Jersey to Tregiuer – 6th July 2017
The parking options in Treguier are either the Marina or a number of anchorages before you reach it. If you want the marina, the pilot books suggest you arrive at slack water because the tide can have you all over the place. So that was the goal, to arrive around 1630 local time, just in case we couldn’t find a free spot to anchor.
With the wind very light and coming from exactly the same direction we were heading, it was another day of motoring for Lady Jane.
To be fair, we did give sailing a shot… the sails went up at 0645, then back down at 0730 when the chart plotter suggested we would arrive at some point late the next day.
By motoring along, we arrived in the river in plenty of time for high water, and despite the number of fish farms, found it to be particularly lovely. Hopefully the photographs do the place proud.
Anchoring space wasn’t a problem, and we chose a protected spot just below a chateau within sight of the marina. Although the pilot guide suggests this is good quality mud (good for anchoring) it seems to have been taken over by even better quality seaweed (very bad for anchoring). As a result, unusually, the anchor failed to set until the 7th attempt. We eventually got it to dig in, and spent a very peaceful evening doing very little.
Later that evening, another British flagged boat come past us, very slowly. As he did, he held up the remains of a discarded fishing net that became wrapped around his propeller 15 miles away. As I said in one of our earlier posts… this is a problem.
Treguier to Roscoff – 7th July 2017
Yet another day of motoring, but we are on a mission to get to our departure point for the Biscay crossing – L’Aber Wrac’h – by Friday.
There’s nothing remarkable to say about the trip. Six hours of motoring will do that to you.
The marina, however, does contain something special: tidal flow. And despite the warnings, I don’t think anything can prepare you for the sheer comedy of it. Lady Jane handles well, but that marina is something else. Apparently it has been designed to be self-dredging. It probably is, but it is the scourge of sailors new to the place.
I’m glad we opted to top up the fuel tank before getting to a berth. At least we then got a clue as to what we were letting ourselves in for. As I turned towards the fuel pontoon, the boat went sideways in a way that was just not funny. We got away with it, but I appreciated this advance warning. The berthing master later told us that just before we arrived, one of the departing boats had been swept sideways, planting itself across the pointy bits of a couple of other boats. Embarrassing at best, and potentially very expensive.
The berthing master directed us to a finger pontoon round the corner from the fuel berth. This was a one-shot act so I needed to make sure exactly where it was. And kept asking Maria to reassure me where it was – like a needy child. “Keep close to the pontoons on this side and you’ll be OK.” said the berthing fella. I did – he was right – and we parked without incident or injury, but it wasn’t pleasant.
The weather, however, was very pleasant. So, after the obligatory trip to the chandlers to spill out the contents of your wallet – this time to change the gas cylinders to Camping Gas – it was off to the cafe for coffee and ice cream with no need to defend ourselves from overly-smart and aggressive seagulls.
The next day, we made doubly certain we left at slack water.
Roscoff to L’Aber Wrac’h – 8th July 2017
More motoring. This time there was no wind. Nothing. Nada.
But there was something else: Fog.
I hate fog, and we were hit with it right outside the harbour.
Having AIS and radar on board helps to deal with the big stuff on board, but not the lobster pots or floating bits of detritus that we regularly come across. So, Maria went up front to act as lookout while we very slowly and carefully made our way out. It was so thick, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see the Black Pearl emerge from the murk. This really is ghostly stuff.
Fortunately this state of affairs only lasted for a tense hour or so, then we were off at a rapid clip towards L’Aber Wrac’h.
The folks at L’Aber Wrac’h marina are very helpful. A quick radio call was returned by clear directions on where to moor. As we had another early start the next day to catch the tide to and through the Chanel Du Four, we opted for a mooring buoy outside the marina. Maria picked this up at the first attempt, which is the sailing equivalent of scoring a 180 in a game of darts. And with that out of the way, we were able to settle down, lower the dinghy and go into town for lunch.
The place is nice. It’s small, pretty, has a few eateries and a shop. And it has a nice feel to the place.
Lunch, at the Creperie near the marina, was very good and provided us with enough fuel for a hike up the hill to the delightful village of Landeda to do some shopping.
This is certainly an area in which life differs from being land-based. A trip to the supermarket is a major undertaking. After the initial achievement of finding one, you then have to work out what’s staring back at you off the shelf. And you need a plan in mind to bring all the stuff back to the boat.
We bright sparks decided, given that it was uphill to the supermarket, and therefore downhill back, we would also buy some bottled water. Mistake. Downhill or not, that stuff is heavy after a mile. Next time, taking the risk of looking like a couple of bag people, we’ll take our trolley.
After that jaunt, the shopping was thrown in to the dinghy, followed by ourselves, and we headed back to Lady Jane – photographing her on the way.
An early night was needed that night as the big trip is next – across the Bay of Biscay.
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