Today’s tour from L’Aber Wrac’h comes facing the waves and with heavy fog. The plan is to go through the infamous “Raz du Four” on the very west end of France in slack tidal streams. We take a slow morning with a walk in the village and a long lunch at the ”L’ Ecailler des Abers” to have some more of the delicious oysters from the oyster beds in the bay. Hard to beat.

Lunch at this fine seafood restaurant

Meeting a wooden yacht

The fog continues all to the inlet to Bay of Brest. Passing the famous Phare du Four in fog is a Mighty experience and when the fog clears, we pass the Phare du Saint Matieu heading towards Camaret-sur-Mer.

Phare du Four

Not too bad tidal current

Passing Phare du St Matieu

Camaret is obviously a more tourist-oriented town with a row of restaurants at the harbour promenade. The visitors pontoon is at the outer harbour and we pass the old castle, church and ship cemetery to go to the town.

Outer harbour in Cameret-sur-mer

The castle…

the church….

the ship graveyard…

and stones

Today – Susanne gets her will and we go to the Crêperie les Embruns where they serve us Crêpe Flembees and some of the dry French cider.

Susanne finally gets her crepes

After having a good breakfast from the combined cafe/bakery/supermarket at the Marina, I go to pay the customs office a visit. They are open, the customs guy look at me with an amused look, and he answers that it is a “Guernsey thing” that has nothing to do with France. We are welcome into the country and we have not been illegal aliens. Good to know and we continued westwards. The original plan was to visit Ile-de-Batz that should be beautiful but the weather gods thought otherwise. In the fog and cold weather, we steamed on in the absence of decent wind and reached L’Aber Wrac’h that is one of the central villages in the Finistère Oyster industry.

Leaving Roscoff

As we came in at high water – these spots of delicacies was marked on the chart but not visible but as the water level came down – we could see them everywhere. The village also hosts a lot of youth sailing activity and the neat memories from my own sailing schools as kid comes back. So fun to watch these kids getting skilled in handling their dinghies, surfboards and small cats.

The village is very down-to-earth and we decided to take a Crepe lunch before going for a real seafood experience later on. Here I drank the French cider for first time. I normally do not like cider since I think it is too sweet. English dry cider is better but being in a pub – I rather go for the excellent Ales and Bitters. Turns out that this dry cider was perfect to the crepes and I learnt a new good combination.

Young sailors learning to handle their equipment

The boat was filled with wooden boats and ships and it turned that there had been a wooden boat festival the weekend before in Brest. I always get happy when I see a wooden boat or ship. Knowing my limits – the maintenance would kill me.

The oyster beds start revealing themselves

Tasting dry french Cider for first time. Turns out to be perfect to crepes

Low water in the harbour.

Then it was time to take a closer look at the oyster beds so we take a walk to the closest ones. Sadly, we could not come that close without proper boots but it was still nice to know that they were there so close. We also got a very nice walk up to the semaphore and through a forest.

Another angle into the bay

The view out to sea from the semaphore

The oyster beds

The top of the visit was however the seafood house ““L’ Ecailler des Abers” that we got recommended. We had to wait for a table a couple of hours but it was sure worth it. The place is small and the exterior does not indicate the cosy interior and superb food. Having local oysters and the Seafood Cassoulet was a true experience. Five out of five oyster shells in “Guide Hugo”.

At the restaurant, we start talking to Alain and Cecile who were in their nice wooden yacht next to us. I have this passion for wooden boats and I would love to have one but knowing my limitations – the maintenance would kill me. As they had been cruising around a lot – we invited them to our boat, went through the plans for the next weeks, and got some useful tips. It turned out that Alain grew up in Les Sables d’Olonne so obviously – this was the right guide.

Having really fresh oysters

The Seafood Cassolette

We start the day with fresh bread from the bakery and decide to leave as soon as the tide permits us to. They open the sill at nine and since there is a line of boats at the diesel pump, we continue out of the harbor heading for France. There is no wind, which makes the transit easy but a bit boring steaming forwards on a lame sea.

Our berth in St Peters Port. Could not be more central. But is it a coincidence that I often get a space next to the Church?

Leaving St Peters port

We arrive in Roscoff late and there is some confusion whether we need to do a customs clearance. There is a ferry terminal but no personnel so we decide to go and have something to eat – illegal immigrants or not. The only restaurant that had an open kitchen was Via Roma in the harbour and it became a very nice evening with Moules Roquefort and a great chat with the owner who had us as his only late evening guests.

The old harbour of Roscoff

Moules Roquefort at Via Roma

The lighthouse in the harbour

It is time to leave St Helier as the tide rises and we take the opportunity to fill up the tanks at the tax-free diesel station. On our way out, we see that the Elizabeth Castle is again an island as well as the Corbier lighthouse. The tidal scheme never stops fascinating me.

The sill is open and we can continue

Really cheap diesel

Elizabeth Castle again

I have seen pictures of the Havre Gosselin at Sark and the original plan was to have lunch there before continuing to Herm. However, we decide to continue but take the detour through this beautiful natural harbor and the Guillot Passage. The tidal stream is favorable and we are shot like a cannon ball through the passage. Our plans is to dry out completely in Herm as one of my zinc anodes has been eaten up and the others looked in pretty bad condition.

Havre Gosselin

Coming through the Guillot pass

As we reach Herm, we really do not know which buoy to pick as we could not see the bottom and there was a warning that there be some rocks. We pick what seemed like a good buoy and prepared lunch and started waiting. I went down with a mask to check so there were no real mess under the boat but it looked nice. A thrilling experience to wait to go aground… As the water disappeared, I went out, stood in the water, and literally saw the earth lift the boat. Amazing! I could sit in the sand and replace the anodes and after some cleaning, we took a walk on the island to check out the scenery. The boat was not going anywhere – that was for sure.

Waiting to dry out in Herm

The water leaves the harbour

And finally, we are on land!

New zinc anodes installed

Herm is a very calm and beautiful island – one hotel and a souvenir shop. We wandered over the island and had a look at Sark and a bird’s colony at the south side. Coming back, we waited for the tide that neatly lifted us back in the sea.

Melody seen from the harbour pier

A walk on Herm

Sark in the distance

The island village

Nice

As Guernsey is not within the EU, we need to set the Q flag and before we sailed the last miles into St Peters Port where we got a nice berth in the middle of the city. The customs clearance consisted in filling in a form and leaving it in a mailbox in the harbor. After picking down the Q flag, we stroll through this nice city and although the late hour we managed a hot meal to finish this exciting day. Nice to see this city more closely as we visited the port only to fuel as we sailed Melody from France back in 2007.

Guernsey courtesy flag and Q flag indicating that we request customs clearence

Sun sets as we approach Guernsey

Leaving Herm harbour

The fortress at harbour entrance

St Peter Port

Night in St Peters Port

We decide to stay one day and see a bit of Jersey by bike and to go out to the Corbière lighthouse that we passed on our way in. On the way we follow the biker path along the St Aubin bay and try not to bike on the pedestrian areas (50£ fine) or end up on in front of a left-driving car (worse). The water is on its way out and we are interested in how it will look like when we come back at low water. At St Aubin, we stay for a quick refreshment looking out on the drying harbor. We are on spring tide so the range between high and low water is 9.7 meters, which makes it possible to see how the water disappears. Then we go out to Corbière, where you are able to walk out to the lighthouse at LW. The lighthouse was closed but still impressive to see from the outside. Instead, we took a lunch at the restaurant overlooking the scenery and went back.

On the back roads to Corbière

Corbière Lighthouse in distance

Closer view. Note the black line that shows HW level

Waiting for lunch

We stopped by to see the tidal effects both to the St Aubin harbour as well as to the bay that now more or less was gone. As expected, we could take a walk out to the Elizabeth castle instead of taking the ferry. However, the ferry ran for the lazy ones but now it was a bus. Back in St Helier, we head for the Mimosa restaurant that overlooks the marina.

St Aubins bay at LW

Taking the walk to Elizabeth Castle

”Ferry” arrives

Note the closed sill and its depth difference to the boats downstairs outside the sill.

Today is a big day. As I took the Ocean Sailing Training, we used the chart for the Channel Islands so I know these waters intimately in theory… Now it will be interesting if reality matches the theory. We wake up before five in the morning to get the optimal wind/stream combination. We are expecting slow winds so we need to steam in the beginning. The fog is very thick and it is a bit tricky to get out of the sleeping Yarmouth harbour with a combination of strong currents and low water. There is maximum 50 m visibility so Radar, AIS and sharp lookout is needed. Passing the Needles at the west end of Isle of Wight, we hear its fog signal and we check out of England.

Leaving in thick fog

The fog clears a bit when we pass the Needles

We opt for the S-curve channel crossing strategy as we learnt at the training meaning that we set a fixed course and let the current move us in an S over ground, which is most effective through water but looks strange on the GPS. Coming closer to Alderney, we decide that we should take the Alderney race as the winds were moderate and we could make use of the strong current. This is an infamous passage and the sea get rough even in the light wind against the current. We could accept this as we continue onwards up to 16 knots over ground in very light wind. We have spring tide so the currents are very strong. This current makes it hard to see the buoys that the fishermen put on their nets and some of them are actually under water and are hard to see, so sharp lookout is needed.

Undetermined current ways in the Alderney Race

Sunshine 🙂

The buoys get dragged under the surface and are hard to see

We arrived to Jersey in the evening according to plan and could come close to the beautiful Corbière lighthouse that guards the southwest point of Jersey along with a German WW2 bunker from the Atlantic Wall. Feels very fascinating to see the places that only have been names on a training chart before.

Cliffs of Jersey

Corbière Lighthouse

One of the scary ferrys that sneaks up behind of you in 40 knots

The last part of the plan also worked out – getting over the sill in St Helier just in time. You do not want to come too early so you just gets sitting on the waiting pontoon but on the other hand you want to come ashore when the restaurants are still open. The sill opened 15 minutes after we arrived and with a bit of luck we were directed into a nice spot directly by the entrance. We celebrate the crossing with seafood at the Yacht Club J Things always work out.

Waiting for the Sill to open up.

The harbour master knows his game – everyone has a berth as the sill opens.

On Friday morning, we first leave Michaels and Susannes rental car in the harbour and we take a quick sightseeing tour of the town as we go shopping food for the next week. I enjoyed the Shamrock Quay stay but now it is time to move on. After filling up diesel, we continued out to Isle of Wight where we plan to stay the evening before we cross the channel. A very undramatic transport sail and we time the tidal currents right in the Solent so we arrive on the afternoon to Yarmouth at the western tip of Isle of Wight.

Yarmouth was another pleasant experience. This was a nice little town, a well-run marina. In the evening, we went to On the Rocks that turned out to serve high-class food on hot stones. We even managed to buy the delicious Isle of Wight Blue cheese that we had at Quay Fifteen and that can only be bought on the island. Early evening as we set the alarmclocks at 4:30 to be able to match the tidal gates.

This looked so fun. A lot of speed in almost no wind flying over the water

The crowded Yarmouth marina

My new crew – Michael and Susanne

We wake up early as Jim and Ben should finalize the water maker installation, and Göran needs to get to the train to go home. It is always sad to part when you have had a good time so I think a drink should be in order and so I have my first glass of my own water. Tastes great! Jim and I walk through the installation and maintenance and it feels nice to know that I will always have water aboard. Jim is in a hurry to the airport and I thank him for the installation and a nice company.

Having the first water out of the watermaker

As I have this day on my own before Michael and Susanne arrive – I think that I should pay Portsmouth a visit, as I am curious on this naval town. I also know that going with me to museums is nobody’s idea of having a good time. I can get surprisingly interested in things that I come across, and can stay forever if the display is good.

But nothing should be done without a lunch! As I think it is my last chance – I go to Rocky and Barrie at Quay Fifteen to spoil myself with a really nice lunch – this time a Stone Bass. As I am waiting for the food, I try to learn how to fold the napkins as they do. Finally I get it right. The sad thing is that without practice – I need to learn it all over the next time I will try. Looks cool though.

Learning Rockys napkin fold

I decide to take the train and jump off at the harbor station next to a huge complex of naval museums. There is too much to choose from in too limited time and I decide to visit the Victory – Nelsons flagship from Trafalgar. I have built this ship as a model a number of times when I was a kid and now it is time to see the real thing. They also recommend the harbour tour so I do that first since the last departure is within minutes. The Portsmouth harbour is big and well protected and is a major naval town. Two thirds of the Royal Navy is stationed here.

Portsmouth harbour and the Spinnaker tower

HMS Warrior – the first stell armoured warship

Old Portsmouth

The Victory display is however a disappointment. Not the ship itself which is impressive, well preserved and nice to see as well as the fact that they are now renovating the ship to bring it back to even better shape. These old ships were the most sophisticated technology that the world could produce at the time and the flagship of the Royal Navy at Britains power period had to be something extra, and it is. However, the display gives no new information so I recommend a guided tour if you decide to go there. Still worth to see and I can nearly feel the feeling of the tiny plastic details of the Airfix models when I stroll around at the ship.

HMS Vistory

One of the cannon decks

Navigation table

Nelsons place

The Crew bunks

The museums at the Historic Dockyard are now closing up so I decide to visit the Emirates Spinnaker Tower that stretches 170 meter up in the air. Impressive sight and even though I am too traditional to fancy modern architecture, this building really looks good. The spinnaker shape really fits into the environment.

The Spinnaker Tower

As I come up to the viewing deck, there is a glass bottom floor that you can walk on. It is strange how your mind works. Even if you understands that it is perfectly safe – your mind screams that you should stay off and when you step out on the glass it feels everything else than normal.

This feels very, very wrong

As I am standing enjoying the view out on the Solent, the Americas cup boats line up beneath me. Amazing to see these huge performance catamarans slide through the water. I now must make a decision to go and eat at the restaurant that Rocky recommended or to go and look at the cats first when I know where they are. This difficult dilemma is resolved by a phone call from Michael as they are getting close to Southampton and will be at the boat this evening. I have a couple of hours to get back so I need to rush to be able to clean the boat. Work before play as the rule goes. I jump on the train and take a taxi from the station to Shamrock Quay. The neat thing with Melody is that you can do a good cleaning in an hour so the boat is in nice condition as the new crew arrive. We spend the evening talking on their vacation in Scotland and doing the Channel Crossing planning together.

Stepping out on the glass floow

Old Portsmouth and the Solent

Americas Cup Cats

Today is Görans last day and we decide to take a tour over to Cowes on Isle of Wight – one of the yachting centers of the world. We take the catamaran service that speeds over the Solent in 20 minutes at 40 knots. As we land, we take a stroll out to the Royal Yacht Squadron that hosts races. We get a chock as the starting gun all of a sudden is fired next to us. Continuing out on the beach, we look at the racing yachts and we walk back. Today, we have two urgent tasks – Göran should get new reading glasses and I should get a haircut. The press freaks us out so we decide to complete this before we go for a beer in the sun.

Cowes

Narrow streets in Cowes

Starting cannon goes off again

Yes. Thanks. We know. Now.

Lions overlooking the Solent

More lions

The beach at Cowes

After calming down, we decide to take the chain ferry to east Cowes and visit Osborne – the castle where Queen Victoria lived. It is a steep climb up a hill and we reach the nice park that surrounds the castle after half an hour. The castle was built to feel “cozy” according to the German word “Gemütlichkeit”. It is a beautiful castle overlooking the Solent but I would not call it cozy. Long isles with statues, a ballroom decorated in Indian style, dark bedroom with dark paintings of Jesus on the cross etc.

Aerial photo of Osborne. With a green frame of course

A walk in the park

The ”cozy” castle

Interior

The ballroom

The garden overlooking the Solent

We take the chain ferry back to West Cowes and settle down in the harbour for a seafood dinner before returning to Southampton.

The chain ferry between the East and West Cowes

Relaxing in the harbour after a stressful day

We left the marina for a walk into town to see more of the town. Southampton was heavily bombed during WW2 so not very much of historic buildings are left. Along with the busy harbour, one of the reasons for the heavy bombardment was the Supermarine factory that produced the Spitfire fighter.

We decide to visit the Sky museum on the town’s aeronautical heritage. Supermarine was the main focus and although the company is most famous for the Spitfire, a lot of information was presented on the fast seaplanes that won the Schneider Trophy for seaplanes 1927, 1929 and 1931. There were a number of planes on display – ranging from WW1 early fighters to jet planes and a lot of information on the WW2 era including a display on the life in Southampton during the blitz. There was a map where each bomb that had hit the town was marked and you really can understand why so little is left from before the war. It was also interesting to learn the logistical challenge to still be able to keep up production by dividing the manufacturing out on many small workshop spread over a large area instead of the original large factory.

The seaplane that won Schneider Trophy

The Spitfire and its Merlin engine

A WW1 fighter

All over town there are painted zebras which brings some colour to the city.

A painted Zebra in the city

Then, we took a walk in the city and got a train ticket for Göran who should leave on Thursday. We visited the Dancing man local brewery that was located in one of the few remaining historic buildings. One main attraction in the city was its Sea City museum with an Titanic exhibition. Southampton was also the departure harbour for the Mayflower pilgrims. The fact that the city was a major port for the D-day soldiers that naturally gets its attention. We took the walk back to the marina through the industrial neighborhood that felt like it had seen its best days.

One thing that was still left was the worlds oldest Bowling green

Sign outside Dancing man brewery

Inside Dancing man brewery

My vision of an English pub

A house from the Tudor times. A very rare sight in Southampton

The pilgrim memorial for Mayflower

Memorial for the american D-day soldiers

At the Titanic museum

In the evening, we go to Quay Fifteen and meet up with Rocky and Barrie. Their motto is Fine Dining without the fuzz. We could really testify to that. Outside, the restaurant looks like a normal lunch restaurant with camping chairs but the food was something extraordinary. We ask what we should do after this and Rocky asks if we would like to see the hotel where the first class cruise passengers stayed before embarking the ships to America – including the unfortunate passengers of the Titanic. We thought this was a great idea so Rocky calls his friend “Edi” who is the manager of the restaurant Grand Café. As we come there, she is busy but after an hour, she get the opportunity to show us around. The hotel is now private apartments but we could see the stairs and ballrooms that was very impressive. Naturally, we also had some drinks in the bar so we get to talk more with her on the history of the hotel.

Me, Rocky and Göran at Grand Cafe

At the bar at Grand Cafe

The entrance to the hotel

Inside the hotel