Well where are we now? We are finally headed south and have arrived in Camaret in the Brest peninsula. We left Roscoff on Friday early (6am what is it with the tides around here!!) and sailed in very rough seas 4 – 6m swells in company with new friends Swansong and Delphinus to L’Aberwrach on the end of the Finisterre peninsula. To say the coast here is rocky is a real understatement and the entrance to the harbour channel is not for the faint hearted – without the comfort of the pilot guides it does not look possible.

We have decided it is not really worth just staying one night as you don’t get much of an opportunity to see anything. So we staid 2 nights. Alison and Jane from Delphinus decided to cycle to the large supermarket nearby. 4 hours later they reappeared – apparently it was a lot further than the 3.5km indicated on the signs – nothing to do with the bars and shops on the way!!.

The weather is still generally cold – a bit of sun in the afternoon but we still have the heating on at night.
On Sunday (surprisingly at 6am!!) we set off again with Swansong for Camaret. During this passage we had to pass through one of the areas notorious tidal gates – the Chenal du Four. This is the place with the famous picture of the lighthouse with waves crashing right over it. Luckily we got the tidal timings right – hence the 6am start – and passed through in calm weather with the tide with us.

For the non-nautical one of the conditions that makes the sea very rough is when the wind blows in the opposite direction to the tide. Add to this a rising bottom – i.e. the sea is getting shallower and you have the perfect conditions for overfallls – breaking seas which can be very dangerous. The Chenal du Four and the next one for us the Raz du Sein are notorious areas for this to occur.

Anyway we arrived safely in Camaret and tied up in the outer harbour. After lunch and the obligatory siesta we went for a wander, ice cream and met up with Caroline and Johnathan on Swansong for a drink. Jim is now booked to go up their mast tomorrow to retrieve some errant bunting that is attached to their rigging. The town if full of little artist’s shops and workshops so here is a lot to gawk at.
The weather has turned horrible again – surprise surprise – and it looks like we will be staying here for a few days before the next 60 mile hop to Benodet. We need fair weather to negotiate the Raz and guess what – it looks like a 5AM start this time – joy unbounded!!

Today is a washing and work day therefore and possibly moules frits for tea. If it is still bad tomorrow we may hire a car from Super U (great supermarket) and drive round to Brest