Trip Update - 22nd July 2008 Camaret, France

Nutmeg of Shoreham
Ollie Holden
Fri 25 Jul 2008 20:26

Position:  48:16.77N 04:35.80W

 

Camaret, France

 

Hurrah!  We have escaped from the English Channel!  We are now “round the corner” and into Biscay, after sailing through the notorious Chenal du Four from L’Aber Wrac’h.

 

I gave Sarah another get-out clause in the morning but she was keen to push on.  I think we were both dog-tired – sailing all day, then getting the kids off the boat, eating dinner, settling the kids (who don’t want to go to bed because they have slept half the day) then sitting down to passage-plan at 2230 is quite tiring day-on-day.  But the forecast was benign and the following day didn’t sound quite as good, so I timed it so we could have a leisurely start and catch the last of the ebb through the Chenal before turning to port up to Camaret.

 

We set off into the normal lumpy swell but as we neared Le Four lighthouse, the swell eased and we had an amazingly smooth sail through the Chenal!  It was sunny, the wind was light, the tide was under us, the swell had disappeared, and all was well with the world.  Hurrah!

 

We all sat on deck and played games and sang songs in the sunshine (our repertoire of nursery rhymes is now colossal and we haven’t even taught them any rugby songs yet!).  This is how it is supposed to be – sun shining, calm sea, fair wind, and a port just a few miles away!

 

Our friends from “Trombone” had told us to head to the inner marina at Camaret, and this is where we headed, right into the centre of town, where we came alongside.  Straight ashore, straight onto the beach, sand castles were being built within an hour of our arrival!  We followed this up with a monster meal of moules-frites, steak-frites, prawns (or “crawnies” as Jemima calls them) and a bottle of the table’s finest vin.

 

The following day I did a few jobs (the freshwater pump had stopped working and needed a little encouragement, put some hooks up in the girls’ bedroom for their handbags, etc) whilst Sarah did some school with the girls.  It is going to be difficult with schooling, simply because of the age difference and the different aptitudes.  Millie loves it; Mima hasn’t quite grasped the concept yet but I think will be OK once she does. 

 

The girls are keeping themselves well entertained with their many role-playing games.  They keep appearing as fairy princesses or in their ballet outfits, or with their little handbags stuffed full of useful things (such as the camera), taking their dolls to school or somesuch.  When we were still in England, they kept setting up Car Boot sales in the heads, and we would go in to find all their toys arranged on the toilet seat, in the basin, on the floor etc, and we would have to pay them in hard cash to take anything away (essential if you wanted to use the toilet for instance).

 

The afternoon was spent back at the beach where the girls are very sociable and join in with other groups of children playing in the sand or sea.  It has been hot – starting to think about windscoops, fans and other ways to keep cool.  Bring it on!