After our yacht charter in Scotland we flew to France to visit Philippe and Claire. We met Philippe in 2019 when he stopped in Hobart for repairs to his boat Bye Bye while on a solo circumnavigation. Bye Bye is a 16 metre aluminium fast ocean cruiser, a Cigale 16.
It was 38oC when we arrived in Paris, so it was a great relief to escape the heat for a five day sailing trip on Bye Bye in Brittany.
We arrived at the marina in Roscoff the day before the start of stage 3 of the Solitaire du Figaro – a single handed offshore race in one design foiling 34ft monohulls. It was quite a festive atmosphere with 40 of these high tech boats ready to set off.
We set off around 5pm in light winds for our first evening, anchored in the shadows of the Taureau fort. We discovered that Claire is a whisky fan – especially smoky (or is it peaty?) Lagavulin, so we enjoyed a tipple or two on board. Dinner was an amazing duck breast and fried potatoes – yum!
The coastline here is a beautiful jumble of rocky islets – navigation can be tricky with tidal ranges of 6-10m in this part of the coast! It was nice to be able to rely on Philippe and Claire’s local knowledge, especially as Bye Bye’s depth sounder was playing up, requiring occasional checks with the lead line!
We woke the next day to discover to our delight that breakfast on the boat would be freshly made crepes (of course, what else do you have if you can’t get fresh croissants or baguettes?!). After breakfast we set off in very light winds – up went the gennaker, down came the gennaker, up went the spinnaker, 10 minutes of good sailing, then no wind so down came the spinnaker. Up went the gennaker and finally just enough wind to sail!
We stopped at Île aux Moines, the largest island in the Sept- Île archipelago. This island has an ancient fort and an impressive lighthouse. Curiously, access is currently via a very bouncy temporary rope bridge!
After a peaceful night we set off for Île-de-Brehat. On the way we saw a pack of tuna in a feeding frenzy (no pictures unfortunately). While listening to the chatter on the VHF, I decided that the phrase “Sécurité, Sécurité, Sécurité”, commonly used for announcing an alert, sounds much classier when said in a French accent!
We anchored in a pool amongst the rocks on the west side of Île-de-Brehat and took the dinghy ashore. The island is an amazingly picturesque little community of 400 residents. The houses are built of stone, linked by stone wall lined pathways, and boast lush gardens. There is an ancient tide-powered mill. The coast here is famous for its pink granite outcrops.
We returned to Bye Bye just before it started to rain, but all was well, it was just a short rain shower. Our gourmet dinners continued, with Philippe serving up Boudin Blanc and cooked apples.
The next day was our best sailing day – 15-20kts apparent wind at 40o saw us doing 7.5-8.5kts in a smooth-ish sea. We arrived in Port Blanc and anchored amongst the moored boats. Alex and I were a bit tired so, after a lunch of pasta with gorgonzola sauce, we had a lazy afternoon on board, followed by a pork braise for dinner.
The next day we continued to head back towards Roscoff. We stopped for lunch at Île Molène, a pretty little sand and rock island near Trebourden. A grey seal greeted us at the entry to the bay.
After a good walk around the island we decided to press on with our westward journey as there was still a bit of wind for sailing, but the forecast for the next day was for not much wind. We picked up a mooring close to Île du Batz, after some discussion of whether there would be enough water under us at low tide.
Dinner was ratatouille – one of my favourites, so I took careful notes on how Claire prepared it (this has been not just a cruise, but a tutorial in French cooking as well!).
We woke the next morning to the glorious views of Roscoff to starboard and Île du Batz to port, with ferries busily shuttling between. Too soon it was time to return to Roscoff Marina and back to land.
Our many, many thanks to Philippe and Claire for sharing their special part of the world with us and looking after us so well.
Bye Bye!
