Two weeks into our trip and we are still in holiday mode. We went for a cycle tour along the waterfront to Carnac, a huge holiday resort with enormous sandy beaches, zillions of restaurants, bars and tourists. We continued through the town and out along the route that takes you past most of the ‘Alignements’.
These are menhirs or prehistoric standing stones, predating Stonehenge and numbering over 2000. They stand line upon line running roughly NE/SW. No-one knows whether these were for astronomical measurements or territorial markers, but they are very impressive.
Back at La Trinite we picked up washing from the laverie- found we’d well ripped off and it cost much more than we anticipated – from now on its laundry in a bucket!
In the morning we nipped up to the Capitanerie to pay our bills and found it was market day, so we had a quick visit. Not having time to look around and compare prices we spent loads of money. Not surprising, as the stall-holders have a never ending supply of tourists to rip off and we are not yet streetwise enough to negotiate or compare prices. Anyway it was a valuable lesson learned, and a hot sunny morning with a force 4 wind blowing so we were happy to slip our lines and head out to sea again, away from cars, tourists and rip-offs.
We had a fantastic sail into the Gulfe de Morbihan – a huge inland sea ( a bit like Poole Harbour) with about 60 islands. 30 of these are owned by film stars, some are holiday resorts and some are uninhabited. The navigation around the islands was tricky, but good fun and we anchored for the evening in a beautiful bay off the Ile d’Arz. We cooked up the last of our frozen food from the UK and gazed out over a sailing playground. There are thousands of people sailing here, it seems that everyone in South Brittany must own a sailing boat and be out on it every day. Despite this there is plenty of room for everyone and our anchorage was certainly not crowded. We would thoroughly recommend this area to anyone who sails- it would be relatively easy to enjoy some time here in a 2-3 week break – bring (or buy) a detailed chart of the bay to make the most of it.
After dinner we went up to the village called The Bourg for a nightcap – at about 10pm there were just enough people in the pleasant bar to make it lively but not packed.
Ile d’Arz, and no doubt the other holiday islands, have something for everyone, and a laid back holiday feel, much like the Isles of Scilly, full of well dispersed holiday accommodation, but retaining it’s character and dignity.
Next morning, after a swim, we went for a walk right around the island and then headed off for an evening sail to one of the small islands about 10miles off the Brittany shore – hoping that no-one else had discovered it yet! Wishful thinking!
Stuart put his fishing gear together, so the pressure was on him to perform. Steph had a backup plan for dinner, just in case.
As we approached Ile Houat we were astounded to see the number of masts in the anchorage. We had previously decided against the small harbour as it could be like the last Island harbour so we browsed the chart for an anchorage that might be a bit more secluded. Well, We have never seen so many boats at anchor in one place – Studland beer festival just comes no-where near! To be fair the bay was huge (Treac’h er Gourhed) and we anchored in shallow water about ½ mile from the beach. A swim would have been great, but for the thought of 239 boats that we could see, (Stuart counted them) most of which would be without holding tanks!
Ile Houat and it’s neighbour Ile Hoedic were really beautiful and in settled weather outside of July/August they would be well worth a longer visit. The water was crystal clear and we could see the bottom some 5 to 6 m down.
We moved on the next day, and anchored off Ile d’Yeu. This looked like a fascinating island, not even mentioned in the Rough Guide. We passed the remains of an old castle perched on the edge of a cliff, and some tiny anchorages, no more than a crack in the cliffs, where a handful of brave yachts were anchored in amongst the rocks. Without local knowledge we headed for a safer option described in the pilot book– Anse de Vieilles. Again, lots of yachts and we were a long way out. We ate the fish that Stuart caught – probably a bass. It was a reasonable size fish and must have been strong as we were doing more than 5 knots when he took the bait.
Steph flapped about as much as the fish when Stuart tried to put it on the cockpit floor to do his dastardly deeds to it. Stuart and fish were sent up to the foredeck until it resembled something that might be served in a restaurant!
Our plan to explore Ile D’Yeu the next day was foiled by a fine breeze popping up, that was just too good to miss. So we upped anchor and set off south towards La Rochelle. We are keen to spend as much time in the Spanish Rias as possible, and getting to La Rochelle is a milestone that we wanted to reach as soon as possible.
We arrived at low water, too low for us to risk entering the shallow entrance, so we anchored off the port and spent a very uncomfortable night rolling from side to side in the tide.
An early start the next day rewarded us with a place in the Minimes marina, which appears to have everything – shorepower, wifi and free tricycles for shopping. We walked up to the old town – very busy as the QE2 was visiting.
It is a fascinating city with well preserved 18th century timbered houses lining the main shopping centre. We had a walk around the ramparts and the old port – a real lively atmosphere. The weather is perfect, sunny with a warm dry breeze.
We have a day or two of work to do sorting out various bits of the boat that need improvement. There are 4 chandleries within ½ mile, so this seems the ideal time to get on with a few chores. It is all hard work really!!
First on the list was a trip up the mast to remove the wind speed sensor/ paddle for overhaul as it had stopped working and afterwards another trip up to re attach it. This just delayed the worst of the jobs, dismantle the loo pump which had become chocked up with calcium, this requires disconnecting and removing the pump to the pontoon for disassembly and cleaning and replacement of a valve or two. It is a smelly and disagreeable job but the reward is a toilet that works better and doesn’t blow back (I’ll leave that to your imagination). These jobs plus washing the sheets in a bucket and drying in the wind, took most of the day, A mooch round the bars is required before the night is at an end.
Great Place in the evening. Street entertainers all over the sea front and crowds of spectators. Good atmosphere. We will be back there tonight as well. Today was shopping day. Veg and fruit from the Market then Lunch and back to the boat to unload before a trip to the chandelery to replace some spares used. ( no use there wound up ordering them from the UK). Then we borrowed a crazy sort of a tricycle thing with a box arrangement on the front, terrible brakes and horrible to steer, Rode the thing to the supermarket, about 1 ½ miles away and stocked up. The ride back, fully loaded was not for the unfit or the faint hearted . 50 Kg of out of control beer and bog rolls at rush hour, in the city traffic kept me on the edge of the seat ready to jump at any moment. Back now and looking forward to a well earned meal out to say farewell to La Rochelle.
Back at La Trinite we picked up washing from the laverie- found we’d well ripped off and it cost much more than we anticipated – from now on its laundry in a bucket!
In the morning we nipped up to the Capitanerie to pay our bills and found it was market day, so we had a quick visit. Not having time to look around and compare prices we spent loads of money. Not surprising, as the stall-holders have a never ending supply of tourists to rip off and we are not yet streetwise enough to negotiate or compare prices. Anyway it was a valuable lesson learned, and a hot sunny morning with a force 4 wind blowing so we were happy to slip our lines and head out to sea again, away from cars, tourists and rip-offs.
We had a fantastic sail into the Gulfe de Morbihan – a huge inland sea ( a bit like Poole Harbour) with about 60 islands. 30 of these are owned by film stars, some are holiday resorts and some are uninhabited. The navigation around the islands was tricky, but good fun and we anchored for the evening in a beautiful bay off the Ile d’Arz. We cooked up the last of our frozen food from the UK and gazed out over a sailing playground. There are thousands of people sailing here, it seems that everyone in South Brittany must own a sailing boat and be out on it every day. Despite this there is plenty of room for everyone and our anchorage was certainly not crowded. We would thoroughly recommend this area to anyone who sails- it would be relatively easy to enjoy some time here in a 2-3 week break – bring (or buy) a detailed chart of the bay to make the most of it.
After dinner we went up to the village called The Bourg for a nightcap – at about 10pm there were just enough people in the pleasant bar to make it lively but not packed.
Ile d’Arz, and no doubt the other holiday islands, have something for everyone, and a laid back holiday feel, much like the Isles of Scilly, full of well dispersed holiday accommodation, but retaining it’s character and dignity.
Next morning, after a swim, we went for a walk right around the island and then headed off for an evening sail to one of the small islands about 10miles off the Brittany shore – hoping that no-one else had discovered it yet! Wishful thinking!
Stuart put his fishing gear together, so the pressure was on him to perform. Steph had a backup plan for dinner, just in case.
As we approached Ile Houat we were astounded to see the number of masts in the anchorage. We had previously decided against the small harbour as it could be like the last Island harbour so we browsed the chart for an anchorage that might be a bit more secluded. Well, We have never seen so many boats at anchor in one place – Studland beer festival just comes no-where near! To be fair the bay was huge (Treac’h er Gourhed) and we anchored in shallow water about ½ mile from the beach. A swim would have been great, but for the thought of 239 boats that we could see, (Stuart counted them) most of which would be without holding tanks!
Ile Houat and it’s neighbour Ile Hoedic were really beautiful and in settled weather outside of July/August they would be well worth a longer visit. The water was crystal clear and we could see the bottom some 5 to 6 m down.
We moved on the next day, and anchored off Ile d’Yeu. This looked like a fascinating island, not even mentioned in the Rough Guide. We passed the remains of an old castle perched on the edge of a cliff, and some tiny anchorages, no more than a crack in the cliffs, where a handful of brave yachts were anchored in amongst the rocks. Without local knowledge we headed for a safer option described in the pilot book– Anse de Vieilles. Again, lots of yachts and we were a long way out. We ate the fish that Stuart caught – probably a bass. It was a reasonable size fish and must have been strong as we were doing more than 5 knots when he took the bait.
Steph flapped about as much as the fish when Stuart tried to put it on the cockpit floor to do his dastardly deeds to it. Stuart and fish were sent up to the foredeck until it resembled something that might be served in a restaurant!
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| Stu's first tiddler |
We arrived at low water, too low for us to risk entering the shallow entrance, so we anchored off the port and spent a very uncomfortable night rolling from side to side in the tide.
An early start the next day rewarded us with a place in the Minimes marina, which appears to have everything – shorepower, wifi and free tricycles for shopping. We walked up to the old town – very busy as the QE2 was visiting.
It is a fascinating city with well preserved 18th century timbered houses lining the main shopping centre. We had a walk around the ramparts and the old port – a real lively atmosphere. The weather is perfect, sunny with a warm dry breeze.
We have a day or two of work to do sorting out various bits of the boat that need improvement. There are 4 chandleries within ½ mile, so this seems the ideal time to get on with a few chores. It is all hard work really!!
First on the list was a trip up the mast to remove the wind speed sensor/ paddle for overhaul as it had stopped working and afterwards another trip up to re attach it. This just delayed the worst of the jobs, dismantle the loo pump which had become chocked up with calcium, this requires disconnecting and removing the pump to the pontoon for disassembly and cleaning and replacement of a valve or two. It is a smelly and disagreeable job but the reward is a toilet that works better and doesn’t blow back (I’ll leave that to your imagination). These jobs plus washing the sheets in a bucket and drying in the wind, took most of the day, A mooch round the bars is required before the night is at an end.
Great Place in the evening. Street entertainers all over the sea front and crowds of spectators. Good atmosphere. We will be back there tonight as well. Today was shopping day. Veg and fruit from the Market then Lunch and back to the boat to unload before a trip to the chandelery to replace some spares used. ( no use there wound up ordering them from the UK). Then we borrowed a crazy sort of a tricycle thing with a box arrangement on the front, terrible brakes and horrible to steer, Rode the thing to the supermarket, about 1 ½ miles away and stocked up. The ride back, fully loaded was not for the unfit or the faint hearted . 50 Kg of out of control beer and bog rolls at rush hour, in the city traffic kept me on the edge of the seat ready to jump at any moment. Back now and looking forward to a well earned meal out to say farewell to La Rochelle.
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| La Rochelle transport |
