\n37 miles would take us to Camaret<\/em>, through the famous Chenal du Four<\/em>.<\/p>\n
We left L\u2019Aber Wrac\u2019h<\/em> short before 09h00, heading north-west. I wanted to sail, so we were doing this first 6 miles leg on a port tack away from our destination, in order to have the wind on our starboard going down south-east.<\/p>\n My new crewmate was full of enthusiasm. He steered like an old sea dog, like he\u2019d been doing it all his life and rounded the Horn<\/em> every weekend.<\/p>\n That is, until he handed me the bar to go down to do, hem<\/em>, something I couldn\u2019t do for him. Poor guy…<\/p><\/div>\n I believe it was my fault. I didn\u2019t warn him seriously enough about the danger of venturing down below during the first days at sea. Poor kid learned the hard way! The \u201cChenal du Four<\/em>\u201d is a channel where a strong tide current runs. We had checked the tide tables, currents charts, evaluated the time when we would be there, and departed consequently from the marina.<\/p>\n In the “Chenal du Four”<\/p><\/div>\n Well\u2026 Something must have been wrong in the process. We hit the channel too late, and with sails up and a relatively good wind, we had to start our engine. I guess I\u2019m not the first one to make such a mistake there. Local sailors don\u2019t even have to look at the tide charts, they know by habit what timing to adopt, and where exactly to sail. I\u2019m not a local sailor<\/em>, and we had plenty time to admire the landscape, as we very slowly sailed past the city of Le Conquet<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n Le Conquet<\/p><\/div>\n We arrived at Camaret sur Mer<\/em> at 20h00. It had taken us 11 hours to do the 37 miles, giving an average speed of about 3.36 knots.<\/p>\n The next leg also\u00a0promised to be a tricky one regarding currents, especially since we had to round the \u201cRaz de Sein<\/em>\u201d, or \u201cPointe du Raz<\/em>\u201d, which some locals like to call their \u201clittle Horn Cape<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n We started to calculate again our time of departure, trying to understand what had gone wrong with our last passage. Dead ships…<\/p><\/div>\n We had a walk in this nice little town, bought some groceries, visited the harbour and the old ships graveyard.<\/p>\n In the afternoon, we took the mooring lines of a small yacht that came in the berth next to ours. They appeared \u201clocal<\/em>\u201d enough, so I decided to ask them for some help with our tides and currents estimations, for passing the Pointe du Raz<\/em>.<\/p>\n They turned out to be very nice people, Josi<\/em><\/strong> and Patrick<\/em><\/strong>, a lovely couple 10 years older than me. They invited us on their boat \u201cSouen<\/em>\u201d for a tea aperitif<\/em>, but didn\u2019t mind us bringing our beers instead.<\/p>\n They didn\u2019t drink any alcohol anymore, and related us that\u00a0 some of their old relations had stopped seeing them, because they didn\u2019t accept their decision.<\/p>\n Patrick and Josi<\/p><\/div>\n We had a very nice moment with Josi<\/em> and Patrick.<\/em> They sorted out our tide calculation troubles, they didn\u2019t need any charts nor mathematics. We would be good enough leaving Camaret<\/em> at half past eight in the morning, to be more than OK rounding the Pointe du Raz<\/em> at the right time with the right current.<\/p>\n That was their playground!<\/p>\n One lesson learned there: talk to the people, be humble, listen to them. They can help you and will be glad to do so. And you’ll make new friends.<\/p>\n And once again, I experienced the sincere friendship and solidarity that binds sailing people, and that I didn\u2019t meet anywhere else.<\/p>\n (To be continued<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From L\u2019Aber Wrac\u2019h to Camaret – Against winds and tides For my first passage with my new crewmate, I had chosen a short distance. 37 miles would take us to Camaret, through the famous Chenal du Four. We left L\u2019Aber … Continue reading
\nOne minute later, he popped out of the companion way, looking a bit strange. Then, in a sudden impulse of noble seamanship, he made Neptune a generous offering in the form of his morning breakfast.<\/p>\n![\"Poor](\"https:\/\/leblanc.pl\/china_blue\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/malade.jpg\")
<\/a>
\nHe spend a good part of the morning feeling very bad, but there was nothing I could do. No parking place nearby where he could have stepped out and walk around for a while.
\nHe eventually managed to lay down in the cockpit and sleep. He gradually felt better as the day went by.<\/p>\n
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\nA good timing is absolutely necessary in order to sail with it, and not against it.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nI could see by our wake that we were making good speed on the water, but the GPS course over ground gave us 2 ridiculous knots. There must have been at least 4 knots against us, and the sea was at times chaotic.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nOne man on another yacht even said we had to leave the same night\u2026
\nSo we gave up, went to sleep, and woke up late the next morning, with no intention to go anywhere!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>Sailing makes great people!<\/h3>\n