CRACKING SAIL TO LOCTUDY
Aquila
Alan and Sarah Bennett
Sun 25 May 2014 11:02
L’Aberwrach proved as welcoming as ever. After spending Friday drying out gear etc, the crew enjoyed a relaxing afternoon and planning the next leg: the aim being to get though Le Four channel and Le Raz de Sein. Tidal gates are everything in these waters, and with the winds forecast to back from NW to SSW an early departure on Saturday morning was deemed the logical thing to do, with Loctudy the planned destination.
So after a simple but tasty meal in the waterfront restaurant ‘Le pot de beurre’ we turned in early in anticipation of an 0330 shake from the skipper - where upon the crew demonstrated its collective willingness by all being up and about by 0315! The outward passage past the 5nm of hazards that surround L’Aberwrach were successfully negotiated once more, and we departed the Libenter buoy on a WSW course with a F2 from the South – exactly the course we needed to make down Le Four. Needless to say the met. profession were the subject of some verbal stick! But as we ticked off the waypoints that brought us round to a more southerly course, lo and behold the wind by 0545 had veered to NW F3, thus giving us a broad reach as we sped past the Le Four hazards with the planned fair tide under us. This enabled us to clear the channel as planned before the tide turned foul at 0900. First objective of the day achieved!
Scrambled eggs and bacon then miraculously appeared courtesy of Ken as we continued across the Brest Approaches under grey skies in intermittent rain and a strengthening NW breeze; approaching Le Raz de Sein, the latter gave us plenty of boat speed to overcome the by now 4kt northerly running tide. When they came as expected, the inevitable overfalls were of the ‘sporting’ variety, but the crew were well up for the associated surfing – the log showing 12.7kts at one point! Despite Peter’s skill at the helm, a broach just before we rounded Raz de Sein point told us it was time to reduce sail; two slabs in the main and the genoa exchanged for the staysail were no sooner called for than done. BZ crew!
Now round the point and with a base course of SE, we enjoyed a dead run across Bay de Audierne as the sky brightened, the wind eased back to WNW F3 and the sun came out – perfect sailing!
Morale was off-plot high as we sped past Pointe do Penmarch to port, appreciating the rocky scenery and a lunch of sandwiches washed down with a beer. We deployed Aquila’s secret downwind weapon (running goosewinged by the lee) for an hour before gybing onto the NE courses taking us towards Loctudy.
The entrance to this charming little estuary was exactly what cruising is all about. The marina manager was the epitome of helpfulness, and by 1800 we had a G&T in hand while enjoying the setting sun. A simple meal on board, washed down with a glass of wine and rounded off with an Old Pulteney accompanied by many ‘dits’ coupled with increasing levels of banter made for a thoroughly contented crew opting for an early turn in. Objective 2 achieved!
Le Four Channel at 0700……
The crew was in competitive mode……
Cruising at its best...
