Stage 1: Nieuwpoort – Hafen
Stage 1: Nieuwpoort - Hafen
Stage 1: Nieuwpoort - Hafen
2020: Trip France (Morbihan) - Belgium (Nieuport)
It's my first trip on this boat (around 650nm, 13 days), and I'm a bit apprehensive because I don't know her, nor do I have any history of her.
Hélène, Samuelle and my father Benoît helped me refresh her (cleaning, a bit of paint and varnish, antifouling), carry out some initial renovations (changing the through-hulls, a few watertight points, changing all the halyards and sheets) and above all test the important functions (navigation lights, VHF, water group, etc.).
We spent around 10 days on these topics and celebrated my birthday with the boat still ashore: the engine wouldn't start when we launched her the day before.
A pontoon neighbour came to the rescue and identified a starter failure. I dismantled the engine and headed off to Vannes to see some specialists, who tested and confirmed the fault. Fortunately, they had an equivalent that I could reassemble.
Three of us set off: Hélène, Benoît and me. After a peaceful sail on the Vilaine up to the Arzal lock, we finally leave the estuary and arrive at sea. First stop at Sauzon, for pleasure because I really like this little port to the north of Belle-île, and also as a precaution: first tacks on this boat, we don't know what to expect and it's better to get plenty of sleep after the week of work.
We set off again the next day to sail westwards, stopping for dinner in Doëlan before departing for a night sail. We pass the Pointe du Raz under engine because of the calm. We arrive in Camaret after 30 hours of sailing from Sauzon. Benoît disembarks, hitchhiking and taking the train back to Nantes. Hélène makes a few repairs to the sails, which are getting damaged by rubbing against the spreaders. I take the opportunity to measure the chain (80m, there's plenty to do!) and make marks every 5m.
Once the morning mist clears, we depart again, rounding the tip of Brittany to pass the Batz channel. We finally stop in Roscoff to fill up with diesel and spend a few hours at the fuel pontoon to catch some sleep.
We wake up before dawn, as we have an appointment with some of Hélène's friends in Ploumanach. We take them aboard with the dinghy, and set off for a little trip to the Sept-Iles, and more particularly Rouzic Island with its colony of gannets. This colony forms a sort of white cap on one side of the island, which is amusing to see when you consider that it's the birds that give it its colour.
The next day we head off towards the Channel Islands. In the middle of the COVID period, we ask the Guernsey coastguard for permission to spend the night on a waiting buoy off Beaucette Marina, to the north of the island. They refuse on health grounds, despite us promising not to go ashore...
So we continue towards the tip of La Hague, arriving around midnight in the vicinity of Alderney. Tired, we ask the coastguard if we can tie up to a buoy in Braye Harbour for a few hours. They refuse again, again for health reasons.
In spite of ourselves, we continue on and approach the tip of the Cotentin peninsula with the counter-current strengthening. After a few dozen minutes of trying to make headway despite the rising sea (an eternity for Hélène), I decide to turn back. I contact the Alderney coastguard, tell them that is is impossible to pass the tip of the Cotentin Peninsula with the current, and inform them of my decision to moor to a buoy in Braye Harbour. Surprise: they simply ask us not to go ashore, but no longer object to our stopping. We could have saved a lot of energy by going there straight away!
4-5 hours later, the current has reversed, we have recovered a little and head for Cherbourg, which we visit a little in the afternoon. In the evening, we see the fishermen preparing to set sail in the middle of the night.
The next day, big departure for England straight north, with the passage of the rails (up and down). The cargo ships and ferries can be seen from a distance, but they are also moving much faster than us! We cross at right angles to the rails, so as to stay on them as little as possible. The Isle of Wight is soon in sight, which we round to the west via the Needles, arriving at Cowes Yacht Haven in the north at the start of the night. We spend the next day visiting Cowes and the surrounding area.
We leave Cowes and sail along the south coast of England. We take advantage of a fuel stop in Brighton in the middle of the night to get some sleep. A few hours after setting off again, the alternator belt breaks. So we have to stop off in Newhaven, where we arrive in the early morning and, after some searching and testing, I find a replacement. This enables us to set off again in the early afternoon.
At the start of the night, the navigation lights go out despite motoring. I try to swap one of the service batteries with the engine battery. We pass Dover with all the lights off and are quickly spotted by the port police, who come to meet us. We explain our battery problem and they escort us to the Dover marina. Plugged into the quayside socket, the batteries charge again. After our return to Belgium, a repairman gave the alternator a thorough cleaning, and it's still working 2 years later!
Leaving Dover after lunch in a light mist, we come across several migrant boats that the ferries probably don't see until too late because of the mist. So we signal the presence of these overloaded boats on the VHF.
The rest of the journey is trouble-free to Nieuport, the Belgian home port.