Fram's Voyages

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18 July 2022

 

Dun Laoghaire - Howth, Ireland

Distance traveled - 10 NM

Time travelled - 1.5 hours

Weather - Sunny, 22C Wind S 10-12m/s

 

When we left the dock at Dun Laoghaire it was flat calm and sunny. Once we got out into the Dublin bay however, the wind kicked up to 10-12 m/s rather quickly. We started with both sails up, reefed the main when the wind reached 7 m/s and then when the wind hit 10 m/s, we debated another reef or just taking it down. Since we were changing our course a bit and now sailing downwind, we opted to take down the main and sail on genoa alone. It was a short trip. We chose it because what we really wanted to do was to go south but with the southerly winds, we had to have another plan that wouldn’t take us too far away to the north. People have told us that Howth is a really nice place so off we went. It looks like a mountainous small island but is actually attached to the mainland by a causeway. And it was true, this is a lovely spot. The marina is a good size, we found a berth straight away and the town is just across the street. There is a very active fishing fleet here and plenty of fish stores and restaurants.

 

As soon as we were settled, we set off on a walk about the town. The harbour office had simple town maps so we took one and spent 2 hours walking around and through the town. It is very pretty, affluent and bustling. Lots of tourists come here to do the cliff walk and go to the beach.

 

We did the cliff walk the next day, Tuesday. It was warm, about 26C, the warmest day Ireland has had in many a day. The news station talked of a record breaking 32C but that never materialised here at Howth. The cliff walk was 12 km with stunning views all along the way. We walked on a dirt path and at times, we could look down to our right and see straight down into a precipice to the sea. Towards the end, I started hearing thunder Dan was convinced it was the airplanes coming in to Dubin, but then we saw the black cloud forming over us and widening. It was thunder all right, and quite spectacular lightning. We got rained on but as it was so warm outside, it was more a refreshing cool-off than anything else.

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20 July 2022

 

Howth - Asklow, Ireland

Distance traveled - 53 NM

Time traveled - 9 hours

Weather - Overcast, come sun, 16C. Wind NW 12-4 m/s

 

We left the dock early this morning though not as early as we had planned due to the winds being a lot stronger than we had reckoned with. They were meant to come downs by 08.00 so we left the dock at 07.45. Dan did an amazing piloting job of getting us backed out and on our way out of the marina. With a wind that is strongly blowing the stern one way and the bow the wrong way, he used the dynamics of the boat and backed us out in high speed, out into the basin where we had room to get ourselves moved round so we could head out of the harbour. Out through several channel markers and we were soon on our way with the genoa out and carrying us forward at a good pace of 7 knots. We were unlucky when we got the TSS (Traffic Separation Scheme) area as 2 cruise ships were coming out of Dublin harbour heading for the TSS which we were just about to cross. They have right of way and we have to move. We had to change course to let them go by and then once out of the TSS we went back to our original course. Not 30 minutes later, we came to the next TSS zone with a cargo ship coming our way. But this time we managed to get across ahead of the ship and didn’t have to change course. The rest of the day was uneventful. We had winds of 8-11 m/s from NW, the tide was with us for the first 4 hours, but then the low tide cycle started and that put us back from 6 knots to 2 knots. Argh, so frustrating! As we approached Asklow, we entered the next tide cycle and had the currents with us for the last hour or 2. We entered the river that leads to the marina and were mortified to see all the construction going on. A whole new water works system is being built here and the marina is smack in the middle of all the construction. Noise noise noise from 07.00 to 19.00 every day. On top of that, the entrance is ridiculously narrow and once inside it looks like a rabbit warren. We were given instructions by phone to keep hard to port and take a berth farthest in. Current was a bit annoying but nothing that Capt Dan couldn’t handle. We got in place, paid our fee and started looking at the sea chart to see where we could go at 05.00 tomorrow morning to avoid more noise. We have decided, preliminarily that we will leave Ireland and set sail bright and early for Wales; Milford Haven to be precise. It will take close to 24 hours, winds are forecast to be good; NW and W 5-7 m/s,  so stay tuned:)

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21-22 July 2022

Asklow - Milford Haven, Wales

Distance traveled - 107 NM

Time traveled - 18 hours

Weather - overcast, 15C Wind N 2-7m/s

 

Asklow was a big construction site with machines running from 06.00 until 19.00 daily. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough so were on the road at 05.30. The marina was extremely tight and packed full with boats, most of which were unoccupied and many of which were in sad need of repair. It hurt our hearts to see a sweet Hallberg Rassy 29-footer looking the worse for wear, deck all dried out with caulking hanging out everywhere, freeboard dull and lustreless. However, she was not the worst boat in a harbour. To get out of our berth, Dan left the starboard stern line round the cleat on the pontoon arm, which I held and then he slowly backed out, once the bow was clear I pulled the stern line taut which made the bow swing out into the manoeuvring lane. A little bow thruster to get the final left hand turn and we were on our way. Had one final hard right turn to get out of the marina and then negotiated the channel out to sea, about 1/2 NM. Once out we breathed a sigh of relief, set the sails and headed off to Milford Haven in Wales. Why Milford Haven of all places, you ask. Well, back in the planning stages of this trip, when I was looking for a live aboard marina in the UK to possibly spend the winter, this place was the only one I found that welcomed live aboard guests. It looked nice, extremely well protected from the weather forces and had an interesting history. Milford Haven was once a ship-building center for the UK, and it was here that HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were built. These 2 ships were built specifically for Artic exploration and Erebus had a long history of successful exploration expeditions to the Antarctic and to the Arctic. in 1845 the English explorer Captain Sir John Franklin took Erebus and Terror on an expedition to find Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic. It ended in disaster with all hands lost. Both Erebus and Terror became icebound in Victoria Strait near King William Island that left the men stranded in the Canadian Arctic. It’s a gripping story if you haven’t read it yet.

 

We set our course and made good time for the first 5 hours with the tide, then of course, the tide turned against us and we did very slow time, but the sailing was good for most of the way. We had to motor for a few hours as we neared the Welsh coast to get around some rocks and shallows where we didn’t have enough wind to get us through. By the time we approached Milford Haven it was 22.30 and dark. There are 2 channels, and east channel and a west channel and it is primarily for commercial vessels. There were numerous huge tankers docked along the sides of the channels. We followed the navigational ights, me at the wheel and Dan on the plotter giving me direction. It was hard to find all the lights as there were so many strong lights from the harbour area, the ships, and the warehouses along the sides that it was hard to distinguish the correct lights. We decided to anchor for the night so we could continue in the light of day so headed for a cove where other sailboats were anchored. We came in slow, found a spot and Dan went forward to lower the anchor, only to find that the plastic runner for the anchor chain was missing. Without it we can’t use the electric winch to lower and raise the anchor. Very mysterious, we have no idea when this happened. We were in 10 meters of water so the prospect of hauling 40 meters of chain in the morning by hand did not appeal to the captain, so we turned around and motored out and braved the 3 NM of channel to the marina. We were lucky in that there was almost no traffic moving about as we proceeded up the channel. A ferry came up behind us at 22 knots and a pilot boat was bombing around in erratic fashion but we stayed close to the right side of the marked out channel until we reached the marina which was on the left, so a 90 degree angle crossing was required to get over there. In order to get into the marina you have to go through a sea lock. As it was so late; 01.30, we decided to dock at the outer pontoon used for boats waiting to lock in. It was very difficult to see and we were in shallow water but just as we despaired of finding the damn pontoon, I saw it to the right and in we went and docked, exhausted with eyes stinging from so much focusing in the dark. Tomorrow we will lock in to the marina and spend the weekend here.

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25 July 2022

 

Milford Haven - Grimsby Sound anchorage, Scilly Isles

Position - N49 57.515 W06 20.856

Distance traveled - 142.7 NM

Time traveled - 22 1/2 hrs

Weather - Partly sunny, 16C Wind NW 5-12 m/s

 

Dan has spent the weekend trying to find an anchor roller. Milford Haven like so many places on this coast boast a good ship's chandler, but when we go there, there is nothing for yachts, only fishing gear. Milford Haven chandlers was never open and there was no number to contact them on their mobile phones. When he asked the harbor master, he just shrugged his shoulders and said, "well, this is West Wales, you know". Dan, with the help of another sailor, Robert, a local, managed to find a mechanic named Wayne and get the  anchor roller issue sorted out and we now have a new Welsh-made anchor roller so we can start anchoring again. The mechanic gave Dan an initial price of 40 GBP which seemed reasonable. The next day he changed it to 50 GBP again, OK. But the next day he upped it to 100 GBP for a reason Dan couldn’t quite figure out given the strong Welsh accent, but what could we do, we needed it and maybe that’s what Wayne the mechanic was saying?

 

Our crew arrived on Sunday afternoon; my sister Katy and her Norwegian husband Jens along with a chicken-pot-pie from Prince Charles Duchy farm and 4 Cornish pasties also from said farm. It was a very wet day with rain nearly the whole day. 

 

Monday morning dawned, well, at least dry. We checked the weather and the tide, made an appointment to fill up on fuel at the fuel dock and another appointment to lock out of Milford Haven at exactly 12.43.  We got the boat ready for travel, I sent in our customs form to check out of the UK, complete with all names, passport info, boat info and signature of captain attesting to all info being correct. Got a message back almost instantly, thanking us for sending the form and a vow to get back to us if anything is amiss. Jens had to do a similar form to check himself and Katy into the EU when we get to Brest.. Bureaucracy!

 

So since we had been through a gale with winds from the south all Saturday and Sunday and on Monday the winds moved to NW and were decreasing from 17 m/s to 7-10 m/s in the morning and would be about 7 m/s for the afternoon and early evening then decreasing steadily down to 4 m/s, we decided to go while it was still windy in order to get as far as we could as fast as we could. We left the lock and set out into the commercial channel which did not look nearly as imposing as it did when we came in, in the middle of the night. When we made the left turn that releases us from the channel and into the sea, we put up the sails, main close reefed, Genoa fully rolled out and set our course of 206 degrees which would take us all the way to our destination with no obstacles. The wind was 10 m/s second when we started out and rose to 12.5m/s after a couple hours. The wind was on Fram’s starboard stern quarter so not much tipping, but as the swells were still so big, we rolled a lot. And the swells were about 3-4 meters high, widely spaced and Fram took them beautifully, smooth and confident. A few dolphins appeared about 2 hours out and went from 2 or 3 to about 12 in seemingly seconds. They came from everywhere leaping completely out of the water to get a look at us. Katy tried to get her music going for them but since she was at the wheel, her hands were tied and none of us could find her phone, ahem….

The dolphins stayed with us almost nonstop for our entire journey leaving only when we sighted the Scilly isles. So lovely to see them and watch them diving under the boat to the other side, racing out in front and then circling back. Somehow having the company out on the lonely sea is comforting. We even saw babies swimming beside their mothers, rising and diving in concert. 

It also diverted focus on the seasickness of the crew due to the rolling from the swells. No one felt like eating dinner and popcorn was the only thing that went down with acceptance. We kept a good speed all night; about 6.5 knots on average. Even in the dark we could hear the air expelations of the dolphins as they swarmed around our boat. Towards the morning, the wind started decreasing but the swells didn’t get the message and they continued so we got to that dreaded point when the wind is not strong enough to carry the boat over the swells and we wallow in the lows and twist on the highs. Ugh, so frustrating. Our speed went down to  3 knots and the whole boat was rocking to and fro, sails snapping back and forth, a cacaphony of noise. We tried butterflying the sails, using only one sail, but nothing worked. We decided we had to change off our course and go with the small amount of wind we had to get a smoother ride. So we turned eastwards towards the Cornish coast for about 2 hours before gybing and trying the other tack. This was total failure; we needed to do 200 degrees but couldn’t get better than almost due west 260 degrees. So the captain broke down and started the motor. We took down the sails and motored the last 14 NM to Grimsby Sound. The day shaped up to a sunny nice day and we got ourselves a mooring buoy in the middle of the bay. After lunch we inflated the dinghy and Jens, Dan and I took a walk on Tresco. We all took a swim off the boat and rinsed with the warm water from the our shower hose off the back of the boat. Dinner was a grand affair, with lots of cocktails and snacks and a main of minced lamb In creamy garlic and oregano sauce with pasta, and a cabbage salad. Jens contributed a lovely Argentinian red wine that complemented the lamb perfectly. Dan and Jens stayed up to listen to the semifianal match in the European Football championship between Sweden and England. Katy and I  went to bed. After only 2 hours of sleep 38 hours, I was exhausted. As I drifted off to sleep, I pondered on how very nice it is to have extra crew for these long trips. It spreads the burden and normally allows longer rest time between watches. This time however, we had to steer most of the way because Wisting, our wind pilot, couldn’t manage the big swells. So we cut down our watches to one hour each. By the end of the crossing, we were all bleary eyed!

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27 July 2022

 

Bryer Island - St Mary’s Island, Scilly Isles

Distance traveled - 9 NM

Time traveled - 1 1/2 hrs

Weather - Overcast in the morning, sunny in the afternoon 22C

 

Bryer Island was lovely. We took a long hike round the island and then Jens and Katy invited us to lunch at a little restaurant called Island Fish. It was very simple, you sat outside at picnic tables where little sparrows were flying around waiting for scraps. The food was amazing. We all had a half fresh lobster with fried potatoes and Cole slaw. All the seafood and fish is caught by the restaurant owners, prepared by the restaurant owners and served by same. And it tasted so very good. The lobster was fantastic. We sat there as the sun finally came out enjoying ourselves fully.

 

Back at Fram, Dan noticed the batteries were low, mostly due to that damned toilet, which is electric and takes an awful lot of electricity to flush. There’s no manual pump so one has no choice but to flush. When we are sailing with motor off, if some flushes, the amount of electricity used knocks out our GPS electronics and they have to reboot. Rather annoying if you’re in a tight spot navigating and suddenly the plotter is gone. So we needed to get out and run the motor. We decided to take a run to St Mary’s island which is the most populated island in the group. It was a short run with no wind so rather pleasant. There were lots of mooring buoys and also a lot of boats very tightly packed together. We had to negotiate ourselves into the morass to find a mooring buoy, which we did beside another Najad. Once we shut down the engine, the Naiad owner shouted over that we were on a private buoy. It was a red one and they are privately owned. We should take a yellow and there was one right beside the one we were on so we switched. We took turns rowing to land to take a swim on the lovely sandy beach. I rowed Dan so he could run. Then I went back and got Jens who rowed Katy to the beach and came back and got me and I rowed to the beach with Jens. We had a wonderful swim. The water is about 17 I would guess. When we were ready to go back, Jens took Katy, came back and got me and rowed me back. When they got to Fram, a sailboat pulled up and very nastily told them it was his mooring buoy and we had to get off. Jens told him the captain wasn’t on the boat so he would have to wait. Once I rowed Jens back to Fram, I rowed back and got Dan who had just come back from his run. We called the harbourmaster who said if the mooring buoy is yellow, it’s first come first serve. We told the sailor this when he came by again and he insisted that it was his. Dan told him to call the harbourmaster, and the guy motored off really angry. He came back a few minutes later and said he’d spoken to the harbourmaster and it was his buoy. The harbourmaster called us and apologised deeply that he was mistaken and the guy had rented the buoy for the summer. So we moved to another yellow, luckily there were a couple left. Of course all the boats around us followed the altercation so we were very happy that we had such a polite attitude towards that asshole. Then we enjoyed a very nice evening. Dinner was the chicken pot pie that Jens and Katy brought, with a cabbage salad, followed by a cheese platter.

 

So, the Najad owner that advised us on the buoys turned out to be one of the boats that I follow on Instagram. His name is Martin Jarvis and he has a Najad 400. Our boats were close enough to chat so we talked about our sailing plans and sailing in general. It was really fun to meet someone I follow.

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28-29 July 2022

 

St Mary’s Pool, Scillies - Brest France

Distance traveled - 163 NM

Time traveled - 28.5 Hrs

Weather - Sunny, 20C no wind until Chenal du Four then 8-10 m/s

 

Our crew, Katy and Jens, needed to get a train from Brest to London on Saturday so we had to leave the Scillies on this afternoon. We really loved the these islands and hope to come back when we are on our way home and spend more time there. There was a light wind from SE when we started out and we couldn’t do better than 45 degrees southwest of our course. But the waters were flat and it was a nice wind so we stuck with it for about 3 hours before it decreased and our progress was too slow. We had to cross a TSS south of the Scillies which means you have to sail directly over at a 90 degree angle and yield to all oncoming commercial traffic. We had to give way for a ship coming from the east by coming about and sailing parallel to the ship in the opposite directlon. Once we were past each other they radioed us on VHF and thanked for good seamanship. We were chuffed:) Right after that we saw on AIS that another tanker was on it’s way from the west and it was a Stolt-Nielsen ship called Stolt Spray. Jens is CFO for Stolt-Nielsen so Dan let him go on the radio and hail the ship when they got close to us. We didn’t have to change course for this one as it passed 1.5 NM in front of us. Jens had a nice chat with the captain. After this, we took in the genoa and tightened the main for balance, put on the motor and went back to our designated course. From about 20.00 we had no wind at all. I made ham hooch for dinner, which is just a mishmash of stuff we have on hand mixed with macaroni and a parmesan sauce. For night snacks I laid out cup a soup packets, fresh rolls, chicken salad, and tea/coffee. We did our 3 hour night watches. I had midnight to 03.00, Katy had 03.00-06.00, Jens took 06.00-09.00 and Dan took 09.00-12.00. We did this round the clock. During Dan’s and my night watch, the sky was clear and without all the light pollution from land, the stars were incredibly bright. We saw lots of falling stars and in the water you could see the neon blue of plankton in the splashes from Fram’s movement on the water. I love these night sails. Of course, it’s better when we are under sail but the starts and plankton are just as beautiful by motor as they are by sail.

 

By 10.30 next morning, we were approaching Ushant and the Chenal du Four. The Chenal du Four is a channel that runs southwards to the entrance of Rade du Brest(Bay of Brest). It’s about 10 NM. It has a reputation for being quite dangerous and challenging if high winds are moving against the tide. Currents can be in excess of 6 knots. This was no problem for us today because there was no wind. As we rounded Ushant and entered the channel, which is much wider than I imagined, we sat in the cockpit, all 4 of us, and had hotdogs and shandies for lunch. The channel is very well marked with green and red buoys. Soon after, the wind came up slightly from the north, so we shut down the motor and sailed on the genoa alone. It was lovely, just breezing along watching the coastline and seeing all the sailboats moving about. The wind increased gradually until it seemed suddenly that we were flying along on 8-10 m/s winds. The tide was moving towards the north and it didn’t take long before we had a very strong current against us (4 knots) and a strong wind behind us. Short sharp waves developed caused by the collision of current and wind and though we were still flying (we thought), the GPS told us we were only going 1.4 knots over ground. It took us forever to get past navigational markers, and the whole channel took us abut 5 hours. Once we rounded the point and into Rade du Brest, we made better time with a beam wind and the current was with us. The scenery was beautiful, the sky was blue and although we were pretty tired, we enjoyed the sail. The bay is so much bigger than we imagined too, took forever to get to the Marina Le Chateau which is in an enormous naval harbour. Brest is home to one of France’s biggest Naval bases and the marina was inside the outer harbour walls in the northeast corner. It’s a big marina, about 700 boats. I called the harbour master and we got instructions to take the south passerelle all the way in and take whatever berth we could find. We saw a space along the pontoon. Dan asked me if I thought we would fit there and I eyeballed it and said “yep, we can fit”. So in we went with lots of boat spectators watching us while sipping wine in their cockpits. Dan did an amazing job bring Fram in because we had only inches to spare between the two boats already there and he sidled Fram in softly and surely. Jens jumped ashore and tied down first the bow and then I threw him the stern line. Once those were fast, Dan put on 2 springs; front and back. We had to raise our Q flag because Jens and Katy had to clear customs. But the marina didn’t have any customs officials on hand so late in the day; 19.30 so we would have to do it on Saturday. Katy and Jens were relegated to the boat and dock. As soon as we were settled, they set about packing for their trip tomorrow. We all had cocktails and a spaghetti carbonara dinner, took showers and went to bed.

 

Next morning Dan and I went to the customs office with K and J’s papers but they were closed. We did what we could, and they had to get to the train station so we just dropped the whole thing and went off into the city. As this is the first weekend of the French summer holiday, there were of course no seats on the train for Katy and Jens. They ended up renting a car and driving to Calais where they hoped to get tickets for a ferry to Dover and then taxi home to Englefield Green. Meanwhile, Dan and I walked around the town which is quite fascinating. It has a naval history that goes back to the roman times and there are still bits of a big stone wall round the citadel and the city, despite the Germans’ attempts to wipe out the entire city during WWII. 

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1 August 2022

 

Marina le Chateau, Brest - Roscanvel anchorage

N48 18.917 W04 32.549

Distance traveled - 4NM

Time traveled - 2 hours

Weather - sunny 20C, wind SW 0-2m/s

 

It was a very calm day, overcast in the morning but beautifully sunny in the afternoon. Because there was hardly any wind, it was relatively warm too. We sailed very very slowly on the genoa alone. These next couple days, we are checking out anchorages and harbours for our daughter Caroline and family’s visit. They arrive on Thursday and will stay for 4 days. There is a real cute town here, but no stores. One creperie that happened to be busy with a big family reunion yesterday, and a café in the square. But it is very pretty with lovely stone cottages and an interesting church. I went for a walk in the afternoon and Dan went for a run. It was so warm in the afternoon that we both went for a swim off the boat. Water was cold but very refreshing.

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2 August 2022

 

Roscanvel - Anse de l’Auberlach anchorage

N48 20.055 W04 32.54.948

Distance traveled - 5.6 NM

Time traveled - 2 hrs

Weather - Overcast in the morning, no wind, sunny in the afternoon, 25C, wind came up from SW at about 5 m/s in late afternoon

 

Fog completely enveloped Fram this morning. We couldn’t even see the shore. We tried to sail on the genoa and be patient but the wind just wouldn’t come up. Eventually, I was the one to lose patience and we rolled in the genoa and turned on the motor and crossed the Rade de Brest to this anchorage. Very similar to Roscavel, small summer village, good anchorage, this one has protection from the North. Dan dropped the anchor and it stuck . It was warm out so took a swim before lunch. I swam around the boat. So refreshing. Lazed about till 16.00 then rowed dinghy in thinking we’d go to the local bar and have a Pastis, but the one and only bar/café at this place is closed on Tuesdays. So took a walk around the town and went back to the boat for swim and shower off back of boat. Dinner was leftover roasted chicken and pasta in olive oil, parmesan and fresh basil with a small salad. 

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3 August 2022

 

Anse de l’Auberlach - Brest de Moulin marina

Distance traveled - 7.55 NM

Time traveled - 1.5 hours

Weather - Overcast in the morning, sunny in the afternoon, 26C. Wind SW-NW 0-5 m/ks

 

We feel that we are getting used to cloudy windless mornings and sunny windy afternoons.

l’Auberlach was a good anchorage with a beach and a bar/restaurant, when it’s open… it will be a good place to take Caroline and family and get protection from the windy weekend that’s coming with winds from NE at 8-15 m/s. As Dan says, at least it is not raining.

We left on the changing tide and motored the whole way back to Brest, to its other marina, La Moulin as there was not a breath of wind. We took a shortcut between the mainland and a small island with about 25 m passage through deep water. It was very cool. Moulin marina is very nice, a little bit more nautical than Le Chateau marina which is very trendy with lots of loud music from the bars/restaurants along the quay. There’s free parking here for Caroline and Peter’s car which is great. There’s a big long beach too with floating rafts to swim out to. We’ll be staying here a bit.

Dan spent the afternoon trying to get things fixed on Fram. A screw popped out of one of the mainsail runners and naturally plopped into the sea, the head sink faucet is leaking and getting all our towels wet, and the oil in the engine needs to be changed but finding the right filter is a challenge. I got driven to the grocery store to stock up on provisions and driven back again; all for free:) It’s a marina service. I’ve been tidying up where I can but most of the cockpit and salon are filled with things from the cockpit locker that Dan has taken out so he can do all his odd jobs. It’s always like this. He has to take everything apart in order to fix something and I’m left standing in the galley with nowhere to go. A cup of tea in the afternoon works wonders to calm one down and take it easy.

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8 August 2022

 

Le Chateau Marina, Brest - Anchorage Anse de Pen-Hir

N48 15.481 W04 36.540

Distance traveled - 13 NM

Time traveled -3 hours

Weather - Sunny, 25C. Wind NE 5-8m/s

 

We have had a very busy few days with Caroline and family’s visit. We are so happy to have had good weather, if a bit on the windy side. But it has been sunny and warm every day. They arrived on Thursday night and stayed until today, Monday. They brought Varga with them for which I am incredibly thankful, as well as some Swedish Knäckebröd and Swedish candy PicknMix. They all fit onto Fram; Caro and Peter in the v-berth with little Iwo, and Olivia and James on the two sofas in the salon. Every morning Caroline Varga and I went to Paul’s patisserie for croissants and baguette. And also Galette once and brioche bread once. We went for a day sail out to Anse de l’Auberlach where we had lunch and went swimming. Kids played on the dinghy rowing and jumping on and off. Dan tied a rope to the dinghy so she couldn’t get carried away on the current with them. 

We went out to dinner twice; once, on the night they arrived, to Le Tour du Monde at Moulin Blanc marina where the only dishes they serve are moules frite and fish n chips. There were 4 moules frite to choose from; naturelle, chili, creme, and white wine. We chose creme and chili. The chili tasted really good but was too spicy for me. Creme was the best, so delicious. Great restaurant with wonderful laid back atmosphere and good service. Peter took us out for a pre-dinner drink on Saturday at one of the marina bars which was really nice. The second restaurant, also on Saturday, was near Le Chateau marina on the waterfront boulevard, called Crabe Marteau. Here they serve basically fresh caught crab served in different ways. You sit at long tables covered with newspaper and are advised to not wear nice clothes. You get a cutting board and several wooden hammers to crack the crab shells with. Peter and I ordered crab and 6 oysters, Dan and Caro ordered crab and langoustines. We ordered a crab sandwich for the kids and then gave them some crab and seafood from our plates. There was lots of bread to go with it and a big pot of cooked potatoes as well as 4 different sauces. It was delish and also here a lovely casual ambiance. The service was great here too. 

One night after dinner on Fram we went out for crepes which are a specialty here in Bretagne. 

During the days we hung on the boat, went to the beach for swimming, took walks and went to

the Sunday market. 

It was a very short visit, but very sweet. Dan and I enjoyed spending quality time with Caroline and Peter. It was wonderful to see the grandchildren and spend time with them. Iwo, who is 2, was all over the place and Dan ran around putting duck tape over buttons/switches that were at his eye level. For instance, the button to turn on the boat heater which he switched on before he’d been on the boat for 5 minutes. 

 

After they all drove off this morning, we put Fram back in order and left after lunch with the high tide to Anse de Penn-Hir. We had a good wind from NE pushing us along and the scenery was beautiful. High cliffs, about 100 m, strange rock formations sticking up out of the sea which we sailed between to get in here and lots of other sailboats anchored here by nightfall. We had a very simple dinner of chippolatta and haricots verte. Tomorrow we will hike over to Camaret sur Mer and have a look. We had planned on sailing there with the family but it was too windy and today the wind was blowing straight in there so we chose the south side instead. 

 

10 August 2022

 

Penn-Hir - Sainte Evette anchorage

N48 00.481 W04 36.540

Distance traveled - 23 NM

Time traveled - 5.5 hrs

Weather - Sunny, 28C Wind N 3-8m/s

 

We stayed an extra day in Penn-Hir. The anchorage is lovely, the beaches are fine light brown sand and the cliffs breathtaking. We walked in to Camaret sur Mer in the morning and had the luck to find an outdoor market going on. I bought a dress and a skirt in thin cottons. We also bought a rotisserie chicken, some potatoes and tomatoes for dinner. Stopped at a patisserie and got a baguette and a Bretagen pastry, which turned out to be basically a sockerkaka; not very exciting. Dan went running up on the cliffs in the afternoon and I did yoga on the deck.

 

Today, we left on the tide to get the extra current speed with us. The genoa was rolled out and we had lovely sailing. We timed our departure to fit in with slack tide when we reached the Raz de Sein which is a very strong tidal stream mid cycle. We got there at the end of high tide but the current was still crazy. Whirlpools and overfalls all over the place. We were sailing at 7-8 knots though the wind was only about 3-4 m/s(6-8 knots) We left the chaos when we turned left towards  Anse de Loc’h where we intended to anchor. But once there, we didn’t like it. Dan reckoned the low tide depth and it was too close to call with our boat that draws 1.7m. So we sailed out and continued to Sainte Evette. They have mooring buoys as well as anchorage spots. It was quite crowded and the mooring buoys were very close together so opted for anchorage. It was fine, but for rowing ashore it was a long haul. I went in with Varga after dinner and was exhausted when I got back to the boat. Not much of a place to see on land, so stayed on boat.

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11 August 2022

 

Sainte Evette - Lesconil anchorage

N 47 47.817 W 04 12.222

Distance traveled - 30 NM

Time traveled - 6 hours

Weather - Hot sunny 35C, wind NE—E 4-0 m/s

 

Got an early start today simply because everyone else was leaving so figured they must know something we don’t. We had a super sail on flat seas, genoa alone until the wind died about an hour before Lesconil. Dolphins accompanied us almost the whole way. These were rather lazy dolphins, swimming very slowly around us, occasionally at our bow so we could watch them and really get a good look at them. Wind died so we motored the last hour to this anchorage. It was 7 meters deep where we anchored and when low tide was done, we were at 3 meters. 

 

12 August 2022

 

Lesconil anchorage - Concarneau

Distance traveled - 19 NM

Time traveled - 4 hours (due to tacking)

Weather - Sunny 36C , full moon, Wind NE E 2-4 m/s

 

The first thing I did this morning was to take a swim around the boat. It was hot last night until the wee hours of the morning. I stayed up and watched the full moon come up over the sea. It was amazing! So big and very pink. It was still low in the sky this morning when Varga and I got up and went on deck, though it was now low on the western horizon. The water was cool and refreshing, about 19C. After a swim I made coffee and waited for Dan to wake up so we could have breakfast. Breakfasts are very small affairs these days; a cup of coffee and a knäckebröd with cheese and cucumber most days. If we are in a harbour I go to the patisserie and buy croissants and baguette.

 

There was very little wind for sailing, but Captain was going to sail anyway so we set out at 09.30 for Concarneau, which boasts a huge fishing fleet with big fish hall for selling fresh fish, a fortified old town, and sandy white beaches. The wind wasn’t quite in our favour so we tacked back and forth a bit before the wind died totally and we motored the rest of the way in to Concarneau harbour. It looked frightfully crowded but to our relief, a harbour boat came straight out and asked us how long and wide we were and then led us to a slip and in we went. No hassle whatsoever. Harbour fee is 36 euros here which is a few euros more than we have experienced as yet. Once settled we went out for short walk to a brasserie for a Panache (half-beer/half -sprite) to cool off with. Tonight we will venture into the town properly.

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14 August 2022

 

Concarneau France

 

We have found so much to see and do here that we opted to stay for the weekend. Concarneau is a really lovely Bretagne town with its own walled in old town from the 15th century. Its history is mostly to do with fishing and ship-building. There is a very strong tradition of utilising the sea here, and all the restaurants and cafés reflect this pride in good fish and seafood. Concarneau was town for its sardine canning industry. Fishing boats brought their catch in and transferred it immediately to the canneries which were placed directly on the quais so that the process of canning sardines could be started while the fish was as fresh as possible. They were then aged for up to a year to get that perfect quality and taste that Bretagne is famous for. Most of the canneries are gone now and placed in much larger industrial canneries in the country. But the fishermen continue to work and supply sardines for canning. We are lucky to be here for the annual fetes de bleu which is a week-long festival to celebrate the fishing industry. There are events and concerts every day and as we are just outside the festival area, we hear the music loud and clear every night. We have been to cafés and enjoyed another Bretagne specialty; crepes, both sweet (Dan) and savoury (Me).It’s delightful and inspires me to start making crepes again when we get home. There is an indoor market here right on the waterfront called Les Halles. Here you can buy fresh caught fish and shellfish, cheeses, bread and pastries, charcuterie, spices and fruits and veggies. It’s such a pleasure to walk from stall to stall and do your grocery shopping purchasing the freshest food available.

 

The weather has been amazingly sunny and warm with light winds since the beginning of August. Last night we got our first rain accompanied by thunder and lightning which went on off and on all night until this morning. While we are not crazy about rain on the boat, we understand that it is very necessary for this part of France which is living in near drought conditions with forest fires farther south of here. So we are not fussing. There has been a water-restriction law in effect since we got to Bretagne. For boats, it means water is only allowed for consumption. No washing of boat decks and such. We have heard that in La Rochelle the authorities have cut off all running water on the docks and sailors have to go to certain water trucks placed in the city to get drinking water. Hope it doesn’t come to that in other places as we sail southwards. We are doing what we can to cut down on our water consumption. We turn the water off while we brush our teeth, we wipe off our dishes before washing and then wash dishes in a sink with just a bit of soapy water then rinse very briefly. When we are anchoring out, we wash in the sea and rinse briefly with fresh water. I only wash my hair once a week as I need a lot of water to get the shampoo out of my long hair.

 

The French are as usual, well, French. They don’t like to speak English and are not very understanding when one tries to speak French as best one can. But we get by and honestly, everything else about this country is so wonderful, it’s hard to be angry. I haven’t been to a single restaurant where the food wasn’t amazingly good, or a market that didn’t have delicious produce. We ate out on Friday evening at a place called Café d’Atlantic where Dan had fish n chips and I had moules a la creme. The mussels were divine. And Dan said it was the best fish n chips he has had since being on Fram. We had a light lunch on another day of Panache (beer/lemonad) and a platter of cold meats, cheese and radishes, tomatoes, cornichons. Also delish. Most of my ideas for cooking come from the markets where high-quality fruit vegetables and meats are in abundance. They also sell ready-made dishes that I study and copy back on the boat. My favourite is a roasting pan filled with cannellini beans, cherry tomatoes, and small pieces of roasted chicken, drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted for about 30 minutes. A baguette and a cold rosé makes for a lovely summer dinner onboard Fram.

 

Yesterday we borrowed bikes from the harbour office and rode up the coast on shady dirt paths through thick forest areas on one side and the sea on the other. The beaches are like Falsterbo, fine white sand. Most public beaches don’t allow dogs so we biked until we found a secluded beach where all 3 of us could swim. It was a hot day so Varga was only too happy to walk in and swim around with us. 

 

When we are out and about, we notice how French parents have high standards with their children’s behaviour. If they bump into a stranger and don’t apologise immediately, they get a firm talking to. Children are generally very well behaved and pleasant here. If you say hello to them they respond with a “Bonjour Madame”. It’s very nice and a refreshing change from Swedish children who just stare back and don’t say hello. I think Swedish parents could learn a lot from French parents.

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15 August 2022

 

Concarneau - Port-Tudy, Ile de Groix 

Distance traveled - 30 NM

Time traveled - 6 hours

Weather - overcast, fog, 20C, wind 2-4 NNW

 

Western France got a lot of rain over the weekend which was probably very good for them considering that they are in a drought. We had spectacular thunder and lightning on Saturday night as we lay in bed. But it rained all day on Sunday until the late afternoon. The Festival Bleu ended with a shebang on Sunday with a 3 hour parade of bag-pipes and people dressed in their national dress which is black pantaloons for the men and black dresses with the most beautiful lace for the women. Even children had dressed up for the occasion. We strolled through the Ville Close which means closed village. It is a fortress village completely closed in by walls and in the middle of the harbour area. It was beautiful and fun to stroll along the narrow streets. We bought a can of Breton sardines in olive oil and lemon. Apparently it is the most popular of the different cans of sardines. I prepared it in 2 different ways and thought it was delish. Dan was not equally enthusiastic, but I am putting on my recipe page anyway:) We also bought 2 bags of picknmix candy and were thoroughly shocked at the price of 37 Euros for 400 grams. And it wasn’t even as good as Swedish candy. Everything just tasted like sugar. Live and learn. On the whole we enjoyed our stay in Concarneau. It’s a beautiful and very charming place. 

 

Today was overcast but dry. There was a bit of a fog which lifted slowly throughout the day. There were lots of sailboats leaving the harbour so we were not alone. Sailing was fine for the first 3 hours and we watched dolphins and seabirds in a feeding frenzy of what was probably herring. But finally the wind died and the swells were uncomfortable making the sails slam back and forth causing quite a din. We lowered our sails and started the engine. The wind didn’t come back up for the rest of the day. We got here to Port -Tudy at about 14.30. A harbour master came out in a rib boat and directed us to a very interesting kind of mooring that we haven’t seen before; In the outer harbour there are 20 buoys and boats are made to tie up both fore and aft on these buoys. Part of the reason is that a ferry comes and goes all day and needs swing room, can’t have boats swinging with the wind and getting in the way. We were shown to the last buoy set and he helped us tie up. Nice we thought,  more roomy than the pontoon harbours. We relaxed and enjoyed our lunch of baguette ham sandwiches and shandies. As the afternoon progressed, more and more boats came in and shared buoys. We watched and thought, they can’t possibly find room for all these boats! But they did, by the end of the night we were about 50 boats out here all tied up to 20 buoys. Quite a sight! But we are the only foreign boat, otherwise only French boats here. The village is very charming with  gaily coloured houses, restaurants, cafes and small shops. We took a walk into the island and saw signs for grand sables (big sandy beaches). We went to a store to buy provisions, but when we got there, it was closed because today is a holiday. St Mary’s Assumption. We went back to the the harbour and sat at a cafe and drank a pastis for me and a beer for Dan. Varga snoozed at our feet. When we got back to Fram we had neighbours in the form of a French sailboat with 3 people around our age on the one side and a 34 foot Dufour with 7 young people onboard. We struck up conversation with the Dufour group about sailing and boats. They were also French, very nice and happily spoke English with us. Varga was about to step off our boat and onto theirs which delighted them. They don’t know what a wolf she can be with strangers. She looks so cute and puppy-ish that they just have to bend down and stick out their hand to her, whereby she growls and snaps at them, shocking them to their very foundation. It has been an embarrassment that I blame on the grandchildren for always reaching out and pulling her fur or her tail. But when I was in a bakery the other day, leaving her outside on her own, someone tried to cuddle with her and she gave them the wolf growl and snap. Afterwards, I thought about it and decided it is a good thing that she does that with strangers, no one will ever be able to steal her away without her making a very noisy violent protest, alerting all and sundry to a dog-kidnapping. 

 

We had another dog incident this afternoon when we went in to shore with the dinghy. They have a dinghy pontoon on the harbour breakwall that rises and falls with the tide. The tides are about 5-6 meters here and yesterday, we got to the pontoon at low tide which meant we had to climb up a 5-meter ladder. Hmmm. How to get Varga up there? We need both hands to climb the ladder. Dan tried to do it with one arm holding her and one hand climbing the rungs but it didn’t work, so he went back down and fashioned a sling for her with my canvas shopping bag. She went in with no fuss and sat patiently while he fastened the bag straps into his backpack straps and then climbed up the ladder with her hanging in front of him. Looked very funny. Tomorrow we will try to get a place in the inner harbour on a pontoon so we can charge batteries.

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17 August 2022

 

Ile de Groix - Ile aux Moines, Gulf of Morbihan

N47 33.868 W02 51.202

Distance traveled - 33 NM

Time traveled - 8 hours

Weather - -sunny in the morning, then rain thunder and lightning, 18-20C

 

We started today with an early hike to the west side of the island. It was beautiful, first past all the cottages of the village, then out along dirt roads, footpaths and finally up on the cliffs. Varga loved it. She raced back and forth as fast as she could, looking for rabbits, thankfully not finding any.

We bought our baguette for the day and a croissant to share (dan’s idea, not mine) and returned to Fram for breakfast before heading out. We used a rope to keep the bow in the right direction to offset the propeller which always sends us to the left when we reverse. There was 0 wind in the harbour so it went fine and we joined the file of sailboats leaving Ile de Groix, it was nearly a traffic jam as you have to time departure between all the ferries that come and go bring people to the island for the day. It was lovely to be part of it. Once out and away from the island, we raised our sails and sailed every so slowly on 3 m/s until that died and we had to motor for a while. As we motored along, clouds were gathering over land and we heard thunder and saw lightning. The sun was still shining over us but it didn’t last long, the clouds stretched out over the sea behind us and moved towards us until we were completely engulfed and the rain pelted down on us. Varga was not amused. It lasted for about half an hour. When it started, all the boats around us, and there were about 12-15 of them, took in their genoa. Hmm, we thought, what do they know that we don’t know? So we took in our genoa too. But the wind didn’t increase much in the squall, maybe to 6 m/s. So after the rain let up, we put ours back out and then everyone else put theirs out again. We all sailed in a diffuse group round Quiburon peninsula where we went different ways. We steered towards Gulf of Morbihan and the others went towards Trinité. The sun came out briefly and then another squall came thundering down on us. We were just about to enter the gap into the Gulf so hurriedly took our sails down and started the motor. Visibility went down to a few hundred meters and we could see the tide water picking up. There’s a tidal stream at the entrance to the Gulf of Morbihan due to the narrow gap and you have to time it to slack or just before/just after. We hit it just after slack. Lots of boats that were with us, stopped when the squall hit and stayed out offshore until it ended. We could see a sailboat ahead of us, so followed him and all went fine. Once the squall was over we could see better and motored through some islands until we came to the anchorage Dan had picked out for the night. We motored because the currents were all over the place and we saw how boats sailing sat still even though their sails were full. The book says that you can anchor or take a free buoy but be prepared to move if the owner shows up. This did not suit us so we figured to anchor but when we got here, the current was rather strong in here. There were lots of empty buoys. We dithered, discussed, should we? Maybe not? Then a boat pulled up to one and looked like he owned it so we sidled up to him and asked if the buoy next to him was free. He said go ahead and take it, so we did. I rowed Varga to shore, we took swims and had a nice quiet evening. No more rain.

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20 August 2022

 

Vannes - Ile d’Houat anchorage

N 47 23.133 W 02 56.814

Distance traveled - 21 NM

Time traveled - 4 hours

Weather - Sunny, 19C, wind W 5-6 m/s

 

We had to wait until 12.30 for the gates to open at high tide and let us out of the marina. As luck would have it there was a big market going on in the town square. Naturally, we went and bought tomatoes, rosé onions (something I’ve never seen outside France) garlic, and a bunch other stuff. It was a lovely day and so nice to walk from stall to stall. All the produce is French and local and everything tastes so amazing. Melons in Sweden have very little taste, due most likely to transport and picking them too early. But here the aroma and taste of a melon is joy to all one’s senses. The French are very proud of their produce and they prefer to pick out the goods for you so you get the best possibe. Sometimes, when I’ve put onions or tomatoes in a bag myself and handed it to them, they look at them, take out one or two and give you back better. There’s always a stall that does rotisserie chicken and spareribs which taste divine. Prices are very reasonable though the French probably complain that they are too high. Our favourite baguette is called Baguette Moulé and costs 1,20 Euro, it’s longer than then normal baguettes and has a crispy thin crust with softer inside than the traditional baguette these days. A lot of the baguettes taste like sour dough, and Dan is not crazy about that. A croissant costs 1 euro. A loaf of Country-style bread costs 1,40 Euro. 

Once we had all our goods on board, we prepared Fram for departure and at exactly 12.30 we left our berth along with the motor cruiser beside us and tootled down the river past the gates and the swing bridge and out into the larger part of the river which dumped us out into the Gulf of Morbihan. The French say with conviction that this Gulf is the most beautiful place on earth. The pilot books says it has an island for every day of the year. They are all made of dark brown rock, and covered with pine trees. At low tide, it looks pretty hideous. Of the hundreds of islands, you can only anchor off 2 of them, the rest are private and interdit. Granted, the 2 islands are very large with lots of coves and bays for anchoring as long as you get out of the current which means you have to quite close to shore to drop your anchor. There are some lovely beaches with light brown fine sand. It was a beautiful day when pretty much everything looks beautiful, but if you ask us, the Swedish west coast archipelago beats this place by a mile. 

It took us 2 hours to cross and exit the Gulf of Morbihan and then we could set sail for the Ile d’Houat (pronounced “il dwat”by the French)which is about 10 NM off the coast. It’s a lovely island with kilometres of soft sandy beaches, and small enough to hike around in a couple hours. When we rounded the corner into our chosen bay we saw hundreds of sailboat masts. Ugh, we thought, we’ll never find a place to anchor here. But once in the bay, we could see that it was enormous and the depth everywhere was around 5 meters. We find a spot way in that was clear for our anchor and let it go. In went the dinghy and Varga and I went ashore for a beach walk. Back at the boat we swam and read our books. We will stay here for 2 nights.

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22 August 2022

 

Ile d’Houat anchorage - Joinville marina, ile d’Yeu

Distance traveled - 47.8NM

Time traveled - 9.5 hours

Weather - Overcast mostly, some sun in the afternoon, 18C. Wind NW 3-5 m/s

 

We departed our anchorage at ile d’Houat at 07.30 as we had a long way to go today. The winds were light so would not be making great speed. We were accompanied by 2 other sailboats who left roughly around the same time as us. We had breakfast underway of coffee and knäckebröd with French hard cheese and talked about the anchor catastrophe we experienced yesterday at mid-day. What happened was, a 30 foot sailboat anchored next to us and manned by 3 young men was having trouble lifting their anchor. We watched from Fram’s cockpit and when they stopped mid lift to raise the main sail, we got to wondering why they would do that, it wasn’t terribly windy, but there was a good breeze. They also had their motor on. When they finally got the anchor up, the wind caught in the main and sent them reeling towards us, they quickly got control to avoid us by using the motor, but they ran over our anchor buoy line that we always put out over our anchor. The line got caught in their prop and suddenly Fram was pulled round in their direction and following after them! We jumped up and shouted to get their attention just as their motor cut out due to the line in their prop, now the main sail kicked in and sent them colliding with the boat in the other side of us, still pulling us along with them. We got our engine going and reversed to stay away from the 2 boats, but still the second boat’s stern was pushed into our bow. Dan fended off and I had the boat in reverse, but there is some damage to our pulpit rail. The young men managed to raft onto the other boat and sent one of the boys down to get the rope out of the prop. Our anchor seemed to have reset and was holding although we were uncomfortable close to the 2 boats behind us all. We put fenders out all over the place while the 2 boats worked on the prop. It took about half an hour but they finally got the rope out, handed us back our little white buoy and apologised as they motored off and out of the bay. The second boat sent a diver down to look at their own anchor and ours to make sure they weren’t crossed. Then they hauled up anchor and left. Meanwhile one of the boats behind us decided to get out of the way and started lifting their anchor which was rather inconvenient because in doing so his boat came so close to us that we feared another collision. To top it off Varga set to barking wildly everytime we used our voices to speak to the other boats, so I had to throw her into the cockpit and tell her to keep quiet. Poor girl, she was just trying to save us from whatever danger she perceived. Within 2 hours all the boats that were anchored around us had left and we had a nice big spot all to ourselves, for a couple hours anyway. The harbour police came by in the afternoon and informed us that we were in the way if the emergency corridor from shore out to sea and we had to move. So once again we upped anchor and moved about 50 meters until we were clear of the corridor.  Getting back to our conversation while sailing to Ile d’Houat, we discussed whether or not to stop using an anchor buoy since the French don’t use them and so not aware of their existence. We have decided to stop using one, at least on the French coast. 

Once we were done manoeuvring around rocks and small islands, we had a straight shot of 143 degrees to Ile d’Yeu. We were holding our own with the other 2 boats, catching up to the one in front of us and though we initially got passed by the boat behind us, we caught up again and passed him. But then they both pulled the spinnaker card and we had no chance against them. However, they didn’t disappear into the horizon, they only had a half mile lead over us and because their spinnakers had to use a course heading farther west than us, we all arrived at the island at about the same time so we are proud of Fram’s performance today. We couldn’t see the island until we were just a few miles out as it was surrounded in fog. The sun was shining over the mainland about 9 NM away. Strange weather around here, we thought. Lots of boats were coming in at the same time as us and the marina looked fit to bursting but the dinghy boys managed to find us a spot rafted onto a French boat with a family of 5. They were all very sweet and didn’t mind Varga traipsing across their deck to get to shore. 

Ile d’Yeu is known for it’s charming villages, bike paths and hiking trails as well as its fishing of tuna. Tuna is the popular dish here. So we partook of everything; we rented bikes and biked around half the island experiencing stupendous views, adorable houses, all white-washed with painted shutters, mostly blue, but some yellow or red or green. Lots of pine trees of various types, some we’d never seen before. It was a strange weather day, again. First sunny and extremely muggy, then fog rolled in and a heavy mist, but it was about 25C out so felt rather refreshing.   Halfway through our bike ride, the fog disappeared and it was beautifully sunny. We biked 18 km, Varga in my bike basket. In the evening we went out for dinner to experience the tuna. First though we stopped at a bar that had live music. It was a French band but they played mainly American/English songs from the 70’s and 80’s. Most of the clientele was around our age and everyone loved the music. I drank Pastis and Dan drank beer. When they stopped for a break, we went to the restaurant we had chosen earlier, called La Plancha du Pecheur. We ordered a starter of Grilled Sardines and Mackeral. It’s a specialty along the whole Bretagne coast so we thought we should try it. It was good, but very fishy and we both decided we probably won’t order it again. For mains, Dan took the safe road and chose fish and chips. I chose the tuna in a vegetable puré sauce which was positively delish. I think I can copy it:) It was a lovely evening.

Tomorrow we sail to Sables d’Ollone where the Vendee Globe single-handed round the world race starts and finishes every 3rd year. The next race is in 2024. But we are still looking forward to seeing the place.