France - Take 3

We arrived back in Foleux on 24th Aug having managed to catch an earlier ferry from Dover. This enabled us to reach our hotel in Caen at a very respectable 6pm as opposed to the scheduled 9pm.

Off early the following morning with an easy drive to Foleux, arriving before 10am. Cabernet was in fine form, having been berthed very cosily by our mini dodos at the end of their very successful holiday. It was a glorious day and we had high hopes for the next stage of our 2010 French Tour. Regrettably that optimism didn't last and it proceeded to rain very heavily for the next two days - we stayed put in Foleux rather than get wet somewhere else! The forecast was for an improvement on Friday but we woke to yet more rain this time accompanied by thunder and lightning - it looked like yet another day in Foleux but by lunchtime the sun had re-established itself and we were on our way once more. We went through the Arzal lock at 4pm and spent the night just down river, ready for an early start on Saturday.

We arrived in good time in Piriac on saturday morning - its every bit as pretty as we'd been led to believe so had a couple of days chilling out in glorious warm sunshine. We even managed a scramble over the rocks at the headland - skipper was in his element. However the inevitable strong winds returned and gave us a restless night but we set off bright and early on Monday for the island of Houat, just 10 miles off Quiberon Bay.

We had a splendid sail all the way there and found we had the pick of the buoys in the bay at Port St Gildas - that should have sent out warning signals! We spent the warm and sunny afternoon on the beach - described in our pilot book as the best beach in Brittany and it certainly rates that description. There was some trauma when we experienced a man overboard - fortunately just John off the back of the dinghy. He floated and came to no harm!! Lovely barbie in the evening on the back of Cabernet and just one other boat on the moorings - and then we found out why. The wind got up about 9.30pm and we started to roll, fairly gently at first but strongly enough for skipper to set the anchor alarm in case we started to drag for any reason. The sea and wind just built and built and by 11.30pm we decided it would be prudent to get dressed in case we had to take action. Poor Cabernet took a terrible battering and I felt very seasick - I didn't feel so bad once I'd learned that the wife on board the other Brit boat on the next mooring HAD actually been sick 3 times during the night!!! Skipper suggested we initiate 2 hourly watches but the idea of looking at the bouncing shoreline in the dark didn't really appeal so we took our chances with the anchor alarm.

At the end of the night Cabernet was still in the same place, we hadn't moved at all but were both suffering badly from lack of sleep. At first light the wind was still blowing strongly, it was not an option to stay there a minute longer than necessary and, after reviewing the situation, we set off down wind for Port Haliguen - the sea was roly and we were experiencing gusts of 36kts so it was a case of life jackets and harness lines being used! The benefit of the wind was that it was a very quick trip(!) and we were safely tied up in the marina by 9am. I now understand that Houat is well known for that type of experience......it will be a day trip in future, if we decide to return!!!!! Having said all that the weather is now undoubtedly the best we've had all trip - long may it continue.

The arrival of our mini dodos!

We had a bit of engine trouble on the friday we were due to leave Crouesty to head for the Villaine - there were a number of 'discussions' between the skipper and his crew but eventually common-sense prevailed and we had a visit from a mechanic who sorted the problem in double quick time so we were able to leave the marina in great haste in order to get to the Villaine that evening - for once the wind was in our favour and we had a fantastic sail all the way to the mouth of the river. Unfortunately there were loads of yachts waiting to get through the lock when we arrived so we decided that the best move was to leave them to it and we transited the lock at our leisure the following morning.

We spent a couple of very peaceful days in the river before Andrew and Annie arrived last wednesday to take charge of Cabernet for their 10 day holiday. Skipper sailed with them to Arradon over a couple of days - I was charged with taking the car! They had a chaotic transit of the lock at Arzal with boats everywhere but were not put off at all by this - even the Force 6-7 up to Crouesty didnt put them off so we left them to their own devices on Friday afternoon and made our way to Calais.

We arrived home much earlier than expected on the saturday morning after getting on a friday evening ferry. We return to France on 24th August for the last stage of our trip. We're hoping to revisit Belle Ille, Piriac and of course make a last visit to the Morbihan before seeing Cabernet settled at Foleux for the winter.

Morbihan - take 3

We are really enchanted with the Morbihan and, after leaving Crouesty, spent another few days happily pottering around a few more anchorages and moorings. We spent one night at anchor off Ile D'Arz - bit of a mistake as the Rallye Passport Morbihan fleet (30+ boats) decided to use the same anchorage for their lunchtime stop. It got pretty hairy as they all started to drop anchor in 28kts of wind. Several yachts dragged their anchors and we came very close to having to fend one off Cabernet. However peace prevailed by mid-afternoon but, having seen the escapades of the other boats, we didn't feel happy to leave Cabernet unattended whilst we went ashore. After one rather sleepless night I'd had enough and we spent a couple - more peaceful - days at Arradon and Ile aux Moines. We walked the length of Moines - a good few hours - which made up for not getting off the boat earlier in the week.

By the saturday we were back in Crouesty to do some much needed washing, provisioning etc. We discovered that there was a regatta day on at Port Navalo so that provided us with a good opportunity for yet another strenuous walk. The weather was not great so we watched the Breton dancers and then headed back to Crouesty.

By this time our old friends from Glasgow, Chris and Lorna, had been in touch and were planning to be in our vicinity on their way back home in their motorhome. We were thrilled to find they managed to find a campsite within walking distance of Arradon and thoroughly enjoyed showing them the sights of Vannes the following day. Their visit was rounded off with a bbq on the beach at Arradon - by the time the tide had finished coming in we were left with a very small strip of beach on which to finish the eating and drinking of the evening!!