Morlaix or Brest

T

TFJ

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Can any forumites advise me on the above, I need to leave my boat for a couple of weeks once we have done CI and have considered either Brest or Morlaix as its convienient for R/Air back to UK and ready for a 3 week hol on west coast down to La Rochell
My almanac is on board so I can't look up things like visitor spaces (Not rafting), costs, ease of access, depth, security etc
Thanks
Terry
 
Brest is a lot further from the CI than Morlaix, depths are not an issue at either port but:

Morlaix: Very well sheltered, should be room for you there without rafting. We have found it a slightly grubby town - although others swear that its a wonderful place. Access is up a longish river and lock in at HW plus or minus a bit.

Brest: Excellent shelter as well. Airport is a shortish taxi ride away. We have had to wait for a berth without rafting in the past. Slightly more expensive than Morlaix? Access is at all states of the tide and weather. Good hopping off point for Raz du Seine and S Brittany and onwards to La Rochelle.
 
Agree with john_morris_uk.

Morlaix is further away from where you want to go, and of the two I would choose Brest anyway. Speak to them and they will often find you a finger berth away from the visitors area.

TGV to Paris c2hrs worth a thought as well?

Enjoy your trip!
 
Sorry to have a slight disagreement; I suppose it depends what you are comparing it with, but I would say Morlaix was up a shortish river.

Grubby town??? I suppose you've heard the story of how the Royal College of Art in Kensington Gore in London was designed to tune in with the Albert Hall next door? And then they cleaned the Albert Hall? And the black, black College now looks slightly out of place?
 
What's long and what's short? Neither port are a problem for access - and perhaps my memory is tainted by a visit to Morlaix a few years ago when out children were fairly young. Several things altered my perspective. One was that I had got frustrated with our tin opener which was admitedly useless. I had thrown it overboard on passage, saying "that will make us buy a new one". We then got into Morlaix late, with moaning children and no suitable food except in tins - the children have never let me forget it.

Grubby - perhaps I am being unfair - its just that its an 'inland' port which perhaps doesn't have the fresh clean feel to us that the coast has.
 
Although superficially Morlaix appears close to the ferry port at Roscoff, in fact it is quite an expensive taxi ride away.
Moulin Blanc undoubtedly more expensive but I have always had excellent treatment there and Brest is very good for communications.
 
I know how you feel about Morlaix: we avoided it for a few years, prefering to anchor in the river for the night and then move on. However, we then paid it a visit and found it quite acceptable, and have been back a few times since.
 
Depth used to be very much an issue in both getting to and in Morlaix. Unless they have done some dredging, one can anchor via the keel under the motorway bridge and only the berths nearest the lock are suitable for 2+ meter draught. Of course shallower draft vessels may never have noticed the restrictions.
 
You could consider Camaret - it's a really nice town and less commercial than Brest. We left our boat on a buoy there for three weeks last year at a very reasonable rate. Regular ferries go to Brest for the airport - except on Mondays I think. We stopped in Morlaix on the way down, but didn't rave. Couldn't find one shop/market selling fresh food and seeing a dead kitten floating past the boat during our evening aperitif confirmed our feelingfs for the place. Also, they were fixing the shower block, so the only facilities were some very disgusting portaloos - most ended up using their on board facilities, which made the harbour even worse! Might be better now though.
 
As dk suggests, Camaret is an alternative with the regular ferry that crosses to Brest. Morlaix wouldn't be my choice at all.

If you are heading from Guernsey to Brest/Camaret and considering stopping on the way, Morlaix wouldn't be on my list as a stopover either, it is too far off route. Personally I would be inclined to make the trip in one hop but if that doesn't appeal then Trebeurden would be one option (still a bit of a diversion) or L'Aberwrac'h. The North Brittany harbours west of Sept Isles are nowhere near as nice in my book as when you get round the corner, hurry on by would be my choice.
 
Now I have to defend Morlaix! Passagewise, the river offers perfect shelter - all-weather, all-tide entrance a short day's run from Ploumanac'h which is a good landfall after Guernsey if you time it right, and before the long haul to L'Aberwrac'h. You can dinghy across to the east bank where there is a restaurant at Dourduff, opposite where you anchor.

If you optionally continue to the town, shopping is fine: fresh milk, bread, vegetables, fruit (also wine and some groceries) at a little shop on your right, heading towards the viaduct. Further on, near the post office, there is a large supermarket with everything.
 
In this case the question now is to do the trip to Brest, and if that is to be basically a delivery trip or a gentle coastal potter, with a risk of not making the intended final destination in time perhaps.

Guernsey to L'Aberwrac'h from memory is around 110mls, say 18 hours at 6kts SOG average, to Camaret via Chenal Du Four would be 145mls or 24hrs at 6kts SOG. Careful timing will mean slightly more favourable tide than unfavourable so the wind direction is more of a key. This is why when we go from Poole to South Brittany every year that we do not go the Guernsey way but via one stop in Dartmouth, then to Camaret because we can do Dartmouth to Le Four in one tack in a prevailing SW wind, anything west of SW is a bonus!

The art of fast cruising (there is a book of that name) is to avoid too many ins and outs of harbours en route that you don't especially want to visit but just use as stopovers for a tide or a night or both. It takes time to divert from and to return to the rhumb line and that is time that could otherwise take you closer to where you really want to go. My concern given the poster's wish to meet a return flight deadline from Brest would be that contrary winds, or on this corner of France bad visibility, could screw things up right at the last minute whereas if he got there earlier than expected there are nicer places (like Camaret) to spend any spare time.

We do however return home to Poole from South Brittany via the North Brittany and Guernsey route but this is rather easier as it should be downwind and also you can work the tides much more in your favour going east up Channel. Our usual route if time allows is L'Aberwrac'h to Perros Guirec, easy on one tide with an inshore back eddy for 2hrs at the start. If we cannot use Perros because it is 'closed' over neaps then Trebeurden is an alternative as is Treguier or Port Blanc from where we will go to Guernsey. If we get short of time then once at L'Aberwrac'h we feel (just me and SWMBO) that we are in range of a direct trip home or can cut out any bits en route to suit the time left. Once again Morlaix is missed off! Mostly that is because we prefer places like Perros, Port Blanc, Treguier, Trebeurden (not a real fan).

If we were doing just a NORTH Brittany cruise however Morlaix might well be on the list of stops as well as all rather than just one of the above.
 
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I had the feeling we were not talking about cruising. "Fast cruising" eh, what is the difference between that and yachting?

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I think you know what I meant! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

In case you didn't what I did mean was that this poster will have a deadline to reach his end destination, because he plans to leave the boat there, probably in Brest, to fly home then return later to start a 3 week cruise southwards. Since the original question he posed was re the choice of leaving the boat in Morlaix or Brest, one can assume perhaps that this still has to be done within the same time frame??? Now Brest is quite a ways from Morlaix and involves a major tide-gate at Chenal Du Four so this will possibly change the planned itinerary. My point is simply that if your real requirement is to get to the start point for the cruise proper, then diverting up every estuary en route isn't the quickest way of doing it. If you want to visit places on route and there is time, then that is fine, but otherwise that might best be done on another cruise.

The problem of cruising in short coastal hops is that a 4 week cruise is really only at 2 weeks range, because you have to go out and get back. Sometimes with a little bit of effort you can get 'out' faster and then have more time elsewhere and for the return.

By way of illustration, we go to Southern Brittany every August. We leave Poole on day 1, usually overnight after work ends last Friday in July and reach Quiberon/Morbihan area within around 5 days. We then cruise around between there and sometimes as far as La Rochelle and return in shorter hops with longer stays to be home by 1st September or thereabouts. We frequently spend up to 14 days just in the anchorages around Houat, Hoedic and Belle Isle before heading back via Glenans, Concarneau for the Fete Des Filets Bleu, Morgat, L'Aberwrac'h, Perros, St Peter Port, Alderney/Cherbourg, Poole with variations of course and we visit none of these going south. On our way home we stay most places a minimum of 2 nights.

So do please tell me what in your opininion it is that we do? Is it 'fast cruising', 'cruising' or 'yachting'? We have got a fast boat if that counts, but then we did the same in a Westerly 33 ketch too, same route, same pattern of stops!
 
Good piece, Robin. Most of my experience is with three kiddies on board, a constraint which makes for shorter passages, for domestic reasons. SWMBO calls it 'pushing on' when try to make good some distance.

In the now clearer circumstances the original choice between Morlaix or Brest is easily anwered - if you can make Brest, go for it. Morlaix town is also probably out because of the tidal window. Though if Morlaix looks off course, then Brest is as well; Camaret or Morgat, round the corner, are less of a deviation?
 
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Good piece, Robin. Most of my experience is with three kiddies on board, a constraint which makes for shorter passages, for domestic reasons. SWMBO calls it 'pushing on' when try to make good some distance.

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I understand very well the constraints of pressing on with children on board although my Teeshirt is worn out now, but these days for us that isn't a factor, our own approaching wrinklydom is!

I think too that there are stages we go though in cruising. Stage one is coastal and what can be done on one tide in daylight. Stage two might extend to a daylight crossing of the Channel (or local equivalent). The next stage might be including night passages, either coastal or 'foreign'. A big jump can be to break the habit of the one tide trip and recognise that swings and roundabouts can still work in your overall favour over a longer period.

Poole - Dartmouth across Lyme Bay for a West Country visit is a coastal illustration of different options that might apply to a family cruise. The short trip, one tide in daylight idea is at it's limits on this one. Plan A might be Poole -Weymouth, stay overnight then Weymouth to Dartmouth via the inshore passage around Portland Bill. But think about it, can you really stay just one night in Weymouth or is it likely to turn into two nights? Plan B would be to go Poole -Dartmouth directly in one hop. By using an inshore eddy from Poole to St Albans Head and recognising the weak tides in Lyme Bay, it is easily possible to get well across Lyme Bay before the tide turns (moderately) foul. Plan A Poole to Weymouth say 4 hours, plus Weymouth to Dartmouth say 8 hours gives 12 hours total and spread over two (possibly three) days. Plan B at the same average speed takes 10 hours over one day. Now if the objective is to get to the West Country for a 2 week holiday, up to 3 days have gone already with Plan A, versus one with Plan B, yet plan B only involved a 10 hour trip in one hit versus a longest leg of 8 hours in Plan A. Does that make sense, it isn't easy to explain? The examples are worked on a plan speed of 6kts BTW from ouside to outside of harbours.

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In the now clearer circumstances the original choice between Morlaix or Brest is easily anwered - if you can make Brest, go for it. Morlaix town is also probably out because of the tidal window. Though if Morlaix looks off course, then Brest is as well; Camaret or Morgat, round the corner, are less of a deviation?

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Yes you are right because in order to get from Morlaix to Brest, you have first to get out of the river and all the way northwards to clear Isle De Batz before you can turn even turn SW 'ish for L'Aberwrac'h or Chenal Du Four, by the time you get off Isle De Batz the tide will be turning foul.

We use Camaret on our ways southwards and Morgat when headed north for home and yes Brest is not a convenient option for us. If we were looking to park and fly home though as the original poster is, then the two choices would be Brest, or Camaret plus the local passenger ferry to Brest. Morgat isn't an option really nor does it have room usually to leave a boat for any length of time.

Going back to the 'Pushin On', we do that for sure in getting from Poole to Quiberon in 5 days but the carrot is the easy dawdle home and plenty of time to spend at each stopover. I wouldn't suggest that either with a young family on board but a little 'Push On' sometimes can be worth a go, like the Lyme Bay crossing example. The real problem is 'what goes out has to come back'. That means if we have a 2 week holiday and set limits on one tide/6hrs max/daylight only/minimum 2 nights in port or whatever, then we only have in reality a one week range from home which doesn't take us very far. Still beats working though!
 
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