Homeward Bound

We are moving North with more purpose now but the winds are mostly staying light, so we are still very much relying on our faithful Yanmar engine.  Our progress is also beginning to be reduced by a slimy bottom (Rapport doesn't like her bottom dirty and I feel the same) because our Coppercoat is not as effective as it used to be.

From Loctudy to St Evette  we touched force 3 for a while, but it stayed at force 2 all next day, so we didn't try to reach L'Aber-Wrach but drifted into Camaret.

Leaving St Evette, all is calm

Dolphin Hunting a Shoal of Fish


Gannets Join in with the Fishing

Then, wind at last but rather too much, gusting force 8 (we are never satisfied) so we stayed an extra day in Camaret before sailing on in a good breeze to L'Aber-Wrach.

Pointe de St Mathieu, Chenal Du Four

On a Buoy, L'Aber-Wrach

That was a lovely sail and we do like L'Aber-Wrach but it was a big mistake!  We should have checked out from Brest and then gone directly home from there.  Instead of heading home with the last of the useful breeze, we have now sailed round to Roscoff to visit les douanes.

It's Monday morning, the ferry arrived at 08:00, and we managed to get our passports stamped out at 07:30, before it docked.  A cleaner let us into the secure customs area, where friendly, gun toting officers happily helped us.  Failure to get that stamp in the passport would cost 500 Euros each on our next visit, so it really needs to be done.  French yachtsmen visiting the UK often don't bother with any formalities at all, but the rules are different for them.

Now we are free to sail but the forecast is dire, force 2 might be the best we get.  Time to top up with diesel (sorry, global warming) and prepare for a long passage home.

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