had hoped to be at for this event, so there was no chance of finding a bar with a TV let alone one with the footie!  We could still pick up Radio 5 Live, however, and to cap it all Arsenal lost after extra time on penalties.  C'est la vie!

Content as I was to loll around reading, Chris wanted to do something so I reminded him of the packet of bread mix he had bought in Tescos before we left.  Perhaps a little surprisingly he jumped at the chance.  At the point where he was unable to move his hands because the dough was so sticky I was crying with laughter and with a little helping hand and a dusting of extra flour he soon had it back under control.  The resulting bread was delicious.  I only wish the photo had "tastyvision"!

Another day, in drizzly rain again, we chose to walk to the nearest town, about two miles away.  On the way we noticed that the French have started to use the IALA buoyage system on their roads.  Perhaps it should soon become part of the Highway Code.  I think though, that a roundabout would really need all four cardinals to make it safe!  It turned out to be a very uninspiring town.  We caught the bus back.

That evening a 27foot Mirage, called Reality, arrived beside us on the pontoon.  On board was Barry, the skipper, and his crew Hazel.  He is just returning to England after four years of cruising to and around Mediterranean Spain and the Balearics.  We got chatting and we spent the evening gleaning lots of useful information and handy tips over various glasses of Merlot!  Following a good weather forecast, it was on his advice that we set off the next morning for Camaret!