Well the promised reduction to the strength of the south-westerly winds didn’t happen, in fact they got stronger! So we had to accept yet another delay, which puts us well behind our scheduled itinerary to make the Rally at Vannes by Sunday. However this break did give us a chance to sort out the diesel leak.

We decided to sail directly to Lorient, missing out planned stops at Camaret and Loctudy. A careful check of the conditions showed we could make the passage through the Chenal du Four as well as the Raz de Sein on the same tide. So we left early on Thursday and sailed through the night and reached a little anchorage called Lomener, which is very close to Lorient, just before dawn on Friday.

This was our best leg so far with 115 miles covered, almost all of which we were able to sail with the wind behind us for a change.

 

After a superior breakfast cooked by Terry, for a change, we completed the last 5 miles to Lorient, where we are now moored up right in the middle of the city.

 

The winds have now reduced and changed direction and it is sunny and quite warm. Tomorrow, we will complete the final 35 miles to Crouesty where the Rally will rendezvous before making the  procession into Vannes. We were disappointed to learn that one of the boats from Fareham, Lady Sefton, has had to abandon the trip because of the winds have prevented them from making sufficient progress down the English Channel to get to Vannes even before the end of the Rally.