Lyn's Log, 15th July 2005
France, L'Aberwrach to Benodet
Benodet, France.
N47º46', W3º56'
1,728 miles logged.
We arrived in L’Aberwrach ("Seaweed Harbour") on 10th July after a crossing of 30 hours later but although the forecast northeasterlies were actually from the south until Sunday morning, we only motored for a few hours here and there. The sea was calm. The sun shone all day and the night was only 6 hours. And to add to our pleasure, just before sunset Saturday we were entertained by a dozen large dolphins. We didn’t take any pictures as everyone knows what they are like.
There is a glorious view from L’Aberwrach of a large expanse of water strewn with rocks and islets, edged with seaweed and white stretches of sand. The mainland is quite green and dotted with houses. But apart from visiting one of the many good restaurants, there seems little else to do than admire the view and the sun. There is a post office and a Tabac, but we found no other shops or real town. There is a large sailing school from where the children were busy in their dinghies, canoes and windsurfers all over the water when we left L’Aberwrach after rising late in the morning. We headed for Ushant as east winds were settled in for a few days, and gave the Chenal De La Helle a miss this time. The tide and the wind were behind us and the sunshine warm until we could see the lighthouse on Ushant appearing and disappearing in the fog about 6 miles away. By the time it was 2 miles away visibility was down to one cable, which looked little more than a boat’s length to the wall of fog all around. We kept our distance off the north side of Ushant, with the tide giving us an extra 2 knots over the ground. Then we changed course more southerly, nervously heading for the end of the rocky ledges marking the way into the anchorage of Lampaul. Suddenly I saw the land and the lighthouse. The fog ended just a little way over the northern end of Ushant. It was a great relief to be able to see where we were going in relation to the many rocks. The wind stayed around a force 6 blowing directly out of this natural harbour and all mooring buoys were occupied. So we dropped our anchor in a patch of sand close to the beach and got a good hold. Several other yachts did the same thing as the evening continued.
The thick fog from the night cleared mid morning and we had a quick look round the town. It was a bit like St Marys on the Scilly Isles. We left in time to sail to reach the Raz de Sein for slack water at 9 p.m. and anchored off Audierne at midnight. During the day we had mainly northerly winds, which blew us nicely to the Raz in time. But although it was sunny, it took a while to stop feeling chilly. We saw the fog come back over Ushant behind us. I also noticed a dorsal fin flopping from side to side as we passed very close to a shark basking on the surface of the sea.
For more about our visit to Ushant, see here.
It was a rather crowded anchorage and mooring spot off St Evette, off Audierne, but very pleasant in the extremely hot sun, especially when the sun awning was erected. There was no wind all day. We took a short walk up through what was signposted as three different villages, around to Lervily lighthouse and back along the coastline. We found no shops. In the evening we joined in the ‘Fete of Seaweed’. This was a jolly family affair with local food such as mussels and chips, Far Breton (plum cake?), Crepes, and French cider. There was a bagpipe band followed by a band playing traditional music. All ages were dancing, mainly in circles and lines with arms or little fingers entwined. Some dances had quite fancy footwork. It was wonderful just to be in the middle of it and watch. I almost joined in one of the dances. Then there was a great firework display on the harbour wall just before midnight. We went back to the yacht then, but the music continued.
When coming in to the anchorage the aft navigation light refused to work and the front one went out. So as well as the above pleasures, in the morning we managed to get the aft light working again and in the afternoon spent around four hours realigning the steering quadrant which had been sticking. We managed to get it off the rudder post but still could not get the key out of the post. After sawing a slot in the end to provide some leverage, we only succeeded in breaking off a piece of the stainless key! It will be another long job to do next time we can dry out the yacht and drop the rudder.
Friday 15th we motored and sailed to Benodet, again in glorious hot sunshine, exploring up the beautiful river Odet the next day.