Raz de Sein

We slept through the alarm!  Luckily, we didn't have to leave too early so we did wake up in time, just.  A quick visit to the Capitanerie to pay our dues and return the shower card (a good system we felt, because the shower block was always clean and once a deposit was paid for the entry card you could use them as often as you liked, no "jetons" required.)and a trip to the boulangerie meant a couple of baguettes could be prepared for lunch on the move.  It was a grey day, but not as troubled as the last few and we were pleased to get going.  

For a second time the GPS had problems getting a signal and this time it was nearly an hour and a half before it was up and running.  Katie and Jonathon had mentioned that theirs had played up on the way in to Treboul, so we were not too concerned.  Perhaps this area of France is just out of range for some reason.  There was a fair bit of swell and waves coming across the bay as we headed east.  It was some eighteen miles to the Raz so we had quite a few hours motoring to do.  I helmed for much of the way, keeping my mind off any thoughts of seasickness.

We followed the coast of the bay, passing the power generating windmills on the cliff top.  We wondered why we don't see more of them because it strikes us as a remarkably cheap resource, and from our experience there is plenty of wind in these parts!  We wondered whether the storm two nights ago had blown a few of their fuses too!  There was little else of interest along this stretch of the trip and with George safely at the helm I had a brief kip, giving Chris strict instructions to wake me for the Raz because I didn't want to miss it.

Half an hour later Chris gave me a nudge.  It was one o'clock.  We had already passed the Jaune de Raz, an isolated danger mark to our port.  The skies were still grey and threatening rain.  The seas became rather lumpy in the approach to Point du Raz and we donned life jackets and safety lines just in case.  As it turned out however, when we rounded the Raz it was quite calm, but enough waves were hitting ‘La Vielle’, the lighthouse, to capture at least one dramatic photo!  We were spot on target for the tide, it being slack water now, and several other yachts, heading the other way had obviously used the same strategy only they were lucky enough to have the wind in their favour and were able to sail!  Once clear of any danger, and with the wind shifting direction a little, we were able to hoist our sails too.

We sailed for about an hour, approximately one third of this stretch across Bay d'Audierne, Chris on the helm, enjoying the quiet while the engine was silenced.  But, as ever, our concern for timing was nagging so by 1500 the genoa was furled and the engine went back on again.  We were about half way through the passage.  Audierne was abeam and the clouds, which had been threatening for some time, began to empty their grey load on us.

With nine miles to go until we reached our next waypoint at Penmarc'h I bravely volunteered to keep watch on deck on my own to save us both from getting drenched, although with Chris stood in the companionway it was hardly a lonely proposition.  Ninety minutes later we turned to port onto our new heading and since the wind had veered and strengthened we could sail again.  The Navtex, around this time, started spouting information about new gale warnings and our area was in for a force 7!  Not quite the variable 2-3 that was being forecast only twelve hours before.  Luckily we had broken the back of this voyage and we weren't too worried.  At 1845 we had to put a reef in the main.  Just ten minutes later in went the second and the genoa furled up even more!  All good practice but I was feeling pretty tired and quite cold after the rain.  We were now well into the Anse de Benodet and the swell was breaking in the shallow areas.  We surfed in, reaching 6.8 knots with two reefs!

We spotted another yacht as we picked our way through the cardinal gateways but realised he was going into Loctudy.  We studied the pilot book for the best places to moor and decided it was best to enter the river under motor as our speed could be better controlled, the entrance was dead downwind and the tide was surging across the bay into the river – with twenty knots of wind bowling us down the face of the steepening waves we would have been a little out of control in the narrow entrance!  The leading lines and red and green buoys were quite clear and Chris piloted us into the river.  

Once safely into the river we passed a couple of marinas, but with a southwesterly gale brewing we were heading for a sheltered bight in the river tucked under the lee of a wooded bank.  We spotted an empty buoy and moored up, just as it started to drizzle again.  I left Chris in the rain this time and dived below to get some pasta on the boil for a late supper.  It was almost 2130, our longest passage yet and we were both hungry and tired.  The mooring was pretty and sheltered. We slept well!