Presentation

Departure from Lorient-Kernével on July 19, 2008 at 8:30 am with a strong westerly wind in our faces, forcing us to tack and play with the currents, passing south of the Glénan Islands. We picked up a mooring buoy at St Evette at midnight.

We left St. Evette the next day at 11:00 AM and passed the Raz de Sein close-hauled, at the beginning of the tide change with a northwest wind against the current. This forced us to tack westward for another hour and a half before reaching the entrance to the Four channel. But around 5:00 PM, the wind strengthened again against the current, and with the weather forecast predicting north to northeast force 5 for the night, we abandoned our planned stopover at Molène, which we hadn't visited for three years. We headed instead to Camaret, where we could recharge our batteries and do some shopping. Despite stocking up as fully as possible, we were still missing something.

Crossing the English Channel

Departure from Camaret on July 21, 2008, at 12:00 PM, exiting through the Helle channel under sunny skies. Passing Ushant around 4:00 PM under motor and crossing the English Channel close-hauled under mainsail and genoa with a NNW wind of force 4. Oddly, we weren't receiving Navtex bulletins from CROSS Corsen. While crossing the Isles of Scilly, we tried to download a GRIB file, but in vain (reception was too poor on JP's mobile phone, whereas it worked in Spain). We only managed to get the large-scale weather forecast from Météo France online (a smaller file), which predicted complete calm. We motored almost the entire Scilly-Ireland crossing on a glassy sea. We only encountered ESE winds of force 3 or 5 in the last 20 or 30 miles.
Total arrival in Kinsale on 23.07.08 at 15pm local time at the entrance to the river (exactly 48 hours crossing between Ouessant and Kinsale)
4-day stay in Kinsale with sunshine and slightly stormy weather.

To the West

After picking up our daughter at Cork airport (half an hour by bus), we set off again towards the west on 27.07.08.

A three-day stopover in Baltimore on a mooring buoy, where it rained almost continuously for two days. Cooking on board and pubs in the evenings. Marie-So plays the violin on board, playing Irish ballads and tunes she heard at the pub in Kinsale.

On July 30, 2008, the sky seemed to clear, and we cast off around 11:30 a.m. despite the forecast of SW winds of force 5 to 7. We entered the maze of islands at the back of the bay via the Northwest Passage, before reaching Mizen Head, which we rounded at a 2-mile angle with a SW wind of force 4. The sea was becoming choppy, and the sun was shining. We entered Bantry Bay around 5:30 p.m., rounding Bear Island to the north, just long enough to catch a glimpse of Castletownbear (a large fishing port). Then we reached Lawrence's Cove at the northeast tip of the island, where there's a cute little marina, but ultimately, not many people for Marie-Sophie: cows, a grocery store, showers, electricity, water, and diesel!

Glengarriff

The next day we continued towards Glengarriff under rather gloomy skies, with large black clouds hanging over the Irish countryside and shipwrecks lying in the middle of the bay in our path. We were greeted at Glengarriff by seals and children in kayaks, and finally by a light drizzle.
Stunning scenery with smooth rocks and pine forests! A nearly untouched natural environment shelters a few isolated houses. As you approach the back of the bay, you'll see dense subtropical vegetation surrounding beautiful villas (the effects of the Gulf Stream in this highly protected bay).
A very nice musical evening in a small pub.

Bantry

We left Glengarriff the next day around 11am under the sun, with a violin playing and a 6 knot W wind to reach Bantry with an 18 knot wind on arrival (no cash at Glengarriff), from where I will take our daughter back to Cork by bus for her return flight to Lorient (for me it will be a day of bus travel and lots of reading while letting myself be driven in serenity without worrying about the weather…).

Back to the Scilly Isles

We left Bantry on August 3rd, 2008 at 7:30 am for the Isles of Scilly under a grey sky and drizzle, with a west wind of 18 knots and a swell on the nose. So, we motored and hoisted the mainsail because we had a long way to go. Little by little, the sun emerged from the clouds, the swell increased, and we made slow progress. It wasn't until around 11:00 am that we rounded Sheap's Head, finally able to bear away, unfurl the genoa, and cut the engine. We sailed down fairly quickly towards Mizen Head and then the Fastnet Rock on a broad reach (W wind force 4). Around 6:00 pm, the wind strengthened, and we sailed under a reefed mainsail and a staysail. We then took in the second reef during the night around 2:30 am, as the wind was consistently above 26-27 knots.

Arrived at the entrance to New Grimsby at 2:15 PM (BM) after a 186-mile sail, steered by two during the day and under autopilot at night. Overall average speed was 6 knots, but the 24-hour journey between the Fastnet Rock and New Grimsby averaged 6.2 knots.
We took a trunk to sleep in!
After an hour's sleep, Jean-Michel from SALOUTI, having spotted Tobago, called us to join him as high tide approached in the Green Bay anchorage. We enjoyed shrimp appetizers and a fantastic dinner prepared by Pascale and her daughters aboard SALOUTI! Last year we met up in Santander; this year we're meeting up in the Isles of Scilly. By the way, on July 27, 2008, we spotted a light gray RM between Kinsale and Baltimore, heading east. What was it?

The next day, a very successful shrimp fishing trip with Pascale. In the evening, Salouti set sail around 6 pm for France. The following morning, upon waking, we picked up a mooring buoy at Nem-Grimsby to avoid any damage when beaching, as the southwest wind had shifted to the south, climbing to 27-28 knots.

The return to France

We left the Isles of Scilly on August 7th, 2008, at 8:00 AM and immediately set a broad reach west of Ushant, making good progress in a wind that quickly picked up from 9 to 25 knots. We passed both Ushant shipping lanes before sunset. After that, things got tricky around the tip of Brittany, as the wind remained at 30 knots for 3-4 hours and the sea was rough. We kept well clear of Ushant and Sein to avoid the breaking waves on the Sein reef. The boat heeled over two or three times, but the autopilot held up perfectly. We headed well south before gybing at the 100-meter depth contour. In total, between the Creac'h lighthouse abeam and the turning point, we covered the 35 miles in 3 hours with the wind, sea, and current pushing us along very strongly (11.6 knots average over the ground!).

An extra adrenaline rush came as, with my back to the sea, braced to starboard, I straightened up to check over the sprayhood at the bow… we were face to face with a red light! It was a vessel that must have been approaching from the starboard quarter at high speed and came right across our noses in the southwest of Sein. Did it see us?… All this to say that, unlike the shipping lanes, the west buoy of Sein is very busy, with boats going in all directions to and from the lanes.
Arrived at Les Glénan (La Chambre) on August 8th, 2008, around 4 PM French time under sunny skies, while Salouti was worried about us; he had just arrived in Loctudy. A total of 188 miles sailed. Dinner on St. Nicolas. The next day: swimming, showering, shampooing, and fresh bread from the oven! Rest and relaxation; the southwest wind and rain only came at night, but bright sunshine during the day.

Arrived in Kernével on 10.08.08 around 4pm, happy with the trip, but a little out of sorts for returning to work the next day!