Groundings, Near Misses And Champagne Sailing From Brittany To Holyhead

When Alan Burns decided it was time to bring his boat home from France, the passage provided the best and worst sailing has to offer

- Alan Burns

It was time for a change. My wife Sheila and I wanted to return to our favourite sailing area on the Clyde, having enjoyed cruising in South Brittany since 2009. The mooring for our Bavaria 34 Saloma at Foleux was very economical but even so, the time and cost of getting to Brittany could not be justified for two three-week holidays each year. It was time to sail home.

Luckily, sailing friends Nigel and Sarah Robinson volunteered to accompany me for the first two weeks of the trip, as Sheila, who was supervising building work at home, was unable to join me. I reckoned two weeks would be plenty of time to sail to Saint-Malo, and visit many places I had never seen, before hopping across the Channel. It was also a convenient ferry port that my sons could arrive at, from where we could visit the Channel Islands followed by a crossing to Plymouth. They would then depart home to Liverpool and my other crew Peter and Glenn, who I had met in our local pub, would arrive from Yorkshire for the final leg north.

With provisioning done, we locked out of Foleux and decided to push on to Port Tudy on Île de Groix. After motor sailing initially, the wind filled in and we enjoyed a cracking reach, at times over seven knots, arriving off Port Tudy by 1730. The high point of our day was being passed by the Paprec racing trimaran, which was almost airborne.

At Le Guilvinec the surf on the rocks as we approached suggest that you may think twice about making this your landfall in heavy weather, but obviously the fishing fleet use it daily. The size and number of trawlers left a lasting impression as they are in such contrast to the decline of our fishing industry at home. From there, we passed the spectacular rocks of Pointe du Raz and through the Raz de Sein at low water and made for Camaret, where we refuelled before sailing on to L’Aber Wrac’h.