Our Little bit of Paradise

Monday 9th June

We explored Perros on the bank holiday - we walked up the hill into town in sunshine- shopped at Carefore local - coffee

                                                     Church in the town centre.

                                                        Bollards with Knitted Bonnets!!

Back in the marina we met with members of a Hallberg Rassey rally ( very - very nice boats) and invited Peter and Sue from Safir on board for drinks at tea time - lovely.

Overall Perros is a bit strange - the entrance gate was only open for an hour at the top of the tide - More on spring tides - and the marina had a lot of dead boats!
They had not been used for several seasons - just abandoned!- it spoiled the place.

I spruced Blazer up a bit by replacing the mooring lines with nice new black ones from rope I had in the locker - I put the old ones by the bins and in no time they were gone!

To make the most of the next day I decided to leave - with Safir - at 05.00 next morning for Trebeurden.

Tuesday 10th to Friday 13th June.

We set off on time in the dark - no wind - clear sky - cold - lots of offshore rocks!!

We motored all the way to Trebeurden - fairly slowly - because I knew we would struggle to get there in time to get in to the marina over the sill gate - even though it stays open a long time on neap tides.

The wind picked up a bit at about half way, on the nose, and with the tide pushing us - wind over tide - LUMPY !!

Things calmed down as we did the pilotage around the notorious rocks on the way in to bay.

We did miss the gate - we anchored in 2 metres just outside and went to bed to catch up - hot sunshine bit a bit windy.

The Hallberg Rassey rally were already there and took our lines when we moored up at the second attempt!

My first attempt was spot on, a burst of reverse power stopped Blazer dead on alongside - I jumped off to tie up and Blazer slowly started to reverse out! - I had left her in gear - reverse at tickover!!.

No problem - I jumped on - sorted things out and moored up perfectly the second go!

                                                      The view from the road up to town.

Trebeurden is wonderful !!

The weather turned hot and sunny - we found the lovely beach just a short walk from the marina - we shopped at the Intermarche in town ( a fish counter to die for ) - and ate at the marina restaurant - all great.

The area is known as the Granite Rose - because of the pink granite rocks everywhere - very pretty.

We just love the place - We are considering keeping Blazer here for the rest of this year!!

The cost for staying here up to the end of the year is not much more than the deal for the next two months.

They have space for her  - it is just about affordable - the only snag is that it is a bit remote here.

Getting to and from home might be a long job - so today's job is to ask at the tourist information about busses and trains to Dinnan - Ryanair fly direct from East midlands - It might work.

A Day You Dream Of.

                                                 Early start - going down river from Treguier.

Sunday 8th June.

We decided that the next port of call was Perros- Guirec.
Not too far - about 20 miles - including 5 miles of river from Treguier.
No wind at all - no traffic - an ideal time for -

                                                             Jackie on the helm.

We motored down river and turned left - heading about a mile offshore in flat calm conditions.

Then all of a sudden -  DOLPHIN !!!!

A lone dolphin made straight for Blazer and swam with us for 15 minutes or so.
We did get shots of him - or her - on the ipad but I don't know how to edit clips for the blog.
He kept surfacing along side us - very close - then diving under us between the keels - we were doing a steady 4.5 knots!!

Then he spotted another boat and made for that one - magic - we were so excited - I forgot that I prepared the video camera just in case!

The sun came out - we had a classic fry up breakfast on tin plates - a Blazer tradition - wonderful.

We were in plenty of time so we slowed to motor at 2 knots and Jackie fished - we tried the big hook that gave success last year - Bingo!!!

                                                                Catch of the day.

The only downside to the trip was FLIES !!
We must have sailed through patches of sea weed with lots of flies - they all made for us!!!
Jackie was a dab hand with the swat - a full time job.

We arrived in the bay a bit early - slowed right down and tootled in to arrive just as the marina sill opened.
At that moment the sky turned black - the wind started howling - 27 knots!!

We had a struggle to steer amongst all the boats leaving and entering through the very tight gate into the marina.

As fast as it started - it stopped - the sun came out again and it was very hot again!!

Tea of Baked Mackerel - fried potatoes - peas - with fresh strawberry tart for afters!!

Bank holiday tomorrow - Monday - so there might not be many shops open - we will see.

A fantastic day !!!

Brittany Continues

                                                         Our little hotel in Paimpol.

Monday 2nd, June.

It was our 1st anniversary !!

We had a lovely lunch at a harbour side restaurant and then I surprised Jackie with two nights in a 2 star modern little hotel overlooking the harbour - it was great.
On suite facilities - we loved it.
We ate at the hotel on the first night - a nice restaurant - very busy!

The weather blew up a bit so we stayed put in Paimpol until Friday 5th.

We were kept busy socialising!!

We had another Westerly Konsort in the marina - Laykin - Stuart and Pam.
They came to us and then we went to them - lovely- lots of wine flowed!!

Then to our surprise we found Tindalooe at the side of us - we met them in Jersey!
We went to them for drinks on our last night - great.

Friday 5th June.

My 65th Birthday !

We locked out of Paimpol in sunshine with a lock full of boats and set off to go right around the outside of the island of Brehat - just next to Paimpol.

This area is littered with rocks all over the place and right out to sea - they are all charted and there are some passages through them and local boats know where to go - I chose to go right round the outside missing all of them but it took us hours to get to a spot only a few miles from where we set off from.

The bonus was - Jackie spotted a huge school of dolphins about 400 yds away.
We watched them - on a mission - going south - there must have been 50 or so!!

We chose an anchorage on the far side called port del la Cordiere - we crept in and dropped the anchor in sand  with water at 4 metres - we would stay afloat.
The anchor dug well in straight away and I paid out 30 metres of chain to allow for the height of tide during the night.

We had a party!!

I had found a few bottles of Fizz labled  - BLAZER - I could not resist - we opened one- not bad.

Jackie baked a chocolate cake and we had pork with courgettes and tomatoes.

We had music with the meal and we watched two DVD's till late - wonderful.

Friday 6th June.

We slept well in calm - flat - conditions and pulled up the anchor at about 11am.

We set off for Tregiuer in windy conditions - we sailed - engine off - for most of the 20 miles but struggled when the wind was from directly behind - we twirled round a bit - till I got the hang of it.

Tregiuer is 5 miles up a river and we enjoyed the peace and calm in the sunshine.

The harbour master met us and helped us to moor in the fast flowing stream - spot on.

A walk round the lovely old town - a beer - we were shattered.

Saturday 7th June.

                                                                Blazer in Tregiuer.

                                                Tregiuer Marina with the road bridge upstream.

We had a lazy start then found the lauderette and while the washing was in progress we tried to walk to the supermarket - the advert said it was 400 metres - we walked a lot more than that - uphill - then gave in!!

We had a 3 course lunch with mussels in the marina restaurant - lovely - I filled Blazer up with fuel and plotted our course for tomorrow - a great day in warm sunshine.

Saint-Cast

                                           The beach at St. Cast - Marina in the background.

Tuesday 27th May.

We sailed to St. cast today - about 26 miles - tried fishing - NOTHING AGAIN!!!.

We sailed in company with Jemima - (Carroll and Danny) and took photos of each others boats while sailing.
It was a rare opportunity and it only occurred to me at the last minute - I called them on the radio and did a photo shoot on ipad and camera.

                                                               Jemima in Full Sail

We arrived at lunchtime in bright sunshine - What a lovely marina!!
The best showers and toilets we have seen to date.

We found the little town to be very quiet but there was all you need including a good hardware shop!!

                                                                   St Cast Town.


We stayed two nights and on the last evening we had a meal at a restaurant overlooking the marina.
Jackie struggles with menus and ended up ordering a shellfish meal that she really didn't want.

                                                 No problem - I ate two meals!! - HEAVEN.

In the end Jackie had a nice meal of lamb kebab with chips and salad.

Thursday 29th May.

We sailed today for St-Quay -Portrieux in damp weather - again about 27 miles.
We were met by a harbour berthing boat and escorted to our berth - very nice.

St Quay marina has no lock or sill to retain water but still has plenty for boats to stay afloat at low water.
This means that the pontoons rise and fall the full height of the tide - 10 metres !!

                                                The steepest gangways we have ever seen.

It was a lot of effort to reach the dock road level when the tide was out!!

Friday 30th May.

Jackies Birthday!!

                                                      Lots of cards and some roses.

                                                I baked a cake - ( with a bit of help).

The weather was lovely and warm - we had a simple salad lunch in a beach side cafe and then we got dressed up for a nice meal out.

                                            A great restaurant over looking the marina.

We had Champagne - Jackie had duck terrine followed by a big steak and frites with a great pepper sauce.

I had oysters followed by steak tartare - Charolaise beef minced and served raw mixed with egg, onions, capers and herbs - wonderfull!!

Jackie had praline dessert and I had local cheeses with Baileys on ice to finish - WOW!!!

Saturday 31st May.

I had a morning doing a bit of engine maintenance - while Jackie did the laundry and in the afternoon Jackie had an hour or so on the beach.

Sunday 1st June.

We sailed for Paimpol - about 15 miles.

Paimpol  has a lock for entry to the harbour and is only open for 2 1/2 hours either side of high tide.
The area is littered with lots of rocks up to 4 miles out to sea so navigation had to be good.

We arrived bang on high tide and locked in with no trouble.

                                                             Paimpol Marina.

We were a bit surprised to see a massive fun fair all round the harbour!
It was a grand affair - really well done - the noise stopped about 19.00 - so not so bad - it packed up that night.

We will be here until wednesday to see the Tuesday market.