26th July – Iles de Glenan – Port Louis (Lorient)
Departure 0930 – Arrival 1600. Distance 26nm
I was undecided what to do this morning. It had been an uncomfortable night and I was getting perhaps more tired than I had realised. I had a couple of options in mind; go back to St Marine in Benedot for a couple of days followed by a few days in Concarneau which was the favoured option or go straight to Concarneau and go home for a week which would have been a long haul but given me a week off. I was leaning towards the first as I picked up the anchor, This is a bit if a shuffling exercise as I move the boat forward, pick up a few metres, go back to the helm, move forward again, and repeat. It takes 4-5 movements to get the anchor back on board.
However once the anchor was up and having looked at the weather forecast, it was going to be a bit of a windless and hot day. A part of me felt I was giving in by taking the easy option and sailing 12-23 miles back to shore to either go home or hang around. As the saying goes I needed to get back on the horse (or the bike) and do something a bit more exciting having fought my way down here over the past few weeks. So having looked at the Atlantic Pilot the nearest place South that looked interesting was Lorient – about 26nm. It was almost a single bearing once I had cleared the top of Penfret. I had a choice of marinas but opted for Port Louis which is on the opposite side to the city but looked small and friendly with an interesting town and history.
Avoiding the usual lobster pots which litter the coast, I cleared Penfret and with sails hoisted aimed for Lorient. It was indeed a hot and also an airless day. It became obvious after an hour that sails were not going to get me there! It was the first time I had recorded 0kts on the wind indicator. Even the dolphins that were around seemed lazy and unable to summon the energy to cavort in the bow wave. They came alongside in single numbers had a looks, and then slowly swam off. There were a few other boats around but they all seemed ot be heading for Ile de Groix and Port Rudy. This sits a short distance from the entrance to Lorient but I was put off by the exposure to the NE winds and that it was generally very full with the outer moorings being fore and aft buoys – okay if you have someone with you – otherwise a bit of a nightmare single handed. There also did not seem to be much to do on the Island.
Approaching Lorient with the Citadel on thge right hand side
Approaching Lorient it got busier. Lorient is the home of many of the European racing yachts the foilers IMOCA Class, the huge trimarans that attempt record breaking circumnavigation as well as the home for classic yachts of all sizes. It was amazing to see some of these modern monsters sailing in bear zero winds at speeds I cannot reach on a good beam reach in a 15kts wind! The entrance to Lorient is via a well buoyed channel but it narrows at what is called the Citadel. In many ways very familiar to Portsmouth harbour entrance. It is a medium size shipping port and a large fishing port, so keeping the right side of the Channel was important – although that did not seem to bother the French.
I had the sails down at this time as there was no wind and it was one more thing not to have to worry about. Once passed the Citadel, the harbour opens out in front of you with ton s of space – more like Falmouth than Portsmouth.
Port Louis was just passed the entrance via a shallow and narrow buoyed channel which was no problem at half tide but at low tide I did need to check that I was going to be okay – it was fine. Upon entering I had radioed ahead to let them know I needed a berth and I was single handed. A dory came out to meet me – and whilst guiding me in was not too keen to go ashore and take lines. I was told it would be starboard and inevitably as I approach the boat it turned out to be port! However I had put out a mid cleat line both sides and there was a couple on the dock who lent a hand. So in the end it was fine – but still a little stressful.
I noticed that there were a number of single handed sailors like myself in Port Louis who were more relaxed about coming in and did not seem to mind the odd bump against the dockside and with the bow – just got on with it! Perhaps I am being just a little precious and being a bit too much of a perfectionist! Any landing is a good landing if you and the boat walk away from it!
It was a lovely marina – classic boats, fishing vessels and small ferries. Extremely cheap – Euro19 per night – I have never been in a marina where I have paid so little. The quayside is lined with pop up bars and simple restaurants, good ablutions and friendly staff. I was looking forward to a few restful days and was very glad I had made the decision to come here.
Purrfect Tale 