Sun 4th July
The Voyages of Richard and Amanda
Sun 4 Jul 2010 18:06
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POS: 47:53.94N
003:58.5W
Left kerneval at 8.40am to find no wind so we
started motoring towards Port-La -Foret about 26 miles away as the crow flies.
The sea was very calm and when the slight headwind did start it didn't slow us
down too much. Eventually by 11.30 the wind had reached a Force 3 and backed
slightly so we decided to start tacking towards our destination. It is a great
feeling when you turn off the engine and instead of that continuous noise and
vibration there is just the sound of the boat moving through the
water.
We started off on a tack that was taking us in
towards the shore, through the inevitable lobster pots, then we tacked out to
sea. There was a French boat on the same tack as us and it was nice to see we
were going faster than him. Not that I'm competitive, its just I don't like to
come last. We ended up tacking about a dozen times before passing the ominously
named 'Le Dragon' cardinal marker and allowing us to head directly for the port
entrance. By this time the wind had reached 18 to 20 knots ( a Force 5) and we
had put a reef in the genoa, but we were still doing 6.5 knots over the
ground.
The port we were aiming for is in a little bay
about a mile square just to the East of Concarneau. It is an idyllic spot with a
long sandy beach, sheltered water and beautiful scenery all round. We felt very
envious. We made our way slowly into the marina, identified a vacant berth and
tied up alongside. The French way of doing this is you find your berth then go
and see if it is OK. In the UK most marinas expect you to call first. But then
most UK marinas don't have dedicated visitor berths, they usually allocate
berths based on who is out at any particular time.
Having tied up, time for a cup of tea before going
off to the Capitainerie to pay and to a quick recce of the showers and loos.
Amanda is the expert, they got a grudging approval at least the toilets had
seats (not a hole in the ground) and they weren't communal. What the
showers are like we will try later.
Eating on board again tonight, beef curry with rice
- trying to use up our stock of tinned food bought with the expectation that we
were going to be at sea for 4 weeks, without access to restaurants. By the way
the paella turned out to be pretty good for a nearly ready meal.
Another 30 miles tomorrow sees us at Audiernne, the
last stop before the Raz de Sein and Northern Brittany. The forecast for Mon and
Tue is the same as today N2 -3 becoming NW or W 4-5 with sea breezes. For
some reason sea breezes here blow along the coast rather than directly onto
land. Trust the French to do something different !!!
A new acronym we are using - PAG's, reserved for
those sailors in expensive yachts who don't wave back. (Pompous Arrogant
Gits)
PS By the way just to let you know Amanda really
enjoyed today's sail despite the wind.
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