Arrival at Camaret-Sur-Mer
Stargazer of Southampton
Susie and Adam (both think they are skipper)
Fri 30 Jul 2010 11:16
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29:07.10,
48.16.74N 4:35.31W
A
very cold and cloudy start with no wind so more motoring. However - early
morning excitement off the coast of Brittany as I spotted a Sunfish swimming -
for those not sea-life obsessed like me - Sunfish are very strange
creatures - they are like big discs with one fin at the top and one at the
bottom, they get ENORMOUS to 3m across, however - we only saw a small one of a
couple of feet in diameter. Still it is something I have never seen
before. I only noticed it as the top fin was sticking out of the water -
we thought it was a bird at first. we passed within about a metre of it
(luckily no closer otherwise it would have been an ex-sun
fish).
By
about 0800 we were both feeling rather down as there was no wind, and we had
miles to go before reaching the Chanel that we had to get through before the
turn of the tide. Missing this would mean a 30 mile 'long cut' around the
Ouessant which we were not really relishing when we were so close to our next
port. However - the god of 'just in time' must have been on our side as we
picked up the tide and sped towards the Chanel - amazingly we actually got there
with perfect timing. The Chanel du four has a reputation as it is a tidal
race with fast currents and can be dangerous in bad conditions - conditions were
perfect, blue skies, a gentle breeze and the worst of the tide had passed so
there were not really any currents. We did the 10 mile channel and got to
the south side with about 30 mins to spare before the tide turned - if we had
been an hour later then we would not have got through!
The
picture below shows Adam (or actually to be fair - the autopilot) steering
through the trecherous and difficult waters of the Chanel - you can see the
peril and danger in Adam's face.
 By 2pm
we arrived at Camaret Marina - everyone else was out for the day so we sneaked
onto a nice corner of pontoon and went straight out to
get baguettes, Cakes, Wine so we can feel that we are really in
France. Below is the Sea Front just next to where we are
'parked'.
We
have found out though that it is the local sport to sail as close as possible to
the boat on the end of the pontoon (us) in order to terrify the occupants - this
is best done with a bit wooden sturdy boat, preferable with a bit spear sticking
out of the front of it.
 And
here is a Camaret Street - I think the bunting is to do with some classic boat
festival or something
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