Leaving oyster beds and many large jelly fish behind at our otherwise delightful anchorage for Sunday night, our Company of Cruisers all met up again on Monday 17 June, in the marina at Crouesty just SE of Port Navalo lighthouse at the entrance to the Gulf. Repairs were underway on the two yachts damaged during the 'Hoedic Hell' (as I have nicknamed the incident related in the last post to this blog) so the mood was muted amongst the group.
Farewell drinks were had that evening aboard yacht Boheme, whose owners were departing for home the next day. The following day we took advantage of nearby shops to re-provision Follyfin since shops are few and far between in the Gulf. The weather continued to be cold and unwelcoming but undaunted we sailed off and entered the Gulf once again - there is a vast area to explore - arranging to rendez-vous for a picnic lunch on Wednesday. Unfortunately 'le temps' failed to cooperate, so instead the 'picnic' turned into a stroll ashore on Ile aux Moines, followed by coffee and gaufres (a type of French waffle) in a handily positioned cafe when it began to rain. From some distance, the beach off which we were moored reminded us of Southwold on the English east coast but closer in the French Connection was clear.
Thursday saw us all going our separate ways again with the next rendez-vous planned for Friday evening in the marina at Vannes, a large town situated in the NE corner of the Gulf, up a river and behind a swing bridge and tidal gate. So on Friday morning we went ashore by dinghy to the beach near where we had anchored overnight. Where the path from the small hamlet leads down to the beach, we were amused to see that not only motorised vehicles, bikes and dogs but also llamas and ostriches are forbidden to go on this beach during the summer months. The French seem to ignore such restrictions as several dogs were spotted on the beach. That attitude seems to correspond with their flagrant disobedience of anti-anchoring signs near beaches on the coast and their rather opulent taste in holiday houses, which are more like mini-chateaux! The half-hour walk inland was rewarded by the discovery of a great little village market in progress - in Bourg, SE of Arradon - so many tasty victuals were purchased.
Arriving in Vannes late Friday afternoon, we found our visit coincided with a music festival that evening, so the marina was crowded. Lucky the Cruising Association boats had reserved berths, even though we were rafted up three or four boats abreast. To mark the occasion, all 11 of our boats were 'dressed overall'. Some wags amongst you readers may wonder at this nautical terminology; it simply means running up the complete set of code flags on whatever halyards are available. Undressed overall means something entirely different of course ...
Our Fleet looked a splendid sight, especially as the sun came out right on cue. It was the first really warm and sunny evening when we had all been assembled, so a Pontoon Party with plenty of local wine seemed appropriate (and attracted a fair amount of attention from the locals who wondered what 'ze mad EEnglish' were doing this time). There were music groups of all genres and descriptions positioned all over this historic town - some extremely good like the jazz quartet comprised of 4 male pensioners we found in the old part of the town, and some extremely bad like the ugly-voiced-synthesised-backing twenty-something 'lad' who was unfortunately positioned very near to the marina and continued playing into the small hours. Cant think why he had a large audience of very young women ... or did I miss something? [No comment please!] The only dampener on this mainly very enjoyable and unexpected evening's entertainment was that when it finally closed down in the wee small hours, a couple of beer bottles were thrown at the boats berthed next to the pontoon, and they broke on the decks, scattering splinters of glass onto the neighbouring boats.
Saturday was spent exploring the ancient and historic city of Vannes.
Inevitably food attracted our attention in the form of a magnificent selection of goat cheeses and some fresh crab claws, which proved resistant to consumption - but the Skipper triumphed in the end.
The Cruise in Company officially ended with a meal for 21 at a small restaurant, Le Pont Vert, outside the town centre, which opened specially for us and where we were the only customers (max capacity 30). Unfortunately this blogger forgot the camera - something to do with the pre-dinner kir maybe? - but suffice to say it was a magnificent 3-course meal worthy of several stars, including chef's own pâté de foie gras together with other starters, choice of rouget (fish) or noisettes de porc, and then a wonderful plate of mouth-watering mini-desserts each. MAGNIFIQUE!
Sunday was a lazy day for all, until the evening that is. Some of our group had tickets to watch the world final of the under 20s rugby match - England vs Wales - at the stadium very close to the marina. Others just listened by turns to the crowd's roars of appreciation and disappointment. Later on Sunday evening there was a very sad turn of events when one of our group suffered a heart attack on board his boat after returning from the rugby match. Despite the best efforts of the French ambulance crew who arrived on the scene in under 10 minutes after the 112 call, David, aged only 69, died about 30 minutes later. He had been on holiday with his wife Sally on their boat Namaste. It was a terrible shock for her. We all were/are in a state of disbelief. How important it is to make the most of life whilst one has it.
The planned visit to a sail loft on Monday morning went ahead for some of us but the mood was sombre. It was nevertheless most interesting to see how our sails are made.
We departed from Vannes on the evening tide, needing to take stock of recent events. Our last evening in the Gulf was spent in total tranquility. Life is good.
Having gone back to Hoedic to search for the lost fender - without success - we spent Tuesday night at anchor in Suscinio bay, in sight of a splendid (proper) chateau.The next project is to explore the Vilaine River, from where this post is sent, and research winter-berthing arrangements for Follyfin.
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