Cherbourg

Off to the carrefore in the morning, then the Wine Cave to stock up on the years booze.  Moules and fites for dinner then back to boat to await wine delivery.

Chris and co turn up at 1530 and berth right next to us. By the time they had done their shopping and showering etc it was time to go for a meal.   Cafe Paris was the venue and what a superb value meal to be had there.   Straight back to bed as long passage in the morning.

Change of plan.

We had planned to spend Friday night in St Peter Port,  but on reviewing the tides etc we realised it would be mid morning before we left the marina on Saturday, then a 14-16 hour slog to get home.   So, as we had all day to do it we headed for Cherbourg instead.  This meant we could have an extra days holiday , meet up with the boys and girls on Fusion 3 and have a shorter last passage home.  Bonus all round............  except for the tide which turned on us as we rounded Cap de Frehal and we had a bit of a slog into port.  It was a bit bit misty all the way so apart from this interesting sail not many pictures

Return journey

 Long haul back to Guersey today,  we're missing out Jersey as wind and tides are more favourable.  Leave in zero wind, but it soon picks up and we have a good crossing. 

St Cast Coastguard Station

The only boat all day to come anywhere near us

Supper !

Petit Port Bay

Arrive at the south of Guernsey and stop in a bay called Petit Port.   This is to be the place where all the local fishermen used to take their boats when  the wind went easterley,  ie bad for entering the main harbours on Guernsey.  Stayed at anchor overnight,  quite noisy with lots of seagulls nesting in the cliffs.

2nd day in St Cast

Well , the sun keeps shining and the wind is very light so another day in port.

The houses here are all fairly large and of quite traditional construction, they are well kept and have beautiful gardens. They love their balconies

 The marina is only 3 years old and was completed using european union grant money.  Seems to be a lot of that going on in this region. At the same time they connected the marina to the town by building a winding footpath around the base of the cliffs

There's quite a balcony on this one, more of a terrace really jutting out about 5 metres and is over about a 30 meter drop.

They are quite fond of Storks too.  I'm not sure what the significance is in this region but there are a number of houses with them on.


Top all this off with a lovely beach and it's quite a nice place to be.   Not so sure how it would be if the weather was horrible.

 
 

A day or two in port

Day in port,  The holiday so far has been spent sailing for quite long streches each day and then only having a short time to explore wherever we end up.  Very light winds and very sunny days have led us to think that maybe we should slow down a little and enjoy the surroundings of our favourite port so far St Cast.  It's a little expensive at 45euros per night but the facilities are great, even if the wifi is not very ppwerful. It only becomes available if it's high tide.   We had a long lay in and a relaxed morning before spending the rest of the day on the beach.  A couple of swims in the sea then back to the boat for a meal.  Steak tonight.

Ille de Brehat to St Cast

Up early this morning, well I was.  Beautiful sunrise as we left Brehat to go back to St Cast.   Uncertainties about whether we could get berthing with electricity in lezadrieux or paimpol  plus the tides making it very late in the evening before we could enter ports, has led us to take the safe option.  Absolutely dead calm to begin with but enough wind to sail after about an hour.  Just got to Cap frehel as the tide gate closed.  Motored on round to Point de le latte, and feasted on mackerel caught along the way.   Another light wind sail and we were at St cast.  Out for the evening meal.

St Quay Portrieux

A relatively short journey from St Quay to Ille de Brehat.  With light winds and smooth sea. We ghosted along dodging the many boats that streamed out of St Briac to catch fish. I was reminded of the Kayak Sea fishing competition in Swanage There were hundreds of them, it got so difficult to get through them I took down the sails and motered. (there was very little wind anyway) Ille de Brehat seemed very busy and we anchored in a small inlet close to  Port Clos.  Ashore we went for a quick wander, not a lot to see as all the lanes had high hedges.  The houses are all very big and immaculately kept as were the gardens.