After a quiet night in St Quay we set of to work our way eastward.
Before leaving we went early morning to the poissonarie and bought a very fresh Ray wing to cook when we arrived.
Again no wind at all when we set off. After leaving St Quay we headed North for a mile or so to clear a rock island running parallel to the coast then headed due East across St Brieuc Bay ( Baie de Saint Brieuc) to cap Frehel. This was slightly longer than the more southern route we had taken westward to St Quay but was a simpler.
In the bay there were large numbers of small fishing boats and a several stern trawlers. The latter are a bit of a nuisance when fishing since they change direction very erratically. Then when the nets are up they set off at high speed to the next fishery. If you’re in the way they head straight towards you and the concern is whether they’ve seen you. Sometimes the skipper can be seen on deck working with the crew sorting the catch, before rushing top the wheelhouse to change course. They also trawl up masses of seaweed which floats to the surface ready to get caught round the rudder or prop. Still, without them you probably wouldn’t be able to buy fresh ray wing early morning.
Just after lunch, off Cap Frehel, the wind sprang up enough for us to sail the rest of the way to Bas Sablons marina just outside St. Malo. We would have no problems entering since it was neaps with a minimum of 2 metres over the cill at any time of the day. Just a couple of short tacks kept us inside the “Chenal de la Grande Porte” then off the wind for an easy run down the “Chenal de la Petite Porte” to St. Malo. We entered “Petit Port” just ahead of a Southerly 38, also sailing. I thought they would overtake us but we gradually pulled away and entered Bas Sablons well ahead. I’m glad we beat him, he docked a couple of boats from us and turned out to be very loud and pompous with an equally loud bow thruster that he appeared to use all the time instead of the rudder.
We ate the ray that night baked in the oven with a gram flour and almond crust, using cooking bags. The fish cooked OK but was difficult to get out of the bag so the crust got a little damaged but tasted OK. We needed fresh cream for the caper sauce, but found it impossible to find in the small local supermarket, so had to use crème fraiche instead, if anything this made the sauce better. The fish was very good, just what you’d expect straight from the quay. Next time we’ll try and stop one of the trawlers as the flash past a few yards away and buy some.
Our plan is to stay three nights in St Malo.
We went to one of our favourite restaurants, in St Servan. Food as good as ever and prices seem lower than last year, someone told us that the tax charged in restaurants has gone down and most have passed this on to customers. Generally though, food and clothes in shops are very expensive.
Since being here we have done a lot of walking, around St Servan and St Malo. We also took the ferry across the river to Dinard. It’s only a small town but it has several miles of very pleasant water front to walk along.
In the basin Vauban in St Malo is moored a very large superyacht named “Skat”, privately owned and registered in the Cayman Islands. According to one of the crew they have no permanent home port but just travel the world and the owner joins them. A very sleek new 60/70 ft powerboat from Guernsey came into Bas Sablons, turned round and went out again, It was called “Envy”. Next day it was moored right behind “Skat” looking very small and insignificant. No matter what boat you have there’s always one bigger.
Before leaving we went early morning to the poissonarie and bought a very fresh Ray wing to cook when we arrived.
Again no wind at all when we set off. After leaving St Quay we headed North for a mile or so to clear a rock island running parallel to the coast then headed due East across St Brieuc Bay ( Baie de Saint Brieuc) to cap Frehel. This was slightly longer than the more southern route we had taken westward to St Quay but was a simpler.
In the bay there were large numbers of small fishing boats and a several stern trawlers. The latter are a bit of a nuisance when fishing since they change direction very erratically. Then when the nets are up they set off at high speed to the next fishery. If you’re in the way they head straight towards you and the concern is whether they’ve seen you. Sometimes the skipper can be seen on deck working with the crew sorting the catch, before rushing top the wheelhouse to change course. They also trawl up masses of seaweed which floats to the surface ready to get caught round the rudder or prop. Still, without them you probably wouldn’t be able to buy fresh ray wing early morning.
Just after lunch, off Cap Frehel, the wind sprang up enough for us to sail the rest of the way to Bas Sablons marina just outside St. Malo. We would have no problems entering since it was neaps with a minimum of 2 metres over the cill at any time of the day. Just a couple of short tacks kept us inside the “Chenal de la Grande Porte” then off the wind for an easy run down the “Chenal de la Petite Porte” to St. Malo. We entered “Petit Port” just ahead of a Southerly 38, also sailing. I thought they would overtake us but we gradually pulled away and entered Bas Sablons well ahead. I’m glad we beat him, he docked a couple of boats from us and turned out to be very loud and pompous with an equally loud bow thruster that he appeared to use all the time instead of the rudder.
We ate the ray that night baked in the oven with a gram flour and almond crust, using cooking bags. The fish cooked OK but was difficult to get out of the bag so the crust got a little damaged but tasted OK. We needed fresh cream for the caper sauce, but found it impossible to find in the small local supermarket, so had to use crème fraiche instead, if anything this made the sauce better. The fish was very good, just what you’d expect straight from the quay. Next time we’ll try and stop one of the trawlers as the flash past a few yards away and buy some.
Our plan is to stay three nights in St Malo.
We went to one of our favourite restaurants, in St Servan. Food as good as ever and prices seem lower than last year, someone told us that the tax charged in restaurants has gone down and most have passed this on to customers. Generally though, food and clothes in shops are very expensive.
Since being here we have done a lot of walking, around St Servan and St Malo. We also took the ferry across the river to Dinard. It’s only a small town but it has several miles of very pleasant water front to walk along.
In the basin Vauban in St Malo is moored a very large superyacht named “Skat”, privately owned and registered in the Cayman Islands. According to one of the crew they have no permanent home port but just travel the world and the owner joins them. A very sleek new 60/70 ft powerboat from Guernsey came into Bas Sablons, turned round and went out again, It was called “Envy”. Next day it was moored right behind “Skat” looking very small and insignificant. No matter what boat you have there’s always one bigger.
From the sea wall at Bas Sablons there is a marvellous view of the Sun setting in the west. We have been to view two nights. The fist night there was a bank of cloud on the horizon but the second night was very clear.
Next stop is Granville just up the coast. Should be “Open All Hours”, but it’s tidal with entry 3 hours either side of high water. We will leave in the morning on the falling tide, as late as we can leave it but still clear the cill, and arrive at Granvlille late afternoon on the next rising tide. By which time there should be plenty of water over the cill there. It’s only 22miles so we should make it comfortably, even allowing for some adverse tidal streams.
Arrived at Granville around 4.00 pm, the entrance had opened at just after 4.00 ( ht of tide at St Malo 6.0m). The visitors pontoons are, surprisingly, fairly empty. We tied up next to “Irish Odyssey” who we’d been next to in Bas Sablons, but had left on Friday. Found out why the place is relatively empty. The “Tour de Ports de Manche” race takes place over the next week or so. The route is: Jersey, Granville, Carteret, Guernsey, Cherbourg and finishes in St Vaast. All the visitors pontoons have been pre-booked by the race organisers until Monday so ALL visitors have to leave in the morning; definitely NOT open all hours. Granville is also expensive at €36 compared to the typical €24 we have been paying. To top it all the electricity went off last night and is still off this morning.
This race has fouled things up because they are due to visit the French ports we want to go to so we will have the same problem elsewhere. We have decided to go back to Jersey, then head to Cherbourg ahead of them.
We left Granville early Sunday morning under a grey sky with a stiff westerly breeze, needing a reef in the sail. Within half an hour the wind had dropped and the reef was taken out. After this we had the first decent sail since leaving Falmouth, with the wind a fairly steady force 3 for most of the trip. The wind dropped to a very gentle breeze about 5 miles from St. Helier, but we were in no hurry to arrive since the marina could not open until late afternoon and were determined to sail all
the way, helped by a 2 knot tide all the way
Arrived at Granville around 4.00 pm, the entrance had opened at just after 4.00 ( ht of tide at St Malo 6.0m). The visitors pontoons are, surprisingly, fairly empty. We tied up next to “Irish Odyssey” who we’d been next to in Bas Sablons, but had left on Friday. Found out why the place is relatively empty. The “Tour de Ports de Manche” race takes place over the next week or so. The route is: Jersey, Granville, Carteret, Guernsey, Cherbourg and finishes in St Vaast. All the visitors pontoons have been pre-booked by the race organisers until Monday so ALL visitors have to leave in the morning; definitely NOT open all hours. Granville is also expensive at €36 compared to the typical €24 we have been paying. To top it all the electricity went off last night and is still off this morning.
This race has fouled things up because they are due to visit the French ports we want to go to so we will have the same problem elsewhere. We have decided to go back to Jersey, then head to Cherbourg ahead of them.
We left Granville early Sunday morning under a grey sky with a stiff westerly breeze, needing a reef in the sail. Within half an hour the wind had dropped and the reef was taken out. After this we had the first decent sail since leaving Falmouth, with the wind a fairly steady force 3 for most of the trip. The wind dropped to a very gentle breeze about 5 miles from St. Helier, but we were in no hurry to arrive since the marina could not open until late afternoon and were determined to sail all
the way, helped by a 2 knot tide all the wayAbout 3 miles from St Helier we met the “Tour de Ports” fleet just after their start. A single boat, us, on a port tack sailing through 130 racing boats all on starboard was going to be interesting. Fortunately, we were close hauled and they all had spinnakers set and passed down our starboard side apart from a few stragglers at the rear.
We are now in St. Helier marina in almost the same spot we left a couple of weeks ago.
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