At the end of our Biscay trip, we found the engine didn’t want to start.
Unusual…
Dave found that the oil cooler had
gone, and was letting raw seawater into the oil. Not good! Luckily we had a big
drum of engine oil with us, so Dave was able to drain all the old oil and replace
it with new. He then had to run pipes to bypass the faulty oil cooler, which
meant that we now had no way of cooling the oil. We hoped that it was
sufficient to get us home.
We spent a couple of days in the river Odet, which is very
much like the river Dart – incredibly busy with boats at the entrance
(Benodet), but picturesque and tree-lined further upriver, with lovely peaceful
anchorages. After an expedition into the woods collecting sticks for bows and
arrows, an otter crossed the river right in front of our dinghy.
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| Benodet busy with boats |
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| otter climbing out of the river |
We were once again shocked at the prices in France – a small
beer ashore to celebrate the crossing was 4 euros each!! However, the sun was
shining, so we took full advantage of the long sandy beaches in Benodet and
spent an afternoon swimming and making sandcastles.
Our next hop took us further west to the town of Audierne,
around the Pointe de Penmarc’h. Again, we had forgotten what a popular cruising
ground this was, and on the way we passed a constant stream of boats heading in
both directions, from small yachts to superfast kevlar-sailed racing boats.
We spent three days in Audierne, and each day the anchorage
emptied as most yachts headed out to sea, and each evening it filled up again with
new boats. We started to feel we'Katie kayaking by Spring Tide' in Audierne had been there forever! We enjoyed our time
there – exploring the pretty town, sampling French crêpes, and swimming off the
sandy beaches all around the anchorage.
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| Kate kayaking by 'Spring Tide' |
We met up with our friend Tim on ‘Spring Tide’, who was also
heading for the Douarnenez festival, and visited the ‘Aquashow’ – a lovely
little aquarium, which also kept birds of prey. During the bird show, a tame peregrine
falcon was diving for the fake ’prey’ when there was a scuffle in the treetops –
it had disturbed a wild peregrine falcon! Neither got hurt.
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| octopus in aquarium |
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| Peregrine falcon - huge! |
Douarnenez was situated to our north, around the notorious Raz
de Sein. The weather was so calm, we weren’t worried about the passage, and in
fact decided it was perfect conditions to visit the Ile de Sein, a tiny island
directly opposite the Raz headland, and a new stop-off for us.
We anchored in the main harbour in what we hoped was a deep-enough
spot. We could see the kelp clearly wafting up from the bottom. It was so
clear, in fact, that the children couldn’t wait to jump in and swim. It
certainly sounded chilly by the shrieks!
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| JUMP! |
Our neighbouring French boat welcomed us with a bottle of
wine, so we invited them over for a coffee and a tour on board. They had hoped
to cruise as far as the Scilly Isles but got stopped by the lack of wind, and
were now heading back south to their home port. They were amazed to hear we had
been away for ten months!
In the afternoon, we went ashore for a quick tour of the
island. It is very small, and very low-lying – the highest point being 11m
above sea level! There are no trees, no electric cables to the mainland and no natural
groundwater – so you can imagine how hard life used to be on the island.
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| Ile de Sein |
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seaweed and crabshells
|
Seaweed was a valuable commodity, used for cooking, heating,
and even sold to the pharmaceutical industry for iodine. Water was collected in
communal tanks, and even today is used scarcely, as the cost of desalination is
high.
The main industry was fishing, and men were called on
several times a year to man the lifeboats, when boats got into difficulty in
the rock-strewn and strong tidal waters around the island. A chart in the
museum showing the hundreds of shipwrecks around the island over the years is
very sobering. Not to mention the lifeboat boards listing all the callouts
since the 1800s and how many men were (or weren’t) saved.
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| articles salvaged from shipwrecks, Ile de Sein |
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| Lifeboat callouts, no of men/boats saved on right |
During the second World War, there was a high presence of
Germans on the island. All the island’s fishermen set sail for England in 1940
to join the Free French Naval Forces, and were rewarded for their help by de
Gaulle with a tax-free status, which I believe still stands. A fascinating
place.
From there, we sailed to Douarnenez for our ‘final fling’,
the Temps-Fête
Maritime Festival. As usual, it didn’t disappoint. Throngs of classic wooden
boats congregated in the harbour for several days of sailing races, music and
general festivities. The first three days were in gorgeous sunshine. At anchor,
we had a great view of all the boats sailing by and could jump in and swim at
will. There was even a dolphin in the harbour who kept popping up, seeming
unperturbed, in the midst of all the chaos.
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| traditional smoked fish |
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| chaos of sails |
Old friends from Topsham, Val and Bev, came out to surprise
us and we had a lovely few days with them, including a sail across the bay. Val
was even brave enough to climb up on the boom under sail! The children were
delighted to be able to show off their latest tricks in the rigging - they are
both now way braver (and stronger) than me on the ropes.
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Bev and Val on board
|
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Katie up the rigging
|
Unfortunately, the weather turned for the last two days.
With big winds and swell forecast, we squeezed into the inner harbour, where we
wouldn’t be bobbing around and could at least walk ashore between rain showers.
Spirits weren’t dampened, however, and the socialising carried on indoors. We
met up with other boat crews and friends from the Guadiana, and had a perfect
view of the impressive firework finale.
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| inside the harbour |
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Marcus and Freya, 'Grayhound'
|
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| Reuben and Malachi doing Lego |
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| Dave in stone outhouse |
We visited with Marcus and Freya from the lugger ‘Grayhound’.
Reuben and their son Malachi became firm friends and they spent two days
solidly playing Lego together! After the festival, Marcus drove us around the
local area and out to see their beautiful stone house near the Pointe de Raz –
a perfect rural retreat.
All in all, we had a great week to end a memorable year of
adventuring.
