Douarnanez, Brittany

27th - 29th June 2019

We left Morgat to sail across the bay to Douarnanez, a sleepy little harbour but very friendly.  It was quite nice that the visiting yachts were on a separate pontoon to the berth holders.  This was also the first time we had rafted up to someone, luckily that yacht was Thuro.  Matt & Anna were still having problems with their auto helm and were having to hand steer all the time so the small hop across the bay had been agreed by all of us.  It also meant we could top-up with fuel and water.

The marina cost was £31 for the night, not too bad considering it is their summer holiday period.  Also this included electric (even though we were unable to hook up due to cable issues!).

The weather hit us with it reaching 32degrees.  We all struggled a bit as it came on so quickly, however by mid evening the wind had whipped up and done a 180degree turn and it was cold.

The following day was also only mild so we all decided to do a couple of boat jobs, shopping and washing.  There is also a launderette, expensive at £6 per load but washing bed sheets is sometimes too difficult on the boat.  The showers are mixed, not something I felt I could do - need to loose about 6 stone before any French men think they're showering with a frog!


Anna, Emma & I went for a walk to find Lidl.  It only took about 20mins walking distance but we decided a taxi back to the boats would be better with all the shopping.



We spent the 2nd night at anchor due an event being held at the harbour and them needing the berth. The following morning we fuelled up and topped up with water and headed for Benodet in southern Brittany.

Morgat, Brittany

24th - 27th June 2019

We sailed form Cameret to Morgat during the day of 24th June in beautiful weather with enough wind that we managed to sail without motor for most of the passage.  We were lucky enough to see 3 dolphins who again stayed with us for about 10mins.  These are awesome creatures that are so serene in the water and appear to have fun with both each other and us.

Morgat looks to be a new town, although some of the properties were older there were also a lot of new builds too.  The marina too was also a very new looking project.

 All 3 boats anchored in the bay next to the marina and unbeknown to us we had arrived when the Mini Sailing Boat European Championships were being held and there had to be at least 150 boats on the water with children no older than 15 sailing - right out in the very large bay about 3-4 miles out.  They were incredibly fast and the children were very competent.

There is a large supermarket in Morgat so we were able to provision up enough to last us until we were able to find a superstore type of shop.

Matt & Anna introduced us to Curros (pronounced Churroes).  They are like long doughnuts with sugar on and a chocolate or caramel dip - they are delicious but only when hot and rather morish 🤣🤣🤣.



The beach is stunning with golden sand and when the tide goes out, it goes out a long way leaving a haven for dogs to run about on and a great place to paddle (the water is still just a tad cold in June though).

Cameret, Brittany

21st - 24th June 2019

Filled up with Water before we left.  We noticed that we had lost of water on our channel crossing, about 2/3rds of our water had disappeared into the bilge!!  Never happened before but the thing the 16hrs heeled over not the crossing may have caused a leak through the breather pipe.  never-the-less, its now something we are going to have to keep an eye on.  At lest it wasn't water coming into the boat!

Our passage to Cameret was going to take us through the Chanel du Four.  Steve agonised about sailing through it.  He read through various books, watched and read forums about it al east 4 million times until I said 'how much more difficult can it be to The Needles or the Portland Bill, which we had sailed through many many times.  Finally we set off with fantastic weather, calm seas and the trip was absolutely fine.  The weather is definitely warmer this side of the channel - just what we were looking for.  The landscape is stunning, albeit rocky in parts this just made fora wonderful passage.

We anchored in Cameret just outside the harbour.  This is where we are meeting up with Matt & Anna on Nomad who are due in a day or so.
We dinghy'd into the marina the following morning, tying and locking the dinghy to the dock (this is the first time we've locked up the dinghy) but definitely won't be the last and we need to get into the habit of locking her up.
Cameret is lovely fishing village with a line of restaurants/cafes overlooking the harbour.  It has a large supermarket with a petrol station just minutes away from the front.  There was a super Sunday artisan market running the length of the harbour front.  We meandered through the market and then further round the harbour where the more commercial boating area and fish market is located.  We were lucky enough to arrive just in time to watch the fish market open up (4pm on a Sunday afternoon lol).  The fish market is open to the public selling lobsters, spider crabs and about 15 different varieties of fish.  It was fascinating to watch - I love being part of this local activity, it's not something I would normally do in the UK.

We walked the other end of the harbour to visit the Vauban Fort and the 17th Century Sailors Church, Chapelle Notre Dame de Rocamadour.  The church had a timber roof like an inverted ships hull with handing yachts and ships from the past.  The Vauban Fort was built in 1693 to defend against the British - aren't we a lovely nation!!


Matt & Anna, Kev & Emma from Thuro arrived.  They'd had a bit of a battering across the channel in 20knt winds all the way and like us had sought refuge for one night in L'Aber Warc'h before coming to Cameret.  We dined out that night in a Crepe Restaurant.  Not my cup of tea and I didn't really enjoy the crepe too much.  They are very thin pancakes covered in cooked cheese, ham, mushroom, onion and a what appeared to be a raw egg on top - I won't be having that again.

L'Aber Wrac'h, Brittany

20th / 21st June 2019

L'Aber Wrac'h is a very prey small marina.  the surrounding areas is outstandingly beautiful with sand dues and plenty of beaches especially at low tide when the sea reveals even more beaches.

Having taken a mooring body it included a taxi service offered by the marina.  This saved us launching the dinghy and we took advantage of it as the cost of mooring at over £35 per night was quite expensive.

We took a stroll through the village and along the coast, the scenery is stunning.  A very quiet area but the landscape is breathtaking.

The marina has a small chandlery along with several restaurants/cafes.  Most of the houses in the quaint village L'Aber Wrac'h overlook the water or the marina.  There is also a maritime school where hundreds of children were learning to sail, paddle board or canoe.

We had a coffee and banana crepe in a cafe at the marina entrance.  The weather was gorgeous.

Our journey has truly begun.......

Our longest passage yet - The English Channel

Wed 19th / 20th June 2019 - English Channel Crossing

We set up ready to do our first English Channel Crossing.  Topped up with water and fuel in Dartmouth.  Steve had set up our passage plan.  We provisioned for a few days just in case we could not find a supermarket in France immediately. Finally with mixed intrepidation and excitement we left in very warm calm seas and a slightly misty.  Unfortunately this was not a good start as we needed some wind otherwise we were motoring all the way - a costly passage!

Steve had installed an AIS and a navigation system to help make navigation easier.  This would mean we could see any other ships transmitting AIS and therefore avoiding a collision as the English Channel is renowned for being very very busy.

After 3 hours the wind picked up, we hoisted the sails, turned off the engine and had a cracking sail for over 16hours.

During the trip we spotted dolphins.  Grabbing the GoPro we raced to the bow to film them. By the time we got there the single dolphin had turned into a pod of dolphins and then a super pod of about 30 dolphins, who all swam with us darting in and out of the bow wake, swimming under the bow and out the other side for over 90mins.  It was our first experience of these beautiful creatures swimming with us and was such a magical moment - this is the life we dreamed 😍.

 Our destination was L'Aber Wrac'h, Brittany.  The trip took us 27hrs having sailed the 120nm overnight.  Seeing land was exciting, not because we were worried but because we had crossed the channel and it was a foreign country.  We had sailed through one of the busiest channels and made it. We took a mooring bout and sat and reflected on a wonderful first crossing.

We have many more seas and oceans to cross but that was our first and will one we will remember for the rest of our lives.

Our time in Devon, UK

After our 5 days in Swanage we decided to make the 15hr passage to Dartmouth.  We left very early morning knowing that we would arrive mid evening.

The passage started off well with us sailing at 5.5/6knts but after 4hours the wind died, the sea was calm and we ended up motoring sailing the rest of the way.  At about 8pm that night we decided as it was getting late and we still had another couple of hours to go we would head for Fishcombe Cove in Brixham.  We knew this cove and the holding was good.  Arriving late was no problem.

The following day having had a good nights sleep we headed for Dartmouth.  Again the sea was calm with virtually no wind.  We love the approach to Dartmouth.  Entering via boat is so different to a car and so picturesque.

We planned to stay a week as our daughter Katrina, husband Stu and grandkids Zed & Zach were coming for the bank holiday weekend.  The weather was fabulous and we had an awesome time visiting Dartmouth Castle, crabbing, fish & chips, a trip up the river and a pint at the local pub in Dittisham.  We absolutely loved seeing them and now won't see our daughter until January 2020 in the Dominican Republic when our youngest son Ryan is getting married to his Canadian fiance Steph.

As we had only spent the night in Brixham we decided to go back and spend some time there.  Friends came to visit whilst there and we ended up staying for over a week, only leaving when the weather was forecasting an easterly storm and we were not in a good place for that.  It was reported that Storm Miguel had turned a lifeboat over in France so we knew it would be bad.  We upped anchor, headed back to Dartmouth and anchored in Dittisham this time.

Dittisham is a spectacular place where the hills rise above you on both sides of the river with the small Dittisham village on one side and the famous Agatha Christy home on the other.  All you can hear is the water gently hitting the hull, birds singing and the odd splash of a Cormorant diving for a fish.  It was bliss.........

We are now waiting on a good weather window to cross the English Channel.  This will be our first time so we want to get it right.