Wave Wash Brittany Cruise September 2021
Sun 2nd Sept.
After a lovely pub lunch at the Olive Tree in Wimbourne, Jan took me to Poole to catch the 14:30 Condor to Jersey.
Arrived in St. Hellier at 19:00 to be met by Tom and Colin who took me to Wave Wash, where Nigel was preparing his vessel for the voyage. We had not sailed together since 2008 so it was really good to meet up with old sailing pals.
Mon 3rd Sept.
9:00 saw us waiting for the lights guarding the entrance to Elizabeth Marina to change and then we were off on a course for St Quay, Brittany. The weather was overcast with rain in the air and we had an uncomfortable swell for the first hour or so. With our progress south came a more pleasant sea state and we motor sailed at a steady 6 knots towards France.
After a 9 hour passage we found a berth on a visitors pontoon amongst friendly French vessels. St Quay is a modern all weather, all states of tide, marina with excellent facilities. We went ashore for a substantial meal where the entire crew chose exactly the same dishes; a starter of soupion (tiny squid) followed by a beef brochette. The starter alone would have been sufficient. The fact that I was unable to finish up the frites that came with the brochette indicates the size of the portions. Absolutely delicious.
Tue 4th Sept.
Nigel promised that the delights of St. Quay were nothing compared to the Ile de Brahat and so we set off NW along the coast. he was right. A vista of rocks and islands appeared before us and some very careful navigation through rock strewn channels was necessary. At one point a grey seal popped his head up to see what was going on.
A mooring buoy was located for a lunch stop in a most delightful small bay.
Plan A (to overnight in Lezardriex) was superseded by a decision to carry on up the river Trieux to Pontrieux. Pontrieux was described in the pilot as a welcome break from the hurly burly of Lezardriux! We passed the sleepy port town of Lezardrieux and motored for 90 minutes up the completely deserted river that meandered through wooded country on a rising tide. At one point we passed below an impressive chateau that commanded a strategic position on this river. To get to the town of Pontrieux we had to pass through a lock. The lock gate needed another half hour of tide before it could open so we waited on a buoy and enjoyed the tranquility as Tom broke out his painting equipment and sketched the scene. Exactly on time the lock keeper appeared and we locked through a lock, designed to accommodate very large ore carrying vessels which served a local industry, onto the final stretch of river before the town. A quay-side berth was selected exactly opposite the capitainerie as darkness fell. Colin cooked a delightful meal and we had our first discussion on putting the world right before retiring for the night.
Wed 5th Sept.
The state of the tides meant we would have to stay 2 nights in Pontrieux but nobody seemed to think this was too arduous. We had shopping to do and a couple of maintenance tasks and the capitainerie provided free WiFi from its library. In addition to this the sun had come out and it was lovely and warm. A lunch drink stop in a bar in the centre of town provided the venue for a very lively discussion on religion with puzzled locals wondering what could be animating these four elderly gentlemen so much. A trip to a local Restaurant provided our evening meal.
Thur 6th Sept.
An early rise was called for in order to make the first opening of the lock. We motored through the misty stillness of the chilled dawn air to the lock. Our passage back down the Trieux was even more enchanting, due to the bright sunlit conditions.
We tied up at the fuel pontoon to refuel and get the essential baguette always required at the start of any day in France, and then set out to find a place to dry out on Ile de Brehat. Nigel had a particular spot in mind in a very sheltered inlet. We found a buoy and sat back to wait for the tide to fall. Bets were placed on what time we would ground. Everyone was way out with their calculations. We grounded much sooner than expected as the tides move at such a speed in this part of the world.
Soon as he could, Nigel was over the back and scrubbing down the hull. The ground was not the sand that was hoped for but very gluepy mud. I set to work on freeing the log paddle wheel as Colin & Nigel changed the anode. With all work done Colin and I set off to explore the island while Tom & Nigel stayed aboard sketching and painting.
My need to catch the noon ferry on Saturday from St. Malo was beginning to influence planning at this stage and in order to do this we had to move to a mooring where we could float at low tide, so as soon as Wave Wash was afloat, at sunset, we moved her to an equally spectacular cove for the night.
Fri 7th Sept.
My alarm went off at 5 am. I put my head up through the hatch to see the most tranquil starlit scene I have ever witnessed. Not a ripple, not a sound.
Nigel and I waited until there was enough light for us to make our passage safely out of the cove avoiding the moored boats and rocks. The Sun rose dramatically, as ever, as we made our journey south east to St Cast. An uneventful passage, but for an hour or two of thick fog about mid morning.
In St Cast we were back into the world of big marinas and surrounded by some very expensive craft, most of them based in the channel islands. We spent the afternoon ashore having a walk around the cliff tops. A final evening meal before my leaving this happy crew was had in the quayside restaurant where moules et frites were the order of the day.
Sat 8th Sept.
Tides caused another early start for the final leg to St Malo. A short 2 hour passage with our arrival at this spectacular town at 10 o'clock. Time was tight as I had a good walk to the ferry terminal from the marina so I bid farewell to my sailing friends and wished them all an equally good week for the rest of their voyage.
April - Learning the Ropes
Gale force winds were forecast for my familiarisation voyage to Cowes Tuesday 3rd & Wed 4th April, instead we had a very pleasant (if cold sail). Even got the spinnaker up as you can see from the photo. Now I’m a fully qualified, signed up member of the Half Nelson Team. Next sailing (which will be under my own skippership) will be 10 days time (Apr 14th).
2012
April 15th 1st solo Sail on Half Nelson
Just back from my first sail on Half Nelson. It was a great weekend with no dramas. Oliver and I really enjoyed ourselves. HN performed very well. We had a leisurely but cold sail over to East Cowes yesterday afternoon and actually mored in the same berth they gave us ten days ago ago (not free on Saturdays, which was bit of a disappointment). The evening was spent in a pub in West Cowes followed by Oliver giving me an introduction to the delights of ‘The 12th Man’. A series of spoof Richie Benaud commentaries by Rhys Darby - very funny.
Today with much stronger winds we breakfasted on the traditional dish of boat bacon before changing the jib for the smaller number 2. Setting off we found we had too much sail and had to have that jib reefed and the main sail heavily reefed for our return. We still flew along. Mostly the wind observed was 20 knots but very frequent gusts of much more. At one stage 31knots observed at the mast head.
Great fun, but a little exhausted on our return.
Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rpjg51/sets/72157629459091376/
May Sail with Gemma & Tom
Saturday 26th Gemma's Birthday
Eventually got onboard with Gemma at about 2 o'clock. We both had difficult journeys with traffic and public transport. Whilst waiting for Gem to arrive I had discovered that the sea loo was not pumping out. This put a bit of a cloud over things as a working loo is pretty much essential for the comfortable sailing experience. After an unsuccessful couple of hours trying to mend the loo, the two of us decided we would use the bucket and chuck-it method until I could solve the problem and we set off for Cowes at four pm.
With tide and wind with us all the way we had a fast run to Cowes to find the port extremely crowded. The overdue arrival of summer had brought every sailor in the South of England out this weekend. We were unable to get into East Cowes and were lucky to be able to raft to another yacht in Shepherd’s Wharf. After securing the boat we were off into Cowes to have a meal at the Anchor Inn to celebrate Gemma’s birthday.
Sunday 27th
A fabulous sunny day. We left Cowes at 8:30 as the tide was perfect for Portsmouth, and had the most perfect broad reach back to Haslar on a flat sea with every body else still in harbour. We arrived at the entrance to Portsmouth harbour as everybody in the harbour seemed to be leaving. It was hairy dodging the variety of craft and skippers who didn’t seem to understand the workings of the small craft channel.
Attention now turned to the loo problem. I took the pump apart to inspect the valves etc. all seemed fine so I reassembled it. No improvement whatsoever. I bought a service kit to replace all the valves in case the old valves were not working although they looked fine. No improvement yet again. I concluded it had to be a blockage somewhere. So with some difficulty I managed to get the soil pipe into the holding tank off and discovered a solid mass of loo paper etc preventing any flow further into the tank. With some persistent probing with a screw driver I managed to remove it all and discovered the cause was a jubilee clip that had got caught in the entrance to the holding tank. Sometime in the past it must have fallen in the loo and been flushed through to this point. An enormous relief, even though the purchase of the service pack was probably unnecessary.
Tom arrived soon after showing him over Half Nelson and after settling him in we set off for a drink on the Light Ship Mini Mouse that is part of Haslar Marina. It was fabulously hot and sunny with a great view of Portsmouth harbour.
Monday 28th
The next morning the loo failed again. Exactly the same symptoms. So off came the soil pipe to the holding tank again, and with the help of an extra-long screwdriver that we purchased, further probing continued. Much scale was removed and the evidence was photographed. The build up of scale was the principle problem. With the loo now working perfectly we set off for Lymington.
We had a great 5 hour passage tacking against a prevailing wind, first against the tide and then with the tide, but with a wind over water rough sea, all under continuous sunshine. Unfortunately on arrival, at 6:30 pm, we found we had been beaten to the town quay by at least 12 other craft and so had to berth at Lymington Yacht Haven.
We had a long walk into town for a meal at the Kings Head in the evening. Gemma and Tom went head to head over the wind energy conundrum.
Tuesday 29th
Another beautiful sunny day. We set off from Lymington as the tide turned in our favour at mid day. With a westerly wind we gybed our way to Cowes on a fast tide-assisted passage arriving at East Cowes Marina just before two pm.
Wednesday 30th
Woke to the sound of fog horns. Windless and very foggy. Slowly the fog lifted until it became low cloud. At 11:00 we cast off for Portsmouth. Absolutely no win and so we had to end our cruise with a passage entirely under motor. Almost 70 nautical miles covered (60 of those under sail) nearly 5 days of unbroken sunshine!
More pictures - http://www.flickr.com/photos/rpjg51/sets/72157630075461256/
Bonus Sail 28th July 2012
Jan and I took advantage of some rare good weather and the fact that Tim wasn’t using HN to take a trip to East Cowes. Very calm conditions, but we did manage to sail all the way there and back, although no records were broken.
Picture is a stain glass in a window in Cowes that attracted Jan’s attention.
August Cruise with Rob & Sal
Three very enjoyable days afloat with Rob and Sallie joining Jan and myself for a Solent Cruise to Yarmouth and back. The weather was extraordinarily kind to us considering what the forecast was indicating a few days earlier, in fact the only rain we had was a short shower as we returned to Portsmouth Harbour. Sailing was mostly uneventful and relaxed despite relatively strong winds, and the food and company couldn’t have been better.
More photos
August 13th Gosport to Brighton
Yesterday Jan and I crewed for Tim who wanted Half Nelson taken to Brighton. Forecast was warm and fine with a Force 3 or 4 SSW to SW and this is exactly what we eventually got. What wasn’t forecast accurately was the sea state, which turned out to be rather more agitated than the ‘slight’ predicted. At first with the spinnaker up, but later, as the wind strength increased, goose-winging. We were running before the wind the whole time, and helming required 100% concentration. At times the motion was quite uncomfortable with a corkscrew action. Jan’s morale held up extremely well for the first 6 hours but, understandably, began to flag as we neared Brighton. Passage time was 7 hours to do 43.05 nautical miles. (49.5 miles).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rpjg51/sets/72157631046547070/
Leicester Cruise 15th September
This was an opportunity to have another trip on the canals before Rob Main disappeared with the swallows back to South Africa. This took trip took us into Leicester. Jan and I drove up from Oxford Probate Court and met Patience just after lunch at a wharf near Husband Bosworth. We travelled through the famous Foxton Flight and some very rural country that extended almost into the city centre of Leicester. We got back to our car using two buses on a route that had been well researched by Jan. Another brilliant canal boat experience.
Taking Macaret Upstream 28th October
Colin asked me if I would like to help him take his motor cruiser Macaret upstream. I was delighted to help and we did this on Friday 26th October. My car was left at Penton Hook Marina Chertsey and we drove in Colin’s to Twickenham yacht club where Macaret is kept. It was only a short distance on the tidal river to Teddington Lock where we had to purchase a day licence (£21) from British waterways to proceed further upstream. Just beyond Kingston we picked up Pete from his palatial barge Christiona. To my astonishment Christiona was moored in the exact same spot as Wanda IV was all those years ago when I was a student at Chelsea College. Pete showed us round his barge and gave us coffee and biscuits before we motored on. It was a cold damp grey day but most interesting seeing the river life. Due to the nature of the weather, Pete suggested that we deviated from our plan of a cold lunch on board and went for a warm beer and food at the Weir (a waterside pub near Sunberry, I believe). After feasting we headed on through 5 locks in total until we arrived at Penton Hook. A really enjoyable day with excellent company.
Daysail with Colin 29th November
A beautiful crispy clear day with a northerly F3 day sail (after we had thrown a few buckets of sea water over the decks to remove the ice). We sailed to the Bramble bank and back again.