Pictures of Paimpol

 

The entrance lock at low water, early morning

Here's a selection of photos of Paimpol taken over the past few days. There are worse places to be stuck waiting for wind, but, as the late June heatwave established itself, it did become oppressively hot over the past couple of days.

The entrance to the port, looking |NW

Early morning view from our cockpit

Window shoppers and disinterested dog

The old town square which is transformed on market day

There's a short  'timewarp' video (GoPro name for a stabilised timelapse) of the town and the market in full swing HERE

With temperatures peaking in the mid-thirties and very little water flowing down the stream into the harbour basins, we noticed the levels dropping and the water turning green. The Port Manager, Monsieur Le Bitoux said that the small neap tides mean that no water flows into the basins from the lock and they are actively considering pumping sea water into them at times like these. He was concerned that we might run aground when we came to leave (at the lowest high tide) so suggested we move to a deeper berth. We were very grateful for this advice because, much as we love Paimpol, we couldn't- face getting stuck here for a few more days!

Our new, temporary berth

Green algae and clumps of floating weed.  

We're now out of the harbour, anchored waiting for the tide and ready for a 90nm sail back to Dartmouth, hoping our arrival will coincide with the end of the heatwave.

A peaceful anchorage among the rocks

 Our luck with the wind evaporated for the short coastal trip down river from Treguier and east to the Ile de Brehat but it was fun nonetheless. Interesting navigation between the rocks and a fast-flowing favourable tide (up to three knots at one stage) kept us busy.

 

A perfectly calm anchorage for the night

After a very peaceful night at anchor, we took the rising tide to head south through a narrow channel which dries out at low water to head a couple of miles south to Paimpol.

Careful navigation across areas that dry completely at low tide

This would be our third visit to Paimpol and it's a place we really enjoy. The harbour guys and girls are really friendly and there's plenty to do in town. It was a lot quieter, boat wise, than we've experienced here before and, with the arrival of the late-June heatwave, we needed to deploy our sunshades, last used in the Pacific!

More to follow.

To Treguier

 With one day of breeze ahead of a forecast of several days of calms, we decided to minimise the burning of diesel and head back west.

The 39 mile passage to Trequier, up the River Jaudy, was another perfect opportunity for the Parasailor, beam reaching in 10 - 14 knots of breeze.

Our timings were fairly crucial as the marina at Treguier can be a very tricky place to moor unless you arrive at slack tide; the current fairly rips through the berths at mid-tide. We met the marina manager Tiphenn who told us that there have been a few 'incidents' over the past couple of days with yachts misjudging the current.

We were last here about 15 years ago (with Laura Thornton and Amy Gamman) but know a lot about the place from Cindi and Adam on Bravo. Their Boreal 52 was built here and they arrived to launch the boat only to to be locked down a few days later due to Covid. They spent many weeks here, the only people in the marina, with daily exercise limited to less than 1km from the boat.

The marina is still full of Boreal boats - including a brand new 56 being commissioned.

Our first, very calm evening with the aluminium Boreals on the pontoon downstream of ours.

The new Boreal 56 - not the prettiest boat in the marina but very capable

We'd arrived a day after the highest of spring tides and the tidal range is pretty dramatic:

High Tide

Low Tide

A challenging angle to the walkways

We enjoyed exploring the old town with its magnificent cathedral and the excellent Creperie Les Halles for a delicious lunch..

After two nights we decided that we liked Treguier enormously but could see how its charms with few non-tourist shops must have felt pretty limiting for Adam and Cindi during lockdown!

We waited for slack tide - at low water this time - to motor down river in search of a more remote spot to anchor for the night.

Musings of the evolution of boat design

This is the sort of post that would have appealed to my dad, Geoff. We miss him terribly but it's when we're off cruising that we feel his loss the most; he used to love following our progress, would be watching the weather forecasts for us and would ask lots of thoughtful questions about our trips. Even when his regular sailing days were over (at the age of about 86!), he would spend happy times 'buying' a new boat - researching designs and comparing the pros and cons of yachts he'd seen advertised.

While we were in Roscoff, Maunie was moored next to an interesting boat with topsides finished in a rather fetching shade of pink. It was a 36ft RM1080, one of the latest designs from a French yard with a reputation for building light, fast cruiser / racers. The comparisons with the 38ft Maunie were interesting.

Lots of square edges and hard chines

The boat's full width comes right to the stern, making for a very wide cockpit and requiring two rudders

The rather boxy shape provides lots of volume in the cabins and saloon.

The bit you can't see, under the water. is a very flat bottom and the deep thin keel with a 'torpedo' bulb (its main weight) at its base.

The shape of the hull and the bulb keel makes the boat very stiff (it apparently doesn't heel more than about 15 degrees) and the flat underbody means that it will surf down waves. The downside is that it'll probably slam horribly when beating into waves.

The whole boat, without fuel or provisions, weighs in at only 5.5 tonnes and down below everything shows the designer's absolute focus on minimising weight. Even the hanging lockers (wardrobes) are made of fabric, with zipped doors, rather than wood or fibreglass.

Maunie's design is much more traditional - a deep v-shaped forefoot and a long deep keel means she cuts through waves with ease but definitely doesn't surf down them! Her widest point is pretty much at the middle of her length and she's designed to heel comfortably to 40 degrees (maybe 'comfortably' isn't the right word as far as her crew is concerned). 

Maunie's sloping bow and deep vee forefoot are great for slicing through waves

Reducing weight clearly came nowhere on her designer's list of priorities - Maunie tips the scales at about 11 tonnes, twice that of the RM!

The RM's mast is supported by two shrouds (wires)

Whereas Maunie's has five!

For the blue water voyages we've done, we certainly wouldn't consider a lightweight boat like the RM but it certainly is an interesting development in yacht design.

At the other end of the spectrum, this Canadian cruising boat came into the marina while we were there. It's a motorboat with occasional sail assistance but it was certainly eye catching:

To Roscoff (avoiding the ferries)

With high pressure moving across us, we didn't expect much in the way of sailing for the passage from Trebeurden to Roscoff but were delighted to find a 10-12 knot breeze. Ok, it was on the nose so we had to beat, but that was preferable to the alternative of burning diesel and we had a favourable tide to make our tacking angles look respectable.

 Roscoff is best known, of course, as a major ferry port and, until a few years ago, yachts were limited to the old, drying harbour. However a very well appointed marina has been built just south of the ferry terminal and it's accessible at all stages of the tide; you just have to be careful with the current that runs through it.

The old port at low tide - you have to lean your boat against the tyres as the tide recedes and dry out

The north entrance to the new marina, with the ferry terminal in the background. You can see the swirling current in the water

Looking south into the marina

The marina staff are super helpful and meet arriving boats in big inflatable RIBs with powerful engines. Their boats have big soft fenders on the bow so they can nudge boats against the current if required.

A walk into the old town took about 15 minutes and it's a very attractive place.

Eglise Notre-Dame de Croaz-Batz

The town was fairly touristy but we found a creperie whose clientele were mostly locals and had a very good lunch.

Galettes (savoury crepes) with local cider from a small jug, drunk from pottery cups

As ever we had an eye on the forecast. We had wanted to head further west out to Ile d'Ouessant (Ushant) but it was pretty clear that we'd then be faced with a lot of motoring to get back. Wednesday's forecast offered the last chance of a sailable westerly breeze so we decided that we'd head for Treguier.  More to follow.