River Odet to Belle Ile - 60 Miles

Susannah in Belle Ile

Susannah in Belle Ile
Originally uploaded by Yacht Susannah

SATURDAY 21 JULY 2007

It was a beautiful morning, although there were a couple of showers after breakfast – the herons and egrets were fishing again. This area of Britanny is a fantastic cruising ground, with the various creeks in the River Odet, the quaint village of Saint Marine and the town of Benodet to visit. Further afield are the many islands such as Ile de Groix and Belle Ile, and the Quiberon Peninsular. The tide is not so strong here.

We planned to go to the Ile de Groix and left about 10.15. a.m. We had a broad reach the whole way and were doing about 6 knots in a Force 4 wind with sun. We arrived at Loc Maria on Ile de Groix about 5 p.m. The entrance was extremely narrow and tricky as it is surrounded by rocks and there is only a small pool. It would be completely exposed to Southerly winds. The pilot book said it was possible to anchor, but the pool was very small and filled with buoys. We picked up a buoy and by now the wind was about a Force 5. We had an arrival gin and tonic to calm our nerves and then checked Navtex for tomorrow’s weather. A strong wind warning had been issued for tomorrow afternoon reaching Force 7, possibly gale 8 from the South! 

We decided to head straight for Belle Ile, which was about 20 miles away, and put a reef in the sail before we left. There is an inner floating basin on Belle Ile which is only accessible about 1.5 hours either side of high water, which was at 10.00 p.m. We left about 5.45 p.m. but luckily we had a good tack angle and arrived about 9.00 p.m. We went into the drying harbour and circled hoping the gate would open. We called the Capitainerie on the VHF and the mobile, but there was no answer, so we went outside and anchored. We were very tired and just had a snack before going to bed. It was quite a rolly anchorage, particularly when the ferries went past on their way to Quiberon.




SUNDAY - MONDAY 22/23 JULY 2007

BELLE ILE

We managed to enter the Bassin a Flot at 9.00 a.m. and moored against the wall in the middle of the town, which is extremely picturesque. We visited the impressive Citadel, one of many which Vauban had improved during the Seventeenth Century. The Bassin a Flot is quite small, but about 10.30 p.m. a large merchant vessel came and docked alongside the quay.

BELLE ILE BASSIN A FLOT FEES: 22.00 euros, but possible to anchor; free showers.