Tuesday 18 – Wednesday 19 June
… into the Rade de Brest
After much discussion the evening before, the general consensus seemed to be that an early start was in order, and so we found ourselves in convoy heading for the Chenal du Four early the following morning. Conditions started light, so full main and genoa were soon set, but a prolonged squall encouraged Mate to call for a reef in the mainsail and change down to the staysail. Unfortunately, it proved to be only a squall, and by the time the sail changes were complete, and Skipper was exhausted, and still shy of breakfast, the wind had settled into a comfortable Nor’easterly F3-4. Once he’d reverted to full main and genoa, Mate allowed him down to the galley for sustenance. As we were the only member of the fleet to choose not to ride out the squall, by now we were well behind everybody else.
By 1000 we had changed sails again and our lovely red gennaker was flying proudly, and we slipped calmly through the notorious Chenal du Four with wind and tide in our favour. However, not long afterwards the wind dropped right away and the iron sail was called into service. Off Pointe Saint Matthieu at the Northern corner of the Goulet de Brest, we managed to ghost along in an Easterly F2-3 while the crew ate lunch, but then finding ourselves in the path of a French Navy vessel, it was decided to give up on the sailing and motor the rest of today’s passage to our chosen anchorage.
Frustrated by the lack of good sailing, we found a pleasant spot to spend the night, East of the city of Brest in the River Elorn. Wednesday was designated a rest day, and we lay quietly to anchor in the attractive upper reaches of the navigable river.