On the beach
A year afloat: to the Caribbean and back
Sam and Alex Fortescue
Tue 24 Aug 2010 09:34
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47:42.75N
003:21.30W (from Tuesday 17 August) This morning we hauled up the mainsail at anchor in
the Glenans and sailed off past stumps of jagged rock towards the east. Though
pretty and quite wild, the islands were slightly ruined by the 30 or so boats
moored all around us, so it is good to get going.
With the wind astern at about 10 knots, we got the
spinnaker up for the first time in over a year. After a bit of revision in the
Sail and Rig Trimming Guide we got the gigantic yellow beast set and steamed off
at upwards of 7 knots. The cloud fell down to sea level so we couldn't see more
than a mile in any direction and we could dimly make out another spinnakered
form to the south. Small yachts kept darting out of the fog close hauled,
heading towards Benodet.
When the cloud lifted again we had the huge Ile de
Groix two miles to our south and the main French coast two miles to the north.
We unrolled the gib and bore away to get the spinnaker down with a minimum of
fuss (always harder than you expect) before racing into Lorient on some big
rollers.
After a day of drizzle it was good to get ashore,
where it immediately cleared up.
We've now got two weeks ashore to stop pitching.
We're looking froward to chilling out on the beach in Erdeven, eating crepes and
seeing all the Brittany clan again...
See you in September!
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