Today, July 8, we left Amsterdam exactly one month ago and we are now in Brest.
Lézardrieux was our 1st port in Brittany and is located a few miles inland on a river. We arrived here late at night in the dark. The entrance of the river still had a considerable cross current and with a nice breeze it was a good aim to sail in between all the rocks and shallows. The entrance is indicated by a limited number of light lines and light buoys. In the dark (without a moon) it is difficult to distinguish the correct route. We saw all kinds of outlines of boats moored to mooring buoys just next to the sailing route. When we lit them with a big spotlight it looked a bit scary and they also seemed very close. When leaving the harbor a few days later, it turned out that all those boats were much more distant than they appeared at night when we entered. In the end we reached the village without damage and moored at a mooring buoy. They are still quite difficult to get hold of because they are quite low on the water and the Pantera has quite a high freeboard. So that’s hanging overboard to reach it without flicking overboard yourself. We have become a lot more adept at getting hold of a mooring buoy; We have also moored at these mooring buoys in other places such as Ploumanhac’h and l’Aber Ildut.
From Lézardrieux we sailed the Breton coast towards Brest and admired it. Very rough, lots of rocks and coves and a lot of current. You really have to take this into account, otherwise you will hardly make any progress if you are not already put back. Around the Channel Islands we got more than 12 knots on the log, with hardly any wind. We also reached more than 10 knots through the Channel du Four, the western curve of Brittany on our way to Brest. And when that current collides with another current or the bottom has a very erratic shape, the water becomes an awful mess, resulting in a kind of rodeo ride.
Arriving in Brest we are still doing the necessary jobs on board and preparing for the crossing from Brest to A Coruña in Spain, a trip of 3 to 4 days and about 350 nautical miles. Just wait for a good “weather window” for a good crossing. So far the weather has not been easy here in Brittany: quite fresh and wet. We also got lost in l’Aber Wrac’h; A storm came over with wind force 10…
This morning we have already cut out the guest flags of Spain and Portugal from the piece of fabric on which we have printed a large number of flags of the countries that we expect to come across. Only a cord to attach and it’s done!
