South Brittany Cruising Advice

makingplansfor

makingplansfor

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Having endured the weather in the Channel Isles for the last two family holidays I plan to venture a little further this year to Southern Brittany. As my wife is not comfortable keeping a watch and I dont really want to spend too much of my precious holiday waiting for decent weather and then port hopping round from Laberwrach, I am planning on taking the boat there a week or two before and using the ferry to get home and get the family out for our holiday. My question is where best to leave the boat? My shortlist is a single leg to either Camaret or Brest or take an additional leg from Camaret and leave the boat in Audierne.

Appreciate some local knowledge, mainly about the likelyhood of getting a berth for the durations in question but also if there are any alternatives?
 
makingplansfor said:
Having endured the weather in the Channel Isles for the last two family holidays I plan to venture a little further this year to Southern Brittany. As my wife is not comfortable keeping a watch and I dont really want to spend too much of my precious holiday waiting for decent weather and then port hopping round from Laberwrach, I am planning on taking the boat there a week or two before and using the ferry to get home and get the family out for our holiday. My question is where best to leave the boat? My shortlist is a single leg to either Camaret or Brest or take an additional leg from Camaret and leave the boat in Audierne.

Appreciate some local knowledge, mainly about the likelyhood of getting a berth for the durations in question but also if there are any alternatives?
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If it's for any length of time, I would look to leave the boat somwhere on the Finisterre south coast. Audierne is rather exposed to westerlies.
Maybe Loctudy or Benodet. In summer there are direct flights from the UK to Quimper - 15-20km away.

Time is also a factor. You don't mention when you look to be going, but S Brittany gets very crowded in July and August.

Of course, you could also leave the boat in Brest - quite sheldered and also direct flights from the UK to Brest in Summer.
 
If you consider a second leg to Audierne, why not carry on to Concarneau, Port-la-Foret, Benodet or Ste Marine? Only a few more hours and not only better places to leave the boat, but also probably better connections with Brest and a better starting point for the holiday.
 
OR4751 said:
If it's for any length of time, I would look to leave the boat somwhere on the Finisterre south coast. Audierne is rather exposed to westerlies.
Maybe Loctudy or Benodet. In summer there are direct flights from the UK to Quimper - 15-20km away.

Time is also a factor. You don't mention when you look to be going, but S Brittany gets very crowded in July and August.

Of course, you could also leave the boat in Brest - quite sheldered and also direct flights from the UK to Brest in Summer.
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Sorry - on reading back, I can see I have omitted some important detail! It is July/August that I intend to be there and I will be attempting to get the boat across from Plymouth(and get home from Roscoff on the ferry) in a single weekend - I guess this is starting to point towards Brest??
 
I would also get the boat to Benodet, Concarneau etc.

For me Southern Brittany cruising starts from there. All the destinations you cited basically mean you still have a bit of a delivery trip so I would get it over with in one go.
 
We left the boat in Brest and flew home to Plymouth (now Exeter presumably) but equally easy on the Roscoff ferry.

It makes a very 'do-able' long weekend Plymouth to Brest; then either a train to Roscoff (and a fair walk from the station to the ferry) or quick cab to the airport. Marina is safe and, by UK standards, affordable.

If you get the tide right, you can shoot down the Chanel de Helle round to Brest (or wait in L' Aber Vrach).

The slog, on to say, Concarneau etc, whilst also giving trains to Brest and a change for Roscoff, also means several tidal gates if you want to do it all in one delivery trip.

The run from Brest to Audierne and S Brittany is really nice, once you're through the Raz de Seine. It's worth thinking about that particular section to get your timing right - then it gets nicer and nicer, the further you go.
 
We have left from Plymouth many times, aiming for the top of the Chanel du Four as the tide turns. Its a max 20 hours, at about 6knots ish. If the weather is good, and the crew happy we keep going, its about 5 hours or so across to the Raz, by then the tide is in your favour, and once around again the options are stop at Audierne, either at a buoy by the beach overnight or in the harbour (which is often crowded and the entrance very shallow at low tide).

Better if possible to keep going around Pen' marche. Benodet (with a choice of 2 marinas and buoys) is only another 6 to 8 hours, depending on how much tide is with you. Then you have arrived in a great cruising ground. In a day and a half you are there! Plus if the weather turns bad you can opt to stop earlier. You can get a bus from Bendet to Roscoff but its easier to hire a car.

My choice in bad weather would be Cameret, marina berths and buoys available. Its a slog up the Goulet de Brest. The most important factor in all this is to pick a weekend when the tides are right. Otherwise you will never make it in time.
 
Over recent years we have taken the boat to Brittany and based it at Brest for crew handovers.
Flights between Brest and Southampton on FlyBe very cheap.
Agree with OP's sentiments about recent summers in the Channel Islands not being that great and wanting to go further South.
 
OR4751 said:
Audierne is rather exposed to westerlies.
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No its not. !!!!! Not exposed in any direction.

If you are planning to deliver your boat and get back in a weekend than I would go for Brest
Camaret is ok but no buses to Brest on a Sunday, weekdays there is only one & it leaves at 0700.
As I found out to my cost last year and it cost me 105Euro for a taxi.
 
makingplansfor said:
Having endured the weather in the Channel Isles for the last two family holidays I plan to venture a little further this year to Southern Brittany. As my wife is not comfortable keeping a watch and I dont really want to spend too much of my precious holiday waiting for decent weather and then port hopping round from Laberwrach, I am planning on taking the boat there a week or two before and using the ferry to get home and get the family out for our holiday. My question is where best to leave the boat? My shortlist is a single leg to either Camaret or Brest or take an additional leg from Camaret and leave the boat in Audierne.

Appreciate some local knowledge, mainly about the likelyhood of getting a berth for the durations in question but also if there are any alternatives?
Click to expand...

I would suggest Brest as having the best connections. Apart from its aeroport, you can get a train to Roscoff, changing at Morlaix. It takes between 1 1/4 to 3 1/4 hours depending on departure time.

You are then within a day's sail of S.Brittany.
 
In a weekend Brest is the obvious but depending on draft, if you had a long w/e you could take the boat up the river to Port-Launay where you could leave it free of charge and get a train from Châteaulin to Roscoff
See: http://www.bonjourlafrance.com/trai...ff_Port_de_Bloscon_Train_Station_268_543.aspx
You could leave the boat at Châteaulin but it isn't as inviting as was when it had a pontoon, Port-Launay seems more secure.
 
LadyInBed said:
You could leave the boat at Châteaulin but it isn't as inviting as was when it had a pontoon, Port-Launay seems more secure.
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Last time we we were at Chateaulin, even the pontoon wasn't 'that' exciting.

No water and the leccy was a burnt-out blackened box! Then the council came along and strimmed the wall alongside, shedding leaves and garden bits everywhere and all over the boat. Would have been worse if we hadn't cleared out for the duration - ie if no one had been aboard at the time!!
 
Thank you all - its been a great help. Brest it is then, although one of my crew is thinking of using the boat as an apartment for a few days after I go home so may look at Camaret as it looks to have more of a holiday look to the place.
 
charles_reed said:
Moulin Blanc in Brest.
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Been there, Oceanopolis was interesting. Good WiFi if staying on the boat. We were stuck there for a week with F10 in English channel and able to watch UK freeview channels on WiFi. Nearest supermarket is quite a distance though. Buses to town from just opposite the marina.

I expect it will be pretty busy in August and you might well end up rafted. We asked about a berth for a few weeks but they couldn't promise anything. Now I thnk of it, Brest International Festival of the Sea was starting in a few weeks and that explains why they wouldn't allocate a berth.
 
I've done crew changes in Brest and its not that much more convenient than some of the other places. Its also a good few hours of sailing to get down to the 'real' S Brittany cruising grounds which start at Benodet.

I would seriously think about pressing on and getting to some of the more southern ports. We sailed the area every year for a fair few years and I don't think you will be disappointed. Unlike some other people we really enjoy La Trinite. There are buses that will connect you to the airports/railway system from most every place if you plan a little. My experience is that the railways aren't as regular as we enjoy in UK. (eg there's supposed to be a line to Roscoff but I've never seen a train on it!)
 
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