Den Bommel - South of France

A difficult start with a happy ending. As we cruised Normandy and North Brittany already quite extensively, we now concentrated ourselves upon the souther regions. So now we enjoy sun, sea and beaches while anchored in Les Sables d'Olonne in the Bay of Biscay.

Our bad start consisted of: 
- a heavy tear in foresail #4 (this could be expected as the sail was quite old)
- loss of the propellor (very expensive) 
- and many problems with the cooling system of our engine (solved in Nieuwpoort)
- ont op of it all it was really bad weather with southwesterly winds force 5-6-7-8.

Via Dieppe we visited our favourite port Port-en-Bessin in Normandy. A real fishing port, yachts are allowed but only for a short stay.

Then on to Cherbourg and the Channel Islands, while waiting for the weather to improve.

PHOTO 1  One of the many beautiful rivers in North Brittany. This is L'Aber Benoit, on Brittanies most westerly extremity near Ile d'Ouessant. 

PHOTO 2  The Golfe de Morbihan in South Brittany is an inland sea and should not be missed! We cruised there for days and still we haven't seen every bay. The tide can run up to 5-6-7-8-9 knots, so you'll have to take care.
While at anchor in one of the many bays, a dolphin discoverd our anchor ball as an interesting item to play games with.
Wanna know more? Click  

 PHOTO 3   If we owned a boat in the Golfe de Morbihan, it would have been a sporty catamaran. It is also the choice of many French people, but fortunately you also see lots of well maintained classic yachts like Int. 6 meters. 		 PHOTO 4  The Royal Visitors! Maarten and Pieter joined us for a glass of champaign (don't worry, there is still enough left).

PHOTO 5  We enjoy the nice villages, the beautiful weather and impressive cloud formations. 
Our home made bimini shelters us from the sun and we use the solar panel continuously. It generates 5-6 Ah, enough to keep the refridgerator running (so the champaign can be served at the right temperature).
We didn't catch any fish, although we saw a giant ray the other day so we are hopeful for the future.

FOTO 6 Sometimes we even do something! On the Ile de Ré we covered 50 km by bicycle. We saw salt winnings (see photo), oyster beds and swamps. It was beautiful but our bottoms hurt like hell.

Previous    Next