L'Aber Benoit

We had hoped that the wind would abate on Tuesday 28 August. It did a little but came back strongly in the afternoon when the tide would be heading south. It also stayed firmly in the SSW sector; exactly the direction we wanted to head. Wednesday’s forecast looked grim with Force 7 winds and thundery showers.

The rather grey view between rain showers

We did set sail on Tuesday afternoon but the wind was as forecast so we simply moved one Aber south, picking up a mooring buoy in L’Aber Benoit; another location we had bypassed previously. L’Aber Benoit is more populated than the wilder L’Aber Wrac’h and has more of a holiday atmosphere with nice beaches on its southern shore. It also had the temptation of the viviers. Unlike at L’Aber Wrac’h, none of the navigation markers or buoys are lit though, so approaches and departures have to be by day which is why, I guess, L’Aber Wrach tends to be the staging post for yachts waiting for favourable conditions to pass through the Chanel du Four and the Raz de Sein.

Nicky planing our passage through the Chanel du Four

These two infamous tidal choke points are not to be underestimated. With the right conditions they provide a helpful tidal ‘conveyor belt’ which zips you around the Brest peninsular into the Bay of Biscay with a good handful of extra free knots of speed. However with strong wind against tide (as was forecast), the seas can pick up to be very dangerous and there are few easy boltholes. 

L’Aber Benoit therefore provided a pleasant haven for us as the next depression marched in from the west on Wednesday. A high pressure and pleasant westerly winds were on the cards for Thursday so that is when we planned to make our move further south (which also left enough time for another bowl or two of moules).

The lovely Breton stone cottages looking fantastic in the sunshine

L'Aber Wrac'h

Night Sailing

On Sunday 26 August we had been invited for a long Sunday Lunch. Sadly a study of the weather forecast and tide tables confirmed that there was a small weather window in which we should be able to head west so we had to decline the invitation. Instead, after a light lunch on board, we untied and left St Peter Port sailing south waiting for the westerly wind to back so that we would be able to head west along the Brittany coastline. The wind died but, after a few hours motoring west, it built again from the south exactly as forecast. We sailed overnight working a loose 2 hours on, 2 hours off watch system. The phosphorescence that night was fantastic - very much like the Milky Way in our wake – and with the windvane set up, BV sailed herself west, eased along by the favourable tide.

As we approached the north-western tip of Brittany the tide started to flow against us. By this stage we also had gusts of 27 knots over the deck and the forecast was for the wind to increase further. Stopping in L’Aber Wrac’h seemed like the best plan so we tacked backwards and forwards to make the entrance and then raced into the estuary.

We bypassed the marina and headed up river to moor off Paluden. This was a new location for us to visit and, being further up river, we hoped that it would provide more shelter from the imminent gale.

Despite the showers we took the bikes ashore and cycled a 14 km circuit taking in the fantastic Viviers de Prat-ar-Coum on the shore of L’Aber Benoit, and the town of Lannilis where we brought some lovely rustic bread.

'Fred'

The viviers only had large crabs; larger than our largest pan. We therefore had to improvise and so after ‘Fred’ had been put to sleep in fresh water he was boiled in the wok.

‘Fred’ fed us well with enough crabmeat for a large dinner as well as crab sandwiches for the following day’s lunch and the claws became a (large) tasty starter for our meal that evening too. 

Morning Sunshine at Paulden