Small Boat Voyages

This was our first SDG experience. We found a warm welcome on arrival after a very long road trip. We chose the Dover-Calais ferry crossing which meant splitting the journey into three legs to be able to drive the nearly 700 miles, breaking the journey up with a stop over in Kent and another somewhere in Normandy at a suitable Aire.

We tried phoning various campsites but they were all fully booked up. We were however told of a place not far from Dover that could be used for a rest overlooking the Romney marshes. Turned out to be an almost empty car park with a panoramic viewpoint, although it was a little too foggy in the morning to see anything much.

The ferry crossing was quick and without any hold ups. The route to Vannes was set on Google maps and off we went. We took it steady initially, but since the roadsnin France are soooo much better than in the UK we were able to cruise at around 60mph most of the way. The French autoroute system is brilliant, good roads and plenty of places to stop or Aires which can be simple picnic and toilet areas or fuel stations with shops and restaurants, the latter being better for an overnight rest, a little safer and better facilities.

Arriving at Lamor Baden we joined a queue of other trailered boats, parked by the road leading to the port, being rigged ready for launch. We wanted to make use of the crane to lift us into the water.

Once we were afloat the port operators towed Tarka to a designated mooring bouy while we took the car and trailer to the storage area and made our way back to the port. It could have taken longer but someone called Alastair spotted us on the way back and was kind enough to offer a lift.

Back at Lamor Baden we made our way down a long ramp to the pontoon in front of the quay and queued for a taxi boat to take us across the mooring area to our boat.

We had already made the decision to stay on board Tarka since it had all the facilities we needed for the week, but on reflection it would have been more comfortable in a cabin on the campsite. Staying on board also meant we missed out on socialising and the daily briefings. We had to rely on the printed itinerary, which, although it contained a very comprehensive set of tables and charts showing the daily movements of all the flotillas we did not see anything about the direction of the tidal streams so we had to witness conditions and keep in mind the likely changes to the streams due to high and low tides as they occurred. We were aware that high and low tides had a delay of up to two hours across the gulf due to the narrowing of the entrance.

The first day started with an early sail down to Port Navalo to await the Grand Parade and meeting the fleet at a prescribed time to join in.

The parade was a magnificent sight to behold, led my tall ships and working vessels and with the DCA boats including ours following on behind.

We followed the parade up to Port Blanc where we missed for the night. That evening there was a pre arranged meal at the campsite at Lamor Baden which is only a short walk from Port Blanc.

On arrival at the campsite we met up with a fellow DCA member Ian, who crewed with us the following day. Ian is also an accomplished mandolin player and we played some tunes at the meal fund informal entertainment.

The following day was the cruise to Isle d’Arz. I’ve never seen so many boats together at one time literally hundreds of traditional boats hauled up onto the beach and moored in the bay. On the island there was a traditional folk dance with music that seemed to echo generations of inhabitants of the island with the gatherings of their Celtic roots.

The passage back to Port Blanc was exciting, our friend Ian helmed on one of these mini voyages and he expertly handled some quite rough conditions but all the time maintaining control with ease. He exclaimed he had to pinch himself as he could not believe his good luck at meeting with us and coming on board Tarka for a while adding to the magic of this fantastic maritime festival.

The rest of the week carried on in much the same way for most participants, for us however we decided to take it easy the rest of the week since it had been quite demanding on our energies since we left UK, the road trip and some truly fantastic sailing and socialising.

After lying to a mooring at Port Blanc a couple of days, we returned to Lamor Baden and awaited a time slot to haul out. There was a bit of a mad rush for the slipway but by early evening it had become quieter and we managed to get Tarka back on her trailer.

For us, this was our first SDG, and we felt we managed to get a lot out of the trip exhausting as it was and just a few days after returning I was already thinking about my next trip which might be a weekend cruise in the Menai Strait, Wales.