Sainte Marine to Concarneau – Day 17, 14th May
Goodbye to Sainte Marine – take a close look… is that a church or a lighthouse?!
An 0800 start in (another) brisk nor-westerly wind, gusting 25 knots. Dark clouds gathered and this was a quick passage of less than two hours to Concarneau under Genoa (or jib – the front sail) only. We sailed in company with Steve and Monica on Jenny Wren – here she is with a rainbow (sadly no pot of gold in sight!)
We were welcomed into our berth at Concarneau by Shaun from Edelweiss: the showers continued all day, but this did not dampen our spirits as there is much to see in this ancient walled city – nowadays a busy touristy spot, full of cafes, restaurants and bars in “in-your-face-Brittany-shops”. Back in Medieval times, it was a totally fortified community and we had a good wander around the walled city, dodging the showers.
The huge fortified city of Concarneau!
The sizeable harbour surrounds the edifice on three sides, including, surprisingly, some very large ships. The Marina/Port de Plaisance and expansion of the whole place has made it a large commercial centre, with a market hall and amongst other things, importantly for us, a chandlery, as we needed to buy some Silkafix (a sealant) as we have a very annoying small water ingress on the bow of Boni, which needs sorting. We enjoyed the town, old and new – and it was very busy being yet another Bank Holiday (Ascension Day) – plenty of folk were out and about.
Later we hosted a shared dinner on board Boni; Monica supplied an impressive bar for Kir-style appreitifs with Cremant and homemade mackerel pate starter. Bob’s chicken and vegetable curries went down well (despite the heat on the veg) and Shaun and Nick supplied the most stunning Tarte Framboise that I have seen in a long time – it didn’t disappoint! (Are you beginning to get the idea that these cruises are not just about the sailing?!) 
The evening concluded with a bluffing (lying) dice game called Perudo and Shaun secured victory just after his new crew arrived.
Friday 15 May (Day 18) – off to the Ile de Groix
After a quick walk ashore for Baguettes from the large street market we set off on our 25 (nautical) mile trip to Port Tudy – the main port for the out-lying island: Ile de Groix, a small island inhabited by about 2,300 people. The north-westerly wind was rather fitful – ranging between 7 and 25 knots. Mostly we could sail, but if the boat speed drops below 3knots over the ground, the engine gets employed (motor-sailing) – with still a small benefit from the wind.
Approaching the Ile de Groix
We arrived at Port Tudy at 1530; there were no spaces on the visitor berths (pontoons) inside the small marina, so the fun started…. Mooring was on trots – single line attached to a forward buoy and another to an aft-wards buoy; and then more boats arrive…. and everyone has to have someone, or two, or three other boats rafted-up alongside… all on the same mooring buoys, all tied up for’d and aft. More boats arrive, more shouting – ooh la la! Monsieur – quest que tu fait?! Attention, attention (you get the picture?) In the meantime the ferry arrives or departs every hour or so, spinning itself in a very restricted space and letting off three short blasts to warn everyone it is about to move backwards. Three short blasts are all part of the international collision regulations (known as ColRegs) meaning that a boat/ship is about to go astern – in such a small, busy harbour, this was all very dramatic! 
Bob and I paddled ashore in our dinghy against the 25knot wind – it wasn’t far, but it was seriously hard work! After all the necessaries – booking in, showers and a bit of a reconnoitre, we came back to Boni – a second trip ashore we got the outboard engine out and found the proper pontoon place to land. We ate out with the crews from the other boats in a local restaurant.
Saturday 16th May – non-sailing day – Day 19
Morning view from the porthole!
The first bit of fun involved escaping the trots and the crazy-boat situation in the outer harbour, but all in time and we were given a visitor berth in the little marina. Now we were on a pontoon berth, we could have a go at sealing around the bow-roller and hopefully solving the water ingress problem – watch this space!
The rest of the day was spent out on the bikes and a great way to explore this island on our E-bikes together with everyone. Ile de Groix is a quiet and charming isle with a mixture of tarmac roads and off-road tracks (which hard work for us on our little bikes) but very enjoyable. There is so little traffic, so it makes a massive difference to the cycling experience. Here we are at Pen Men Light and later at Sables Rouge. 
Back at port I saw to the washing (no knickers again!) and Bob and couple of the others found a bar to watch his beloved Chelsea vs Man U in the FA Cup Final (they lost 1-0). A quick dash to the Intermarche and a clean round the boat; just in time before our very lovely evening meal. We chose to indulge in a miniature-style tasting menu: Pureed Petits Pois & Crab, Hake main and a fancy Fraise dessert – totally delicious. (I told you it wasn’t all about the sailing!)
Sunday 17th May – Day 20
Adieu to Port Tudy and we are off to the next island called Belle Ile, which is about 22 nautical miles. Guess what – wind? Yes – Nor’westerly still blowing 13-19 knots, so a great sail with very little motoring (only to get in and out of port).
We set the preventer on the main sail as we were running before the wind again and creamed along in the end at about 5.5 – 7 knots (I think the wind was a bit less at the beginning). 
There was time for a bit of knitting; but one also has to keep a watch (always) especially for one of our favourite pastimes: Spot the Pot – this is avoid all the little buoys that the fishermen put out and some are very well marked – brightly coloured or even flagged and some are very indistinct. We employ Izzy (self-steering gear) for much of the time, but she is blind and doesn’t know about pots or oncoming sailing boats.
As we approached Le Palais the harbour-master comes to greet us in his RIB and we explain that we wish to use the fuel berth. It is a rising tide and enough water for us to do this, so we come alongside what is the slip-way – fuel is above this at the end. Do you ever encounter a dry mouth, when things are a little bit unknown and potentially hazardous? Well, this was one of those moments for me: a bit of a swell, coming up alongside a wall, very shallow – what do we hang on to, etc. etc? And then there is the business of selecting the correct pump Gazole for boating types like us (the fishermen get cheaper fuel), pass the pump down to Bob – pull out the heavy hose – don’t splash diesel everywhere… Once all done, reverse without scraping the side of your boat along the side of the slipway (why is the fender never in the right place?) – well we didn’t scrape so that was OK. 
Next – we are too early to go into port, as departing yachts do that first, so we must return outside of the harbour to pick up on a waiting buoy. This involves me lying on the deck along the leeward side of the boat with a rope in my hand that I have previously attached to the bow cleat. Thankfully I catch it first time and we are secure – so time for a well-earned cuppa! After a while, we are called to come into port: good and the bridge at the lock is open, the green light is on. Oh – and then suddenly the bridge is coming down over the lock and the red light is on, and on and on…. so we have to hang around, avoiding others (some of who are using their noisy bow thrusters) and eventually it goes green and we are let through and told where to berth up.
Waiting to berth in Le Palais…