Into the Golfe du Morbihan

Several potential crises now were upon us. In the galley we were getting low on cheese and other essential victuals; the washing pile was getting unfeasibly large; and the weather forecast predicted cloud cover for the next 2 days. We were also down to about 6 days of water having not filled up since Guernsey – we wouldn’t want to restrict showers! Positive action was required and our hours of lazing about at anchor were therefore numbered. We hatched a plan to visit the Golfe du Morbihan and, in particular, the historic town of Auray. The only issue was a bridge; no matter how we worked the sums, even at the lowest spring tide, we were not going to squeeze BV’s 20-metre air-draft under the bridge and get up to Auray.

All was not lost though as we found a likely location to anchor in the river a couple of miles south and so hoped to commute to the delights of Auray in the dinghy. We left Belle Isle with barely 3 knots of wind rippling the sea. The motor north allowed us to charge everything that needed charging as well as providing lashings of hot water for the laundry. The manual washing machine was dug out from a locker in aft cabin and 3 loads of washing put out to dry on the safety rail, rapidly turned BV’s outline into that of a Chinese laundry.

BV in Chinese Laundry mode

Having entered the Golfe du Morbihan, we nosed around several potential anchorages but eventually chose a spot at Le Rocher a couple of miles south of Auray. Once everything had been put away our thoughts turned to sundowners and we realised that we had almost missed an excuse for a celebration. As the sky cleared of cloud and the sun set, we popped the cork on some ‘fizz’ and celebrated having sailed BV some 10251 nautical miles since taking ownership of her in 2007.

Le Rocher