South Brittany in the summer

[doug748]

TSB240 has reminded me to recommend: Secret Anchorages of Brittany. A lovely book that is a pilot but is also readable in it's own right.
None of them are particularly secret anymore but If you arrive in somewhere on a Saturday and find it rammed it's nice to have a plan B.

Imray Secret Anchorages of Brittany | Force 4 Chandlery

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[westhinder]

One of my favourite locations was Sauzon on Belle Isle. It is a drying harbour but there are deep water moorings at the entrance. Plenty more anchorages around the islands but not many "secret" anylonger.
Hope to visit later this year with a cruise in company from North Wales.

Sauzon, indeed.
Another, no longer secret, anchorage on the Atlantic side of Belle Isle is Ster Ouen. Only to be tried in settled conditions with no swell running, but more than worth the effort. Anchor and sternlines ashore.

 

[Bobc]

Is this conditional on having vacated a contracted marina berth or is it open to any visitor?
We only have a seasonal mooring at home

Passporte Escalle requires a permanent berth, but they used to do a card for about €500 which gave you the same benefits for a summer cruise.

 

[dunedin]

TSB240 has reminded me to recommend: Secret Anchorages of Brittany. A lovely book that is a pilot but is also readable in it's own right.
None of them are particularly secret anymore but If you arrive in somewhere on a Saturday and find it rammed it's nice to have a plan B.

Imray Secret Anchorages of Brittany | Force 4 Chandlery

.

Sadly that is the only pilot book I bought that I found useless. All of the usable anchorages for a deep keeled yacht were already in the main pilot books, which were generally more up to date. And lots of the ones listed were now blocked by countless mooring buoys.

 

[Poignard]

I found the Block Marine Atlantique edition to be the most useful almanac.

 

[John_Silver]

Fortunately for us there are more coves than pilot book authors:



Houat in haute saison 2024​

 

[Roberto]

Another, no longer secret, anchorage on the Atlantic side of Belle Isle is Ster Ouen. Only to be tried in settled conditions with no swell running, but more than worth the effort. Anchor and sternlines ashore.

 

[TSB240]

Passporte Escalle requires a permanent berth, but they used to do a card for about €500 which gave you the same benefits for a summer cruise.

Thanks for the info regarding Passporte.

Just for info.
Friends reported last year they were given two visitor moorings at Porth Anna (near Vannes) for the duration of the Morbihan Festival at no charge.

I have found on my visits that the celtic link is very useful and easy to exploit.
Bretons will treat visitors from Wales, Cornwall, Ireland and Scotland far better than a rich South Coast Yachtie!

 

[doug748]

Sadly that is the only pilot book I bought that I found useless. All of the usable anchorages for a deep keeled yacht were already in the main pilot books, which were generally more up to date. And lots of the ones listed were now blocked by countless mooring buoys.

I'm very fond of it, maybe you could send your unwanted copy to LouisBrowne, I am sure he would find it useful

 

[potentillaCO32]

I headed down that way in 2012 but only got as far as Hennebont as I didn't set off until the end of July. One notable thing was that it was a slog on the return along the S Brittany coast into the predominantly West wind.
See Summer Cruise to Brittany 2012 : Monty Mariner for distances and times.

Can I thank you for.your blog. Just read it. Incredibly helpful. In particular the log/spreadsheet of passage times

 

[Bobc]

Thanks for the info regarding Passporte.

Just for info.
Friends reported last year they were given two visitor moorings at Porth Anna (near Vannes) for the duration of the Morbihan Festival at no charge.

I have found on my visits that the celtic link is very useful and easy to exploit.
Bretons will treat visitors from Wales, Cornwall, Ireland and Scotland far better than a rich South Coast Yachtie!

It is only the Companie de Morbihan that do this temporary card, and it's only for their marinas and ports.

 

[stranded]

3 years ago, when there was uncertainty whether the French would grant a long stay tourist visa without a mooring contract, we took a five month summer contract at Folleux. Cost was around £1200 I think (44ft). We never used the Folleux mooring but more than recouped the cost in free Passport Escale nights.

 

[stranded]

I would add, perhaps more for general interest, that when you add together the extras and benefits that come for free with some berthing options in France, the actual annual berth there can work out to be more or less free.

That is certainly true in our case with our dry berth - add together what we would have ordinarily paid in the Dart for annual lift and a couple of months ashore, biennial or less rather than annual anti-foul, free Passeport Escale moorings from UK to northern Spain, occasional free in-season lifts to deal with issues arising, annual car-parking for the price of ten days in Kingswear.

Cor, I think we might even have made boating profitable!

 

[John_Silver]

Just completed my annual on line French Long Stay Visa application. Which I always do on the 1st of February. Two things to be aware of:

1. Appointments, to present documents, (at least middle of the day ones for ease of travel) have a longer lead time than previously. I usually get a time of choice between 11 & 14 Feb. First available midday slot was 26th Feb this year. Don’t know if I was unlucky or that is now typical.

2. The data transfer between the France-Visas site and the TLSconnect site is still a bit clunky. Need to tick the box (on France-Visas) to say that you have a TLS appointment booked in order for your application to transfer. Without that transfer a booking cannot be made on TLS. BUT suspect that an application reference number is need for it to transfer to. Therefore need to complete France-Visas application -> follow link to register/ re-register on TLS (any last year's login auto deletes after 30 days inactive) -> Enter the Reference number (but don't complete the rest of the form, which won't upload without the France-Visa transfer)-> Tick France-Visa box to say you have booked -> return to TLS. Complete & save form. Book appointment.

 

[Roberto]

FYI, from this year the Passeport Escales delivered to CPM yearly contract holders offers only 4 nights in each of the ports outside CPM managed ones (it was 5 until 2025). The number of nights in CPM marina remains unlimited, always with the max 2 consecutive day stay.

 

[stranded]

FYI, from this year the Passeport Escales delivered to CPM yearly contract holders offers only 4 nights in each of the ports outside CPM managed ones (it was 5 until 2025). The number of nights in CPM marina remains unlimited, always with the max 2 consecutive day stay.

Thanks Roberto - hadn’t noticed that, but you’re right. Bit cheeky to slip that in. Don’t think it will make much difference to us - we’d need to visit a non Morbihan port 3 times in a year for it to become a factor, which we tend not to do, but an indication that maybe they’re starting to share our suspicion that it might be too good to be true.

 

[Roberto]

Ah sorry I forgot the good news: from 2026 on all the ports in Lorient harbour have gone under CPM management.
Until now only Locmiquelic/Pen Mane was with CPM, from January the Passeport Escale ''CPM ports'' category includes Port Louis, Lorient town, Kernevel, La Base (though for professionals/racers only), Gavres etc, in all about 3-4k additional berths/moorings which were formerly ''5 day maximum''.
One could spend the whole year in the harbour by changing port every two days without paying a single night, not sure of any interest but there you go

 

[Roberto]

I just found this
https://storage.sbg.cloud.ovh.net/v...1e803696a7d6661/m_112/emailing-1768304988.pdf
Basically, the number of nights in the network marinas is decreased to 4 (previously 5), but there will be a bonus of 2(or 6) additional nights if one boats declares at least 8 (or 15) consecutive days of absence from its home port during the period May1st - Sept 30th. The bonus can be spent by at most one additional night in a specific port (so the maximum night total goes back to 5).
Why make things simple when they can be made complicated

Also, I ll refresh the suggestion of this excellent web site for the area
windmorbihan | Relevés de vent en temps réel en baie de Quiberon
And Meteo France 7-day coastal bulletins (and BMSc - Strong Wind Warnings)
METEO GROIX - BELLE ILE par Météo-France - Prévisions Météo gratuites à 15 jours sur toutes les villes
METEO SUD FINISTERE par Météo-France - Prévisions Météo gratuites à 15 jours sur toutes les villes