Fake news from Yuma
Station Biologique de Roscoff
It was market day in Roscoff so our first task was to resupply (banana supplies had gotten critically low) at the marché.
Frederieke homing in on a fromagerie at the Roscoff marché.
We then got to wander around the old part of town. A feature of particular interest to the Marine Biologist in our party was the Roscoff Marine Station. This institution has graced the town since 1872 and still sports many of the impressive old buildings from that time. When studying marine biology at the University in Groningen in the late 1980s, Frederieke had the choice between a field trip to Corsica (zoology) or a trip to the Roscoff Marine Station (botany). She did the former, but this was an opportunity to check whether this had been the right choice. Looking at the chilly, dark waters lapping the Roscoff shoreline, she was pleased to confirm that it had been.
The chilly waters off Roscoff.
Another île
The afternoon saw us make another very short hop, this time to anchor off the île de Batz for a couple of nights.
Anchor spot at île de Batz, with Yuma on the left in the background.
Here we did a perambulation around the island and searched in vain for an ice cream. The island has a very pleasant rural feel and makes for a very pleasant, if not noteworthy, place to idle away some time.
David looking for icecream.
Island life appreciated, we weighed anchor and headed further west. A light wind was forecast to gradually build over the day and to gale force strength overnight, so we were looking for a sheltered harbour in which to end the day.
Beautiful coastline on the northern side of the île.
It was a pleasant day despite periods where a NE wind combined with a NW swell and a SW tidal stream to make for somewhat confused seas, but we were visited by dolphins and at one point had three females and their babies zipping along with us.
The ruin of ‘Chapelle Sainte-Anne’ at île de Batz.
Fake news alert (according to Frederieke)
The highlight of the day (for D at least), however, came towards the end of the day as we approached the entrance to L’Aber Wrac’h. Now for the last year or so, D has had to endure his dearest beloved mocking him for having on two occasions, once at Kristiansund and once in Bergen, being confused as to where the entrance channel of a harbour was.
Holy figures trapped behind metal wire at the ‘Chapelle Sainte-Anne’.
On both occasions it was very late at night after a long day or two of non-stop sailing and both times there were a multiple, confusing lights to make things difficult. On one occasion (Kristiansund) a howling wind and driving rain made seeing anything difficult. On both occasions, had F not pointed out his error, things would have gotten a little bit messy. Well, F has dined off these unfortunate incidents ever since with unnecessary remarks about D’s navigational skills and general seamanship.
Pleasant rural scenery at the île.
Well, on this occasion, as we motored through the skerries into the harbour channel D had the great pleasure (oh sweetest, sweetest revenge) of pointing out to F that not only had she missed the harbour channel but that she was now in the entrance channel of a completely different river to the one she thought she was entering. This wasn’t a miss of 10s of metres but of a mile or two! Ah, too good.
Horses were used at île de Batz to haul in kelp from the ocean. This was burned in trenches and sold as soda ash.
Now I (D) will admit that there were extenuating circumstances that made this an easy mistake to make but I don’t think we need to go into those at this point in time. Nah, better to just savour the moment (again and again). (F comments: note the lack of photographic evidence, hence more photos of île de Batz).
Low tide at Port de l’île de Batz.
Scallop dinner
L’Aber Wrac’h turned out to be a pleasant spot for a night. The harbour entrance is made entertaining by a huge rock on its port side that, in the strong beam winds that we had, makes a bit of nimble manoeuvring necessary if your destination is on that side of the marina, as was ours. What else was noteworthy in L’Aber Wrac’h? Our scallop dinner. Delicious!
🤣🤣