The night before we welcomed Jenny Wren (Steve and Monica) into Cameret who had sailed all the way from Roscoff non-stop and at midnight, waved off Viviette (Michael and D & crew) who set sail for La Coruna, Spain across the Bay of Biscay – both boats from Castle Cove Sailing Club.
Farewell to Cameret-sur-Mer and the mighty Vauban Fort
Sailing in company with Jenny Wren
Tuesday dawned another bright a very breezy (NW 10-20 knots) – perfect for our journey. We set off just after 1000 to get around “The Raz” at slack tide (1330-1400) and a good time to get through.
Coastal sailing takes into consideration what are known as tidal gates – where the tides run faster, usually running around a corner or between islands (or both) – you may have heard of the Portland Race which runs around the tip of Portland Bill or the Alderney Race (between the French mainland and Alderney). The Raz de Sein is the stretch of water between the outlying islands of the Ile de Sein (pictured) and the Pointe de Raz on the mainland. It is clearly marked by two very distinctive lighthouses: La Petite Vielle (smaller) and La Vielle (the old lady) – and very handsome she is! 
We had a great sail to get to the Raz, and went through on slack water, closely followed by the Brittany Ferry Service from Plymouth to Santander. And here is our track around the corner:
As we turned the corner, we now had the wind behind us and as a consequence, the speed dropped. So we put a preventer on the mainsail – this is a rope to stop inadvertent and unwanted gybing. Then, we thought it might be a good idea to put the pole out onto the jib (to stop the sail from collapsing). 
This became a bit of palaver, so we took it all off and continued on our way. After a while we decided to motor-sail, to make better progress and eventually we came along to the small tower named Men Hir (I saw no men!) but we did have many porpoises come and play on our bow waves – always a delight to see. Some of the sailing included “Goose-winging” (a sail on either side as pictured) – I love this way of running before the wind; it is balletic and requires spot on helming, anticipating the surf and the way in which the waves affect the movement of the boat.
The whole trip from Camaret to St Marine was 58 nautical miles and we arrived at 2018 – a 10 hour journey all told. A quick tie up and change of clothes, so to meet up with the crews of Edelweiss and Jenny Wren in a local (small) restaurant “Ouest” for dinner – phew!
Day 16 – a quiet day in Sainte Marine, as I was not well in the night (enough said – you don’t want to hear the details!) So we had a slow stroll into town, the market was on and then we popped into the beautiful and small chapelle de Sainte Marine, which has some absolutely stunning stained glass windows!
An interesting roof inside the chapel.
The view from the shore towards the pontoons
The local museum – distinctive building and the ferry that runs between St Marine and Benodet.
After an afternoon snoozle – it was time for Scrabble – a win for me – so now the stakes are equal:
Bob 2, Nicky 2 and 2 draws!