Friday 17^th August – Brest - Morgat

48:13.438N 4:29.807W

Today we moved on from Brest further down the Brittany coast in the short weather window available to us.  Having helped the harbour master move the boat rafted alongside us, we left the marina just after 9am, a little after high water to catch the fair tide out. 

Initially we were not sure whether to go back to Camaret for the weekend or to carry on to pastures new.  We decided to take a look outside the Rade de Brest at the conditions, and then make a decision.  The conditions were not brilliant, swell and black cloud on the horizon, nevertheless we made the decision to carry on – go figure!

Anyway, we motored out with the swell and a light wind on the nose to the first headland. Cutting round the headland we set sail and headed on.  A heavy rain squall off to the west induced us to motor on to try to avoid the rain but soon the wind increased and the cloud came over.  Happily, as we rounded the Cap de la Chevre we turned out of the wind and swell into glorious and sunny conditions, with a light breeze on the beam. 

We wanted to arrive at Morgat around or just after low water – there are only a few visitor berths and we thought we could take the turning tide back to Camaret if there was no space.  We took a slow sail up to Morgat, enjoying the scenery and a relaxing lunch before entering the marina. 

The marina is described as fairly shallow in the Almanac, somewhat discouraging to larger vessels, so it was a bit of a plucky call to go in, especially at low water; however, theory suggested we should just have enough water (charted depth and height of tide) and it was a rising tide, just in case I touched the bottom.  However, we picked our way in without a problem, with more water than expected, and found a berth along side the visitors’ pontoon. 

We have been for a walk this afternoon in the sunshine.  Morgat is absolutely lovely, definitely a worthwhile trip.  Don’t let the apparent shallowness of the marina put you off – we were fine and there is an Oceanis 523 berthed in front of us!  The staff are very friendly and there is even a guy who pops down onto the pontoon to see if you want your baguette and pain au chocolat delivered in the morning.