Hairy
Active Member
I always enjoy reading fellow forumite trips so I thought I'd share our first trip away as a family for more than one night. Itinerary was Gorey - St Malo - Dinan - Granville - Chausey.
Started off with a nice, flat calm run down to St Malo (accompanied by a pod of dolphins) where we stayed in the Port des Bas-Sabons Marina (€26) rather than locking through to Port Vauban as we wanted an early departure.
Came back from a nice dinner to a fair sized swell from the NW rolling the boat about a bit, but thankfully it calmed down after about midnight so that we could listen to the ferry movements without interruption. (Avoid this marina if you're after a quiet night).
Left the next morning for a gentle cruise up the Rance to Dinan to meet some friends.
Getting through the Barrage de la Rance was a slightly daunting prospect, but actually it's not too bad if you've got plenty of fenders! The lock opens on the hour when the tide permits, except between 11am & 1pm when it's shut for lunch! We followed the ferry in and there was only a very small (18inch) change in water heights.
The 2 boats behind us looked a bit worried as the bridge started to lower as they were clearly higher than the safe height. The bridge stopped just in time!!
Made good progress up the Rance as far as Pont St-Hubert.
Took a much more leisurely pace up to the lock at Chatleier, passing some interesting fishing huts and under picturesque Viaduc de Lessard.
Chatelier lock was much more civilised than the Barrage but we did have to wait for the ferry to pass through first.
Ambled up the buoyed channel to Dinan on tickover. Had a least 1.5m under the hull all the way and moored alongside the visitors pontoon (€23).
Had a great dinner up in the medieval town and used the facilities in the Bureau du Port the following morning.
Headed back down the to the sea the following morning. Next time we will stay longer as it was really nice.
On the way back, the barrage was much more of a log jam. We were waiting 40 minutes before the scheduled opening time and the lock was full at least 30 mins before it was due to open. It was another 2 hours before it opened again!! It took approx 2.5 hours to get from Dinan to the sea.
We then cruised over to Granville to meet some other friends and stayed in a very quiet (probably because it's so expensive €31) Herel Marina.
Gentle cruise back via Chausey the next day. Anchored up for a nice lunch of french delights just off Port Marie on the South coast of Chausey before heading back to Gorey.
The best news is they all want to do it again!!
Started off with a nice, flat calm run down to St Malo (accompanied by a pod of dolphins) where we stayed in the Port des Bas-Sabons Marina (€26) rather than locking through to Port Vauban as we wanted an early departure.
Came back from a nice dinner to a fair sized swell from the NW rolling the boat about a bit, but thankfully it calmed down after about midnight so that we could listen to the ferry movements without interruption. (Avoid this marina if you're after a quiet night).
Left the next morning for a gentle cruise up the Rance to Dinan to meet some friends.
Getting through the Barrage de la Rance was a slightly daunting prospect, but actually it's not too bad if you've got plenty of fenders! The lock opens on the hour when the tide permits, except between 11am & 1pm when it's shut for lunch! We followed the ferry in and there was only a very small (18inch) change in water heights.
The 2 boats behind us looked a bit worried as the bridge started to lower as they were clearly higher than the safe height. The bridge stopped just in time!!
Made good progress up the Rance as far as Pont St-Hubert.
Took a much more leisurely pace up to the lock at Chatleier, passing some interesting fishing huts and under picturesque Viaduc de Lessard.
Chatelier lock was much more civilised than the Barrage but we did have to wait for the ferry to pass through first.
Ambled up the buoyed channel to Dinan on tickover. Had a least 1.5m under the hull all the way and moored alongside the visitors pontoon (€23).
Had a great dinner up in the medieval town and used the facilities in the Bureau du Port the following morning.
Headed back down the to the sea the following morning. Next time we will stay longer as it was really nice.
On the way back, the barrage was much more of a log jam. We were waiting 40 minutes before the scheduled opening time and the lock was full at least 30 mins before it was due to open. It was another 2 hours before it opened again!! It took approx 2.5 hours to get from Dinan to the sea.
We then cruised over to Granville to meet some other friends and stayed in a very quiet (probably because it's so expensive €31) Herel Marina.
Gentle cruise back via Chausey the next day. Anchored up for a nice lunch of french delights just off Port Marie on the South coast of Chausey before heading back to Gorey.
The best news is they all want to do it again!!
)
