A careful study of the charts meant a change of plan yesterday - rather than a passage round to Binic in the St Malo Bay, we opted for a shorter but much more interesting hop round to the Ile de Brehat. Shorter, as in just 15 miles, and interesting, as in "how many rocks?, how much tide?!".
It is extremely rocky and tidal around these parts so the navigation is challenging. We took the very narrow and shallow Passage de la Gaine out of the Treguier estuary, saving about 5 miles. This takes you just inside Les Heux de Brehat lighthouse.
The following tidal streams were building as we completed this passage so, feeling brave, we then turned hard a starboard into the rock-strewn and swirly Mosie Passage into the Trieux estuary. At La Mosie beacon we had about 3 knots of tide so worked our way crab-wise along the leading line to Ile de Brehat.
The Ile de Brahat is inexpressibly beautiful - a low-lying island only 3/4 of a mile from the mainland. It has some extremely desirable holiday houses,a couple of tiny shops and cafes, a lighthouse and a coast-guard signal station. No cars allowed, just tractors and bicycles.
We anchored off the west side, as close in to the entrance to a drying harbour called La Corderie as we could without risking grounding at low tide. We inflated the dinghy and went for a long walk ashore. These photos won't do justice to the place but it really is pretty special, especially in a boat.
We had a quiet night at anchor then set off this morning up the Trieux to Lezardrieux marina. Another friendly spot, though most of the shops seem to close on a Monday. Still we had a good lunch ashore and found the supermarket for supplies of wine and cheese, as one does.
We'll eat aboard tonight and plan to set off for Guernsey in the morning - force 5 NW is forecast which should suit us fine.
Finally, just as I started writing this, a Vancouver 34 Pilot, Telo, appeared, followed by two more V34P's in convoy. They have come over from Guernsey and had a fairly fresh sail - we'll no doubt catch up with them later.
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