 |
May 2015
In May 2015 I trailed Tra Bhui over to France to take part in La Semaine du Golfe Morbihan. To maximize my days out of the country we (Kathleen and I) had taken in the Chichester Rally on our way south during the previous weekend before embarking on the ferry to France on the Sunday.
 |
| Waiting at Portsmouth |
I had hoped to have a week’s sailing prior to the rally but weather conditions put paid to that as the Golfe Morbihan experienced high winds or no wind virtually every day. Instead I did a lot of walking which I have recounted elsewhere.
 |
| Nor really the best weather to launch a boat in! |
Kathleen who had been back at work during the week between the Chichester Rally and La Semaine du Golfe Morbihan flew out to join me for a week on Friday the 8th of May.
The notes below are an edited extract from a blog about our other travels that I try and maintain.
Saturday 9th May
With my “crew” here it was time to launch Tra Bhui at Larmor Baden which would be our home port for the next week. The organisers of La Semaine du Golfe Morbihan had advised us that we should launch on Saturday afternoon when their temporary office would be open at the harbour for us to register at. Wanting to avoid any rush we arrived early and while I rigged Tra Bhui, Kathleen spoke to the harbour master regarding our mooring and about pulling out early on the following Saturday morning. The harbour master confirmed that if we were back in the harbour by 05.30 hrs. we would have the tidal flow with us coming back from Port Navalo.
 |
| A multitude of flags! |
Rigging Tra Bhui is now much quicker with her new tabernacle and she was in the water by 12.30 hrs. Having arranged a lift back ashore at 12.45 hrs. with the organisers after they assured us that we would not need our own tender because they had over 3000 volunteers and numerous boats to attend on the event we headed out to our allocated mooring.
 |
| Launching at Larmor Baden |
We tied up to our allocated buoy and waited for the RIB promised by the organisers to come and collect us and take us ashore. We waited over an hour as the harbour master and organisers had decided to go for his lunch at 13.00 hrs. rather than come and pick us up – we thought they might have mentioned this as they watched us motor out to our mooring expecting to be picked up in 10 minutes!
 |
| Ready and waiting |
Back ashore we went to a nearby restaurant for lunch – galettes (savoury crepes), after which we took the trailer back to the gite where we were staying.
 |
| Interesting masts - part of our flotilla |
Monday 11th May
After a lazy morning at the gite we
drove to Larmor Baden to check on Tra Bhui. Parking around the corner from the harbour
we had coffee at a restaurant overlooking the tidal causeway to the Ile Berder
before walking around to the harbour. Tra Bhui was still where we had left her
and so we spent an hour or so exploring Larmor Baden. Larmor Baden is a small
seaside village with a harbour, a few shops and not much else. The village was
pleasant enough and the houses were a mixture of old and new. Local industry appears
to be mainly farming or oyster related.
From Larmor Baden we drove around to
Port Blanc which was another of the villages hosting La Semaine du Golfe
Morbihan.
Port Blanc itself is inland, but the commune is best known
for the coastal hamlet of Port-Blanc, a popular tourist location from the late
19th century, and former home of Anatole Le Braz and Théodore Botrel. Charles
Lindbergh, Aldous Huxley and Alexis Carrel also lived there for periods.
Lindbergh lived on the island of Île Illiec, which he owned. Port-Blanc is also
the location of the annual Pardon of Saint Gildas, a significant religious
festival, and of the "sunken" chapel of Notre-Dame. A group of
islands are off the coast, notably the Isle of Saint Gildas, containing a
chapel from the 9th century
 |
| Opening Parade |
From what we could see Port Blanc (on
the coast) consisted of nothing more than a small harbour, a few nice houses
and enough car parks to accommodate 2000 odd cars. We had expected that there
would have been more to Port Blanc, but it appears it is really only the place
to catch the ferry across to the Ile aux Moines, which lies only a few hundred
yards off shore. The Ile aux Moines is a popular visitor attraction, hence the
number of car parks. For La Semaine du Golfe the large permanent car parks had
been augmented by numerous fields converted to temporary parking areas.
 |
We watched some of the large sailing
ships pass Port Blanc before going for a very late lunch at a nice restaurant
situated beside one of the car parks. The restaurant had a quiet outside area
where we sat at picnic table in the sunshine surrounded by grass and trees while we ate. You would never have
known that there was a large car park just over the hedge.
 |
After our late lunch we drove down
to the small village of Locmariaquer and
on to the Pointe de Kerpenhir which is on the opposite site of the narrow entrance to the Golfe Morbihan from Port Navalo.
Here we watched the opening parade as the larger vessels taking part in
La Semaine du Golfe Morbihan sailed past.
 |
 |
Tuesday 12th May
For us today was the first day of La Semaine du Golfe Morbihan. A picnic had been organised on the Ile d”Arz for everyone which meant that there could be anything up to 1400 boats there! Realistically not all the boats would attend, but even so it promised to be a large affair.
We made our way to Larmor Baden for the 8.30 briefing which appeared to be more about food than sailing, however the route was pretty straightforward, the tide was mainly with us and the organisers had laid on numerous escort vessels – mainly RIBs.
Setting off around 10.00 hrs. and with a light south /south westerly breeze we headed out of the harbour and around the point passing between the Ile Berder and the Ile de la Jument before running south east around the bottom of the Ile aux Moines . Once passed the Ile aux Moines we turned north towards the Ile d’Arz in what was now a dying wind. As we approached the beach where the picnic was being held the wind dropped away altogether, but being in no great rush we managed to sail our way right into the bay, putting the engine on once we entered the anchorage area.
 |
| Anchored off the Ile D'Arz |
With Tra Bhui resting at her own anchor we got a lift in one of the numerous local boats that were working hard to get everyone ashore to the picnic.
The beach was a pretty busy place with hundreds of picnickers enjoying the sunshine. The organisers were providing oysters and paella as well as cider or beer or wine. It all appeared to be pretty well organised but there were no toilets provided. We were to find this a reoccurring theme during the remainder of the week. What the organisers expected everyone to do was and is a bit of a mystery – is it more acceptable to relieve yourself behind a hedge in a village in France than we are used to in the UK? This was inconvenient enough for the males but more of a problem for the females.
 |
| French Pipes |
A number of musicians were providing entertainment and everyone appeared to be having a good time. Having passed on the paella although Kathleen did have some oysters we went off to see the nearby village and hopefully find some toilets.
The Ile d’Arz has been inhabited since 4000 BC. Like other communes in the area, it has been populated by Celts, Vénètes, the Romans and the Bretons who all came for the fertile land the area had to offer. From the 11th century to the French Revolution in 1789, the island was split in two causing considerable tensions, with the northern part administered by the Abbey of St Georges of Rennes and the southern part by the Abbey of St Gildas of Rhuys. The island was mainly composed of farms, mills, two priories and a church. The marine trade and taxes enabled the inhabitants to get resources from the mainland and further develop the island. Since the revolution, the island has had a long tradition of being the home of many sailors and was recently given the nickname of "Island of Captains".
 |
The village that we went to lay just behind the beach and consisted of a large church, a few roads lined with small houses, many of which looked very old and a few café / bars to cater for the many visitors that the island gets during the summer months. We were not alone in going to explore and we met many people who were obviously part of the sailing event as we walked around.
Spotting an empty table outside a bar we quickly claimed it and ordered two large coffees, which we felt justified us using the toilets inside the bar.
 |
| Waiting for a lift back to our boats |
By late afternoon after our walk around the village and having watched the bands play it was time to sail back to Larmor Baden. The wind by now had died to nothing and after trying to sail for a bit we eventually headed back under motor.
 |
| How much sail? |
We arrived back at Larmor Baden just after 19.00hrs. but by the time we put Tra Bhui back on her mooring, got ashore and drove back to the gite it was nearly 21.00hrs
Distance sailed 15 miles
Wednesday 13th May
Today we sailed to Vannes a trip of some 11.78 miles according to the log.
After the 8.30 hrs. briefing – again all about food and very little useful information about tides, moorings, route etc. we were on board Tra Bhui by 9.00 hrs. and underway by 9.30hrs. The wind what there was of it was light between 0 and 7 knots with variable direction (because of the islands) so we made very slow progress across and then against the ebbing tide which we had been told at the briefing would assist us.
From Larmor Baden we headed south east past the Ile Berder across and the main shipping channel and along the west side of the Ile de la Jument. At the south end of the Ile de la Jument we turned eastwards to pass around a small headland before we headed north to Port Blanc and beyond, making slow progress in the still light northwest wind.
As we neared Port Blanc a few of the other flotilla’s came into site heading southwards down the channel towards the sea. Although our own progress was slow at least we had plenty of boats to watch. We noticed that most of the tall ships were motoring. Given the lack of wind and strong currents this was probably a wise move.
 |
| Passing ships |
 |
 |
Seeing that we were being ignored we thought about moving to an already occupied mooring closer to the beach. This decision was made for us when a barge came along and told us they were about to lift the mooring we were attached to. We motored to a buoy closer to the shore and tied up alongside a local yacht. We spent another 20 minutes or so waving for a lift ashore before a rib eventually came for us. As these ribs were provided primarily as rescue boats it did raise some concern that it had taken them over 45 minutes to spot two people violently waving on a bright yellow boat less than 200 yards away!
 |
| Another flotilla leaving Vannes as we approach. |
The lunch had been arranged by the organisers of La Semaine du Golfe Morbihan. Kathleen had bought out tickets while I was at the morning briefing. Our 5 euro tickets entitled Kathleen to 6 oysters, homemade bread and a glass or two of wine, while I in avoiding the oysters had a sausage gallette and a sweet crepe. Crepes did not come with wine, but small beers were available at a euro each. The organisers had set up picnic tables and on the whole it was really well organised, however as with the picnic on the Ile d’Arz there was no provision of toilets at all for the few hundred people that were there.
 |
After lunch we had a walk around the immediate area which had a multitude of very, very nice houses. We noticed that others were also going for a walk. Whether this was to get exercise or whether it was because there were no toilets at lunch we were not sure. If it was the latter I suspect that the owners of the very, very nice houses may not have been too impressed to find people relieving themselves in the surrounding hedgerows! Before the rally I had spent the princely sum of five pounds on 2 plastic “she / he wees” for use on board. These it turned out were worth every penny that I spent on them. In fact I am sure if I had bought a hundred or so of them I could have made a substantial profit selling them at the lunch stop
 |
| Fisher Lass |
After lunch the wind swung round to the west and picked up a bit so under a fairly steady wind of 8 - 10 knots we ran down the main channel to Vannes only dropping our sails when we reached the mouth of the Vannes Canal. Running towards Vannes we passed an open rowing boat “Fisher Lass” from Pittenweem in Scotland. The mixed crew put in an impressive burst of speed as we approached them matching us at just over 6 knots for a period before we pulled ahead of them.
 |
| Entering the Vannes Canal |
 |
Our arrival in Vannes had not formed part of the morning briefing so we were not sure what to expect or what boats were going to go where. With a low bridge ahead we dropped our sails in plenty of time and proceeded under motor down the canal. The bridge opened to allow the flotilla access to Vannes. While most boats proceeded slowly in an orderly fashion in two columns leaving 20 feet or so between them, a number of the skippers who were either incompetent or trying to show their lack of sailing skills continued under full sail. While this would have been probably OK in an empty canal, it was not OK in a canal jammed full of other boats, especially when they were running down wind with no means of stopping! I am sure no one was impressed by these antics least of all the owners of the boats that they ran into.
 |
| Vannes |
At the end of the canal in Vannes there were numerous pontoon berths so we simply turned into an empty one. There did not appear to be a pre organised order which is just as well as we would then have in all probability been in the wrong place!
Once we were tied up we went for a look around in advance of the evening’s briefing. We had heard about a strong weather front that was moving in from the Atlantic and which was liable to disrupt the next day’s sailing. The briefing which was held in the courtyard of Vannes music school had been arranged around a buffet of oysters and cider / red wine. Again there was little in the briefing about sailing, only confirmation that with 45mph winds forecasted for the next day, there would be no sailing. Nothing was really said about what was going to happen on Friday other than we would need to set sail at 06.00hrs, but we rashly assumed there would be another briefing before then.
 |
| Briefing - all about food! |
As we were staying at Belz we needed to get back to our car which was in Larmor Baden. Having asked the day before about transport lifts and had been told that it was not a problem, suddenly it became a problem to the organisers and they simply refused to talk about it!
We were left with two choices 1) hitch, 2) wait for the 8.30pm bus to the campsite at Port Blanc and then hitch or walk from there (5km). As we had another 40 minutes to drive after we reached the car in Larmor Baden. Kathleen was keen to hitch while I was less keen to do so as we did not know Vannes and had little idea of what road we should be standing on to potentially get a lift. With 2 hrs. until the bus we set off Kathleen and Mr. Grumpy (yes I know it may be hard to believe, but I can be grumpy!). After walking for 40 minutes we still had not come across any signs for anywhere that we recognized, so we (rather I) decided to go back and wait for the bus as I did not want to miss it on the basis that at least from Port Blank where the bus would take us to, we knew where we were going and if the worst came to the worst we could walk from there.
Going straight to the bus stop we found that we were first in the queue. We were however quickly joined by others trying to get back to the campsite. The French it must be said are not very good with queues, lacking the discipline of the British, when the queue got too long they started queueing at the front so we soon found ourselves in the middle of the queue.
We had the final laugh though; when the bus did not come on time it was spotted waiting at another bus stop down the road. Running to it – no easy task in wet flip flops – we managed to get on board before it pulled away, leaving everyone else behind. Luckily someone had explained her error about the bus stops to the driver who turned the bus around to go and collect the disgruntled queue that was still at the correct bus stop!
The bus had been too busy to speak to the driver on the way to Port Blanc, so we stayed on the bus after it had dropped the passengers of at the campsite as Port Blanc is at the end of the road and the bus would pass the Larmor Baden road end when heading back to Vannes. We had planned on asking the driver to drop us at the Larmor Baden road end as she passed on her way back to Vannes, but it turned out that we were not the only ones trying to get back to Larmor Baden as a French wifey got to the driver first and persuaded her to take everyone to Larmor Baden – result!
For some reason we were put off just outside the town which was great as far as we were concerned. As we walked into town to get the car which was near the harbour we met the bus coming back from the harbour. Why we had to get off early remains a mystery!
Distance sailed 11.78 miles.
Friday 15th May
We were woken by crews arriving at the boats moored around us. Our scheduled departure time was 06.00 hrs. but some boats obviously wanted a head start and so boats started leaving at 05.00 hrs. The rain had stopped in the small hours so we were able to take the still wet tent down under blue skies albeit the sun was not quite up yet.
 |
By 06.00 hrs. we were ready to leave, but as I went to start the outboard the starter motor stopped just after it had engaged on the flywheel. This effectively seized the engine. Having bowed against my own better judgement to Kathleen’s assertion that we did not need to take “stuff” with us I had left my tool box in the car. With no way of investigating the problem and unable to free the engine we were left powerless at the inside end of the Vannes canal. This was my fault and nobody else’s as I was the one who had left the toolbox behind in the car.
Had we had our tender with us we could have used the 2.3hp Honda outboard from it to power Tra Bhui but this was also in the car and the car was back in Larmor Baden.
 |
| Heading back to Lamor Baden |
Ignoring Kathleen’s protests I decided that we were setting out anyway and shipped Tra Bhui’s oars. The Drascombe Gig is designed to be rowed by up to 8 people. Although a single oarsman can propel the boat it is never going to be at any great speed. Fortunately the boats were proceeding down the canal at a crawl so I managed to keep up with the rest with Kathleen steering and calling out speed changes.
 |
| And there is wind - just! |
As we reached the Golfe Du Morbihan a light wind started to fill our sails and soon we were able to proceed under oars and sail for a bit before eventually I was able to unship the oars and we could sail properly.
There had been no briefing before we sailed in the morning (presumably there was no food to talk about), so we had only a rough idea where we were heading for. While we passing down the canal the flotilla leader had come past in a RIB and passed us a photocopied map with our destination of Le Logeo marked on it.
 |
With our outboard out of commission getting back from Port Navalo early on the Saturday morning was going to be a problem. It was also unclear what if any arrangements were in place for getting crews to and from the shore in the evening as the flotilla was staying overnight in Port Navalo. Most people we assumed would be returning to the campsite as very few people if any stayed on board their boats in our flotilla.
We were planning on staying on board, but would there be a means of getting to and from the shore? Had there been a briefing we could have asked these questions. Had we brought our own tender we would at least be able to get to and from the shore.
We discussed our options. I thought that our best plan was to get back to Larmor Baden today and either put Tra Bhui on a mooring while we fixed the outboard or haul her out rather than wait until early on the Saturday morning. Kathleen was not keen on sailing to Larmor Baden across the tidal flow without an outboard, but agreed that going to Port Navalo was just creating more problems for tomorrow. We agreed that we would speak to the organisers at lunch and see if I could get a lift in a RIB to Larmor Baden to pick up the outboard for our tender after which we would either sail on to Port Navalo or make our way to Larmor Baden.
 |
| Glass like sea |
In the end our decision was made for us as our flotilla appeared to split with part of it disappearing to the east and the part that we were with turning in to Point de Noul on the end of the Ile aux Moines. We were then totally lost as to what was going on as no one appeared to be heading towards Le Logeo for lunch in accordance with the instructions given to us on the paper delivered by the flotilla leader in his RIB in the morning. As the organisers were not using VHF we were unable to get any clarification.
After a very quick calculation I reckoned the tides would be remain favourable just long enough for us to sail to Larmor Baden now if we kept going and if the wind held.
With Kathleen’s reluctant agreement we kept going heading now towards Larmor Baden, probably much to the surprise of the other boats. There was no sign of the organisers and with the lack of radio communication we were unable to let them know what we were doing, but as they seemed to have no idea of what boats were sailing in our flotilla we were sure that they would not miss us.
The wind held and by lunch time we were approaching Larmor Baden. We knew that the tide was fierce between the Ile Berder and the Ile de la Jument so we planned sailed as far up wind as we could in order that:-
a) We would have the shortest crossing of the tidal flow as possible,
b) We would be upstream of Larmor Baden
c) We would have the maximum boat speed heading down stream and hopefully maintain our steerage.
All went well and with some judicious rowing we escaped the tidal stream just where we planned to do so. Unfortunately a large eddy which was flowing back out of Larmor Baden threatened to take us back into the tidal stream that we had just crossed and left. With sails and oars we were slow making progress towards the harbour but this would get faster as soon as we were clear of the eddy.
With the harbour only a few hundred yards away the wind veered round on us (this was probably due to it now passing between the mainland and the Ile Berder) and soon being suddenly unable to point as far upwind as we needed to keep our course in the eddy, we were quickly sideways across the current towards the shallower water. As we went to go about our centerboard struck some shallow rocks and our little forward progress came to a sudden halt.
 |
| RIB motoring against the tide |
As luck would have it on of the organisers RIBs was passing so we asked it for a tow for the remaining 200 yards or so to the harbour. The obliging RIB driver secured us alongside before setting off at full power despite my protestation towards the harbour. The shallow rock that we had bounced our centerboard off snagged the rudder before with a mighty bang Tra Bhui cleared the rock. The impact bent the rudder stalk rendering us steering less as the rudder would now not turn at all.
Reaching the harbour I asked that we be set free in shallow water as I would have to drop the rudder out through the bottom of the hull in order to remove it. Obligingly the RIB dropped us off alongside the slipway where the water was only a few feet deep.
Apart from the RIB towing us over the rock I thought we had managed pretty well getting to Larmor Baden under sail and oar across the many significant tidal streams. My only regret was having against my own judgement not taken the tender and tool box with us.
Armed with a 10mm socket and a large screwdriver it took me less than 5 minutes to free the engine which was seized by the starter motor gear having jumped a tooth on the flywheel.
20 minutes later we had dropped the rudder out of the bottom of the rudder slot and recovered it with the aid of a line that I had secured through its stalk before it was dropped.
With power returned, we motored Tra Bhui across the harbour and hauled her out on the beach where the car and trailer were waiting.
It took us the best part of 2 hrs. to get Tra Bhui out of the water, everything packed up and to drive back to the gite where we had arranged to leave Tra Bhui until later in the summer.
 |
| Waiting for her next adventure |
Post script
Our first trip to La Semaine du Golfe Morbihan has only wetted our appetite to go back again. With any new thing this trip had been a “learning experience” both about the event itself and about our own sailing.
Lessons learned about La Semaine du Golfe Morbihan.
· It was not made particularly clear from the organiser’s pre event communication but the organization of our flotilla was based around participants staying at the campsite near Port Blanc as the only transport laid on was to and from there.
· Public transport around the Morbihan area is very limited and during holidays non-existent
· There is no provision made for getting to and from boats after the day’s sailing is completed – if you are staying on board you should consider this.
· Do not rely on the flotilla briefing to tell you anything useful about the day’s sailing. It does give you lots of details about food though!
· Do not expect toilets to be provided at picnics or organised lunch stops. If you do not have on board facilities, do as we did and take a “she / he wee” or alternatively a small bush.
Other lessons we learned (but knew anyway):-
· Always carry a basic toolkit – a 10mm socket was all that was needed to unseized the engine.
· Watch out for wind shifts between islands, especially when fighting strong tides
· If in doubt take the tender.
No comments:
Post a Comment