Roscoff
We left Perros-Guirrec on Thursday to sail to Roscoff planning to meet our friends Mike and Carol there who were sailing from Salcombe to Roscoff. The wind was WNW F2-3 giving us a long tack out past the Sept Isles before tacking back to N of the Meloine West Cardinal Marker.
Sept Isles
The wind died and we motored the last five miles. Approaching Roscoff we couldn't see the port control lights in the bright sunshine so we called the Capitanerie to check it was OK to enter the port. Then called the marina to be met by the berthing master who told us we had a reserved space. We were berthed next to Falken, Mike and Carol's Najad, who kindly took our lines. Falken is a bigger, faster boat than Shadow which means that over the next few trips they were waiting for us to take our lines.
Roscoff marina was modern and pleasant. It was a bit of a walk into town, but Roscoff itself was a typical Breton seaside town with old buildings and plenty of cafes and restaurants.
Roscoff Old Harbour
We had a very good meal on Friday evening in a hotel in town with a view over towards the Ile de Batz.
We left inn convoy on the Saturday to go West to L'Aber-Wrac'h. We timed the passage to go along the channel between Roscoff and the Ile de Batz. It looked challenging on th chart, but with a chartplotter it was quite straightforward.
Shadowing Falken though the Chenal d'Ile de Batz
Start of the Ile de Batz Channel
The passage to L'Aber-Wrac'h was a mixture of motoring and motor sailing in light winds. We arrived about 1630 and moored alongside the visitors pontoon. The river on which L'Aber-Wrac'h sits is very impressive with plenty of rocks. L'Aber-Wrac'h itself is very pleasant with a few bars and restaurants and a town on the hill.
After a night in L'Aber-Wrac'h we tackled the Chanel de Four down to Brest. We originally were going to go to Camaret, but with wet weather forecast for a few days decided that Brest might be better so headed for the Marina du Chateau.
A following wind was forecast, so we got the crusing chute ready. As we left at 1030 a sizeable flotilla of yachts left with us all heading West.
Falken leaving L'Aber-Wrac'h
We had lots of fun with the crusing chute! First we had a problem setting it when I found that the tack line was too short and had to let it go. The chute blew away downwind so we had to snuff it in the sock and set it up again using a strop rather than a tack line. We held our course to get a good angle down the Chanel de Four. When we gybed we got the lazy sheet caught under the hull. Once that was all sorted we headed down the Chenal de Four. As we passed Le Four light the wind picked up to F5, so we took down the chute. Eventually the wind died down completely so we could have held on the the chute for longer ... but better safe than sorry.
From just North of the Vinottiere Grande Port Hand Marker we were motoring with occasional light drizzle. We motored into the Rade de Brest along the very long wall of the naval base arriving in the Marina du Chateau just after six.
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