28th and 29th May, Belle Isle

Biddy successfully joined us in Lorient and we sailed the 25 miles to Belle Isle and moored in the village port of Sauzon. There were several fairly basic but well populated restaurants on the quayside so we picked one and armed with very poor French ordered something that sounded interesting. We still have no idea what the starter was, but it almost certainly was some kind of botanical seafood resembling dinosaur claws, (Wendy's description), the main course was delicious.
The Brittany coastal path takes a diversion onto Belle Isle, so we walked 12km into the main town La Palais. The path is typically up and down, cliff tops and sandy beaches, surrounded by May flowers.

Whats this? answers on a postcard please!

Sauzon

First day in shorts!

25 and 26th May, Port Menc'h and Lorient

We picked up a mooring in the tiny harbour of Port Menac’h, at the mouth of the river L’Aven. Gauguin lived and worked in Pont Evan, a short distance up the river and the area is still popular with artists as well as tourists. It’s easy to see why. The next morning we took the tender ashore and went for a lovely walk through the village and up the river, before setting off for Lorient in the afternoon. A gentle sail 20 mile sail and we came up into the centre of Lorient, on route passing the sinister looking WW2 German U boat pens.   We are here to pick up Biddy, our new crew member tomorrow evening and to do a little shopping and laundry. It can't all be fun.

River L'Aven, not an artist in sight

U boat pens at Lorient

24th and 25th May, Concarneau

Concarneau is like a film set for a medieval drama. The old city of timber and stones houses sits within a fortress in the harbour. It is absolutely lovely. We stayed a night to enjoy the atmosphere and a leisurely café lunch before setting off for an evening 10 mile sail to Port Manac’h.

The old city of Concarneau

Its bank holiday Monday so plenty of tourists

The stunning old streets, now mostly tourist shops and cafe's, but plent of people still live in the old city

23rd and 24th May, Iles de Glenan

The Iles de Glenan are a group of tiny islands about 10 miles off the coast and are said to be the nearest thing you can get to the Caribbean, whilst still in Brittany. They are lovely, but on a bank holiday weekend theses were not deserted islands. There was fog on the water in the morning, blue sky but less than 100m visibility. We set off from the crowded anchorage in the tender armed with a compass to find a deserted beach a mile away. By afternoon the fog had disappeared, making the return journey to Cara Mara a much simpler affair. In the evening we sailed 10 miles to Concarneau.

Wendy on a deserted foggy beach

Bank holidays are the same in Brittany

Wendy studied the Oyster Catchers

20th and 21st May Brest to Loctudy, two amazing days sailing

We left Brest on Wed morning with a forecast of sunshine and 15 knots of wind and sailed 14 miles around the coast to a beach, where we anchored until late afternoon, to catch the tide through the Raz de Sein. The Raz has a strong tidal stream which must he approached at slack water.
We then sailed another 10 miles to pick up a mooring off of Audierne for a peaceful night.
Thursday was also a lovely sunny day and with lighter following winds we broke out our "cruising shute" for the first time this year and the first time when Wendy has been on the boat (we felt very pleased with ourselves) . Two perfect days sailing have brought us to Loctudy, a pretty holiday and fishing village where we plan to stay for a day or so to explore the local area.

the lighthouse at the Raz de Sein

The cruising shute, very pretty!

Brest, 18th and 19th May Oceanopolis and Botanical Gardens

There is a huge area of sheltered water around Brest, and we felt guilty that we did not do more, but it was blustery showery weather so we elected to explore ashore. Brest marina sits in a large area of docks 15 min walk up hill into the pleasant modern town centre.
We took the bus to visit Oceanopolis, a huge aquarium tourist attraction, which being May was quiet enough  for us to wander round in relative peace. It has 3 zones, Arctic,  Temperate and Tropical each with tanks with hundreds of fish and other sea creatures including penguins, seals, sharks, rays and a great many very pretty, gruesome and amazing creatures and plants. Very good, but it has to be said, not as exciting as the pod of dolphins who joined us when we were sailing a few days before.
On Tuesday we enjoyed a walk (dodging heavy showers) at the botanic gardens at Jardin du Stang Alar.

Brest modern town centre

Brest marina and medieval fortress

Wendy at the Botanical Gardens

A little egret at the gardens

Monday May 18th Brest

We made the crossing from Penzance to Cameret-sur Mer on Saturday, all but the last couple of miles under sail on a single tack, 125 miles in 23 hours. It is great to be on the south side of the Channel and to have swopped pasties for croissant's.
Paul Deakin, a very experienced sailor joined us for the trip and was a great help, we were very grateful as our other crew member Andy dropped out, unfortunately he was stuck on another boat, which had engine problems.
Yesterday we enjoyed a lovely sunny sail from Cameret-sur Mer to Brest, where we will spend the next couple of days due to wet and windy weather.

Paul at the helm as we arrive in France

Cameret-sur Mer

The French National championship brought 100 or more J80's to Cameret for the weekend

10th to 13th May Cornwall

We have enjoyed a couple of glorious warm sunny days here in Cornwall. Yesterday the part arrived for Cara Mara's engine and our new crew member Paul joined us, so we are planning to leave for Brittany on Friday when tomorrows wet and windy weather has passed through.
Dave and Wendy spent yesterday in St Ives, Dave thinks the last time he was there was walking on the coastal path nearly 40 years ago. The narrow streets and alleys are still impossibly pretty in the sunshine as well as being surprisingly busy for early May. We had a lovely walk along the cliffs and enjoyed a visit to the Tate. Looking forward to setting sail again and new adventures "abroad" !

St Ives in the sun !
 

Cornish Sea and Sun !
 

Lots of these Lilies in Cornwall - beautiful
 

9th May walk on coastal path, some photo's

Spot the Minack Theatre !

Penberth Cove

Wendy's very proud of this one !

Mousehole

1st to 9th May Penzance

The blog returns after some IT, issues!
Wendy, Dave, Chris and Stuart, made the crossing from Kinsale to Penzance in 32 hours, arriving on the evening 4th May. It was a bumpy ride so we were very happy to get to Penzance with the harbour tide gate open, so we could gratefully climb into our beds. Chris set off home on the 5th and Stuart on the 6th leaving Wendy and Dave to plan our next sail over to the Scillies. Sadly a combination of windy days and a minor but irritating leak on the engine cooling system means that we have continued to enjoy the delights of Cornwall. A temporary fix is in place but we have decided to stay until a new part arrives on Tuesday, so we can forget about it for the rest of the summer.
On the upside we are having a good time in Penzance and today we took the bus towards Lands End and had a fantastic walk back to Newlyn along the coastal path. The path was decorated by an amazing display of bluebells and other wild flowers, Cornwall looked lovely in the sunshine.

Kinsale, Friday 1st May

After a 12 hour sail on Thursday we arrived in Kinsale, historically one of the most significant river ports in Southern Ireland, and now a busy tourist town with 2 marinas.The journey here was not uneventful !  3 or 4 dolphins joined us for over 10 minutes, riding the bow wave and swopping from side to side.  It was lovely to see; we had the boat on autohelm and went up to the bow and they were so close to us.  Quite small dolphins - ? Risso.  Not many seal sightings yet - 1 in the harbour today. Lots of guillimots, gannets and kittiwakes, plus some choughs near Dunmore East.
In early 17th Century a Spanish fleet with 3500 men landed in Kinsale in support of an Irish upraising against the English. Their defeat at the battle of Kinsale meant that Ireland remained under English rule until the 20th Century. 100 years ago the Cunard liner Lusitania was sunk by German U boat just off Kinsale Head, costing 1200 civilian lives and causing outrage in Ireland, England and the USA. Sadly the weather today is a bit windy and damp, so we are not seeing the town at its best. Wendy and Dave donned their waterproofs for a brisk walk out to the large 17th Century "Star" fort guarding the entrance from the sea.

Kinsale marina on a damp and rather dismal day.