Camaret

Six o’clock dawned still and cloudless and shortly La Premiere was under way, tracking out the leading lines we had used to enter the estuary.  The early hour was necessary to ensure we carried a fair tide through the Chenal du Four, the passage inside Ushant, as with light winds we would find the going hard against the strong currents once the tide turned.

Shortly after leaving L’Aber Wrac’h and turning south you pass outside the resting place of the Amoco Cadiz, which was wrecked disastrously on this rocky coast some years ago.

The passage down the coast was very straightforward; with good visibility the many lighthouses along the coast and on Ushant made navigation very straightforward.  After plugging against the tide for an hour the tide soon turned and was adding a good knot to our boat speed, rising to about three knots as we entered the Chenal.  We had read about this channel in a couple of yachting magazines that had romanticised about this stretch of water with a hint of the diabolic!  It struck us that the Needles Channel was potentially a far worse stretch of water, with stronger currents and far less buoyage.  There was only one patch of uncomfortable water towards the Southern end where the channel narrowed and shallowed and a slight headwind (F2-3), which had risen, was against the tide.  According to the pilot, in dire conditions, the local coastguard can talk you through on their radar, in English if required.  (Later in Camaret we saw postcards with photos of one of the lighthouses we passed, The Vielle, with a wave breaking right over the top!  We saw the Chenal at its best.)

As we left the Chenal du Four and turned left into the Avant Goulet de Brest we were high on the achievement of leaving The English Channel and entering The Atlantic, a major milestone in our trip.  From here to Camaret, about ten miles, was a gorgeous beam reach in about twelve knots of breeze and we steamed along at six knots as the precipitous coastline opened up around us.  We passed an Isolated Danger beacon called ‘Swansea Vale’, which seemed a little displaced!

By two o’clock in the afternoon we were secured to a pontoon in the outer harbour at Camaret, just in time for the FA Cup Final!

The combination of the late night and early morning meant that on arrival in this pretty little holiday town both Chris and I "zonked out" with the commentary to an apparently boring FA Cup Final jabbering as we slept!  Once we awoke we thought it best to go on a brief tour of the area to find showers, launderette, shops etc.

With sufficient supplies to see us through Sunday and safe in the knowledge the showers would be open (and hopefully cleaner) at 8.00 in the morning we ate our meal and then, feeling refreshed, set to on updating the website. Much to our disappointment, after several hours work, the server was down and we couldn't get the update through!

Sunday morning dawned too early because Chris had forgotten that his alarm was set for 6.00am.  The wind had really got up through the night, and after we realised that someone on the pontoon was adjusting our fenders for us I deemed it necessary to get up!  I put out two extra fenders as we were being pushed hard onto the pontoon and white horses were riding the waves as they entered the bay.  A quick glance at the anemometer indicated a wind speed of up to 27 knots, a Force 6.

By the afternoon we felt refreshed enough to go on a walkabout.  We had read about the megaliths, which are prolific in this area of Brittany and with only a cursory glance at a map we headed off to find the menhirs at Lagatjar.  Although not as magnificent as Stonehenge we were impressed by the standing stones and were curious as to their purpose. 

The remains of a fort had caught our eye and we wandered to get a closer view.  The sound of the sea could be heard but we were both taken aback by the dramatic coastal scene before us.  Our stroll to the megaliths immediately transformed itself into a coastal walk, all around the headlands of Pointe du Toulinguet and Grande Gouin.  On many occasions we stood in awe of the beauty of our surroundings and remembered how fortunate we are to be having this adventure. 

We timed the walk perfectly, and the clouds hovered over us again as we reached the beach just round the corner from our pontoon.  The evening was put aside for completing our updating task on the website and planning our next trip to Douarnenez.