Brittany Coast and Normandy

[careka]

L380 will sail up from Sables d-olonnes and se all nice spots.

where to go and where not to go.

What to look out for

Tips.

We will be sailing up channel and maybe into holland, Kiel kanal, east cost Danmark/West cost Sweden, South Cost Norway. where home is.
Start may, will be home in late august. Will do it in 3 legs, as i have to work a bit in between.

Careka

[careka]

one more thing,
what is the weather like normaly in end june, beginning july ?

[edsailing]

Probably the best weather of the year, late June and into July - enjoy!

[Pete7]

First step has to be up the Arzal and up to La Roche Bernard. Very pretty flooded valley and once through the lock a very pleasant trip though the French countryside. Allow a day or two tops. The little harbour to the South of the Arzal Piriac will test navigation and your tide calculations but old harbour and town with modern moorings and a sill to keep yachts afloat. La Taballe again slightly further South also a very popular little fishing village. Great fish soup shop on the quay as the town was built on the sardine industry. Le Super Manche (super market) is 1km to the East of the harbour and very well stocked.

Next Gulf of Morbihan. A huge area well worth exploring and depending on your mast height you should be able to get up to Volnay on one side and Vannes on the other. You will need the tide with you to get in so stop in La Crouesty at the entrance. La Crouesty is a huge modern marina but has a good mid week market and lots of local shop with a chandlers. Top up water and fuel/gas here. The other option is La Trinite, which is the equivalent of Cowes for the French, in other words a huge sailing town.

The island of Belle Ile next and Sauzon is a very pretty harbour but it dries so go alongside but harbour staff will advise. After a couple of days on to the next island Lle d'Houat which has the most perfect white sand beach many Caribbean Island would be hard to beat. You can anchor off the beach which is on the SE corner of the island. Do take everything you need for the time on the islands because although there are a few shops, it all has to be imported to the islands so more expensive. Part of that old world charm.

That will do for starters, one thing you do need to be aware of is most French marina fuel pumps will only take a French credit card, no other nationalities work, so report to the harbour master who will normally be able to sort it out and take a card payment from you.

Photo of marina at Piriac with the sill between the port and starboard markers. Folks in the US will need to be aware they are the opposite way round to the US but its there

Pete

[Pete7]

St Nazaire is different. Chocolate brown water and commerical docks. However they have a U Boat in the pen on the water front and you can tie up in the enterance to the lock which accesses all the other u boat pens. This isn't pretty touristy areas, but if history of WW2 is your thing, then yes worth an afternoon stop. The lock which the RN and RM attacked with HMS Cambletown is just round the corner.

Wiki has a good write up:

Saint-Nazaire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pete

[sailorF54]

Originally Posted by Pete7

La Taballe
Volnay

La Turballe
Auray

Apart from that, an accurate mini-cruising guide of a beautiful cruising ground

[Pete7]

A bit of culture, a French vin yard.

Weather will be light SW winds and temperatures in the low 30c.

[Pete7]

This is St Malo which is devided between the old town in the back ground and the new town. All very pretty and well worth stopping. Its also the gateway to the river Rance and the canal to Dinan which again shouldn't be missed.

Pete

[careka]

Thanks. Ed, Pete,
i will keep on making markes on the map.

and there is rom for more marks
so let it coming.

careka

[Hydra]

Careka,
The submarine in Saint-Nazaire isn't a German UBoot but Espadon, a French sub, built in Le Havre in 1958.

It is prohibited to anchor off most of the beach in Houat, because of submerged cables. Sometimes, the Gendarmerie Maritime (naval police) or the Customs patrol boat stops there for a check, and issues heavy fines. However, many yachts anchor there and many drag their anchor because in summer, the wind blows onshore during the night.

In Belle-Île, Le Palais is another harbor. It is even possible to stay afloat at low tide. The downside is the traffic of ferries with the mainland.

Between Belle-Île and St Malo, you might stop in Etel (if the bar is passable that day), Port-Louis/Locmiquélic/Lorient/Hennebont, Concarneau (old fishing harbor with a citadel in the middle), Glénan archipelago, Bénodet/Ste Marine, Loctudy/L'Île-Tudy, Lesconil, Le Guilvinec (very busy fishing port), Audierne, île de Sein (at anchor), Douarnenez, Morgat, Camaret, Brest (take a few days to visit Brest Harbor), île de Molène, Ouessant (Ushant), l'Aber Wrac'h, Morlaix, Perros-Guirec, Tréguier, Lézardrieux, Bréhat...

You will have to pay attention to the tidal streams in Raz de Sein (between île de Sein an the mainland) and in chenal du Four (between Molène and the mainland) because the swell becomes much steeper against the tide.

Alain

[careka]

Love this, give me more info.
even if it is the start of the weekend.

Thanks.

[Pete7]

Alain indeed, thanks for the update, I hadn't realised that anchoring was prohibited because so many French yachts were there before us.

Sadly it was a bit cloudy when the photo was taken, beach round the headland to the left.

Pete

[Pete7]

There is one other island called Hoedic which has a harbour used by the island ferry and some moorings. However, parking on the beach inside the harbour seems to be the done thing and we followed suite.

[Hydra]

Pete7, the prohibited anchoring area in Houat is marked on the charts!

There are a few buoys (4, if I remember well) in Port de l'Argol in Hoedic but they are often crowded in summer, with boats rafted all around the buoys. But at low tide, the minimum distance between the buoys is such that the rafts meet (in the middle of the night ). I think this is no place for a 38' cat.

As in Houat, the north shore of Hoedic (where Port de l'Argol is) can be very unpleasant during the night if the breeze blows (15kts) from the mainland because it raises a steep chop.

Careka, I could write for hours about Brittany (I live here).

Alain

[Pete7]

Careka, your problem isn't what to see but what to leave out, even with a May - Aug trip.

Channel islands, well we love Guernsey which is less commercial than Jersey. Sark and Herm very pretty and unspoilt. Alderney I like, wifey doesn't but chepa boze and fags (cigarettes for our US friends).

Carteret opposite Jersey on the French coast involves sailing across the beach to get in but has the most fabulous French sea food restaurant on the harbour wall, sadly the name escapes me, but plan on sitting down for 3 hours just for lunch

Cherbourg to stock up on wines and beers but nicer places nearby like St Vaast around the corner. Don't cut the corner and do go south around the isle of Tatihou. Book a table in the Fuschia restaurant in the centre of town. Best to plan on spending the whole evening in there for dinner, dress is smart, food superb

The next question is do you want to cross the channel to England because Portsmouth is about 80 miles from St Vaast.

Pete