BREST TO L’ABER ILDUT

We left Moulin Blanc marina first thing in the morning at around low water. There was a fog hovering a few feet above us which lowered and thickened before lifting as we headed out to sea. We travelled most of the way up the Chenal du Four in great conditions. A light F3 breeze and gentle 1.5-knot tide sped us on our way and meant the conditions were good enough to visit L’aber Ildut, an interesting port which has a handful of visitor pontoons rarely mentioned in cruising guides to the area. We loved the place.

Although small, it is interesting, pretty and a hive of activity – we enjoyed watching seaweed being passed from fully laden boats to awaiting trucks. No wonder it is known as the seaweed capital of Brittany. We had lunch on board the boats, took lots of photos and carried on with our journey, timing it perfectly for the Ile de Batz inside passage at around half tide. We had always wanted to go through the inside of the island passage as it is shorter, more scenic and avoids the meeting of tides in the outside passage, but it is not recommended at low water.

A long following swell of around 2m high at 14-second intervals made life interesting as we surfed down the troughs but thankfully it was with us rather than against us. This meant we could maintain a cruising speed of 28 knots, around 10 knots faster than the estimated speed of the waves. There is no way we could have maintained that kind of pace if we were driving into a swell of that size and speed.

Passing Roscoff, we headed for the inlet of Ploumanac’h – another port on our bucket list. We had no intention of staying overnight on the fore and aft moorings, so a quick visit was ideal. The ferries thought the same and we had one follow us in and met another near the exit.