In the first of what we hope will be an annual event, a group of Solent Gaffers escaped the confines of our home waters to explore more distant cruising grounds. Below are accounts from everyone involved and, since we did not travel together all the time, the narrative is not completely chronological.
This year, we chose north Brittany as our destination. So it was that two boats, Molly of Mylor (Cornish Crabber 26) and High Barbaree (Cornish Crabber Pilot Cutter) left Lymington at 4am on a mid-August morning, bound for Cherbourg, following in the wake of Meagan (Ed Burnett design), who had passed across a week earlier.
Chris Dodwell (High Barbaree) – Lymington to Cherbourg
Our adventure began on the evening of Friday 14 August, when I met my parents Tim and Liz Dodwell at The Castle Inn close to the dock in Lymington. They’d had a glorious day cruising round from Buckler’s Hard on High Barbaree in beautiful sunshine with my brother and his family, via a swim at Newtown Creek. Joining us for dinner were our sailing companions for the crossing, Charles and Niki of the Cornish Crabber Molly of Mylor, and fellow members of the OGA, who had come along to see us off in fine style on the first leg of our cross-Channel cruise.
After a final family photo on board in the last of the light, we got an early night, as the alarm went off at 4am on Saturday so we could catch the last of the ebb tide. We slipped our lines and led the way out through the moored yachts in complete darkness, with Molly following behind. With the lights of the ferry and the marina all around us, picking out the channel markers took some concentration, with me playing lookout on the bow.
First light came up as we passed the Needles, and Molly’s red sails glowed against the chalk stacks and the lighthouse. From there we steered a course closer to the rhumb line for Cherbourg, while Charles took the classic approach of holding a single heading and letting the tides carry Molly on a lazy S across the Channel, confident they would largely cancel each other out. We kept within sight of her for the first few hours but lost her as we entered the shipping lanes. As Charles put it, threading a way through the procession of huge cargo ships feels like crossing a “motorway at sea”, with Mum keeping tabs on each ship we encountered and guiding us through the gaps. With the worst of the traffic behind us, we were delighted to spot Molly again as the French coast came into view.
The day turned into a scorcher, with blue skies and a lively, rolling sea. With the wind behind us for most of the way, we sailed, motor-sailed and motored by turns. Despite the preventer, the rolling sea caught us out once with a Chinese gybe, which livened things up and reminded us not to get too comfortable! In between, the hours slipped by in easy conversation, a real treat with so much time to catch up with Mum and Dad over old memories, recent adventures and future plans, with plenty of selfies along the way.
Our arrival was a little less relaxed. Just as we were lining up our approach to Cherbourg, a large container ship crossed our path, and in the confusion of working out how best to keep clear, Molly slipped ahead. As it turned out, this worked in our favour. Charles and Niki picked out a great spot on the visitors’ pontoon at Chantereyne Marina and were waiting to catch our lines as we came in.
Looking back, the crossing has taken on a special significance. Dad is 87 and Mum 83, and it was remarkable to see them still out there doing what they love. We didn’t know it then, but this was the start of what may well be their last overseas voyage aboard High Barbaree. It marked the beginning of a memorable cruise to the Channel Islands and Brittany, and one I’ll always treasure.
Charles Erb (Molly of Mylor) – Cherbourg to Lézardrieux
After our single night in Chantereyne Marina, we emailed our customs forms to leave French water again, heading for St Peter Port. We had a good sailing breeze, but the very strong spring tides turned Cap de la Hague into a bit of a washing machine, even though we timed our passage to arrive at slack water. Once we had turned this corner, we took the ebbing tide down the Alderney Race, keeping a respectful distance from the rocks scattered around that island. We had had glorious sunny weather thus far, but a few miles short of Guernsey, we lost the wind entirely and passed into a fog bank. Visibility fell to about 200m, but we managed to stay more or less in sight of High Barbaree. I was heartily glad when the visibility lifted as we passed the wonky Roustel mark near the start of the channel between Herm and its larger neighbour. Entering St Peter Port harbour, we were greeted by a queue of boats, led one-by-one to berths by the harbour RIB, after being handed our customs form. Once berthed, we enjoyed a beer in the cockpit, in what was now once more a very warm evening.
We enjoyed a single night once again, before pressing on to Lézardrieux. Once again, a paper customs form to satisfy the Channel Islands officals and, once again, an emailed form to French customs. A third long passage saw us closing with the rocky North Brittany shore. Lézardrieux is an almost all-tide marina a few miles up the Trieux river. We arrived a little after high water and the ebb was well underway as we approached.
I was not prepared for the force of the cross-tide trying to sweep us towards the Atlantic – there was a strong breeze behind us, but we also needed quite a lot of engine to ferry-glide our way past the fearsome looking rocks into the estuary. Once past the mouth though, in the shelter of steep valley sides, both wind and tide diminished significantly and we made a peaceful entry to the harbour.
In the morning, formalities complete and united with the crew of Meagan, we explored the small town and decided that an excursion to Paimpol was called for. Though the crews of Molly and High Barbaree had missed the traditional boat festival, we still felt the call of the ancient streets and al fresco dining. We were a party of nine, but a pair of taxis were soon arranged to whisk us off. During our outward journey our driver told us we should arrange the return journey straight away. Alarm bells should have rung at that point!
The recommended taxi company declined to accept our booking for later that evening, so that was relegated to a post-dinner task and we enjoyed a stroll along the harbour walls of this impressive port and then a magnificent meal together. As the desserts were being ordered, further attempts to book a taxi were made, all to no avail. As desperation set in, the very kind restauranteur rang one company after another on our behalf, contacting firms ever more distant. Eventually a car was summoned, and we were shuttled back to our boats with relief.
Grant Morris (Meagan) – Dahouët
‘Meagan’ decided to set off early to explore N Brittany, before being joined by ‘Molly of Mylor’ and ‘High Barbaree’ for the summer cruise to St Malo. Our first destination was Tréguier.
We had a very easy sail after an early departure from St Peter Port, skirting westabout round the Roches Douvres and making the Basse Croublent buoy around late afternoon. The pilotage down the exceptionally pretty River Jaudy leading to the town was a joy, past lovely rolling Breton scenery in the early evening sunshine. We planned to arrive at slack water to avoid the strong tides that runs through the marina; as others have written in various pilot books, Tréguier is a lovely place to stop, if you can! Tides here are king.
Anticipating a few days with the tide forecast to be above even ‘normal’ spring range, we just enjoyed a week in the town. Tréguier is a delightful, medieval town with narrow roads leading up to the imposing Cathedral St Tugdual and the Place du Martray lined with small bars and restaurants – exactly what we were hoping for! The high points being the excellent market held every Wednesday and the remarkable Co.Per chandlery stocked to the roof with 3 floors of almost everything. Moreover, the marina staff could not have been more helpful. They spoke perfect English, were at the pontoon to take our lines and even ordered croissants for our breakfast.
Next stop was Lezardrieux to meet up with ‘Molly’ and ‘High Barbaree’. To cut the corner we took the Passe de la Gaine and the Moisie passages passing inside the impressive Les Heaux light, an imposing structure some 50m high sitting on a pile of rather vicious looking rocks. Part way through the passage the visibility closed in just when we were looking out for a pair of port and starboard posts marking a narrow passage through some off lying rocks. But just ahead of us was a sailing school boat from St Malo so we did the next best thing and followed them!
We made Lezardrieux at slack water and were guided straight to a very convenient finger pontoon. At the top of the walkway was a busy little restaurant saving the walk into the town, so we settled down for a well-earned local ‘Philomenn’ beer and the inevitable moules frites before welcoming our fellow cruisers.
After a couple of days in Lezardrieux, the next stop to explore was Dahouët. Timing was of the essence as the harbour dries, having both tidal and non-tidal moorings. The convoy of three left the marina line astern very early in the morning in complete darkness, heading up to the dominant La Croix light and the Vieille de Loguivy cardinal, our turning mark for the Ferlas passage lying between Ile de Bréhat and the mainland. The scenery either side in the early morning sunrise was dramatic with rocks like sharp teeth stretching off in either direction. Once clear of any hazards and cross-setting tides, it was a matter of plotting a straight course to find the green La Petite Muette tower marking the entrance to Dahoët, an inconspicuous entrance buried in the hillside.
The entrance presented no problems and we were soon passing the distinctive pagoda on the northern shore before shaping up to enter the marina. As soon as all three boats had crossed the sill and tied up in the late afternoon the heavens opened! But the rain didn’t last that long and soon we were all in the town enjoying some exceptional oysters (at 0.5€ each!) on the quayside washed down with yet another beer, exactly why we all came here. After a restful couple of nights in this unspoilt harbour ‘Molly of Mylor’ and ‘Meagan’ set off bound for St Malo bound via the Chenal d’Erquy and Cap Fréhel to rendezvous with ‘High Barbaree’ who had left a day earlier. As the times for the lock at St Malo were inconvenient on our arrival, all three boats reunited at St Malo’s Bas-Sablons marina.
Amanda Morris (Meagan) – St Malo
‘Meagan’, ‘Molly of Mylor’ and ‘High Barbaree’ in St Malo, and a Friday night to boot! What else could we do but find some fellow Old Gaffers, and where else but in the Old Gaffers meeting place within the old city walls? And, as we discovered, literally within the walls!
We entered the old city of St Malo through an archway, turned left, looked puzzled for a moment, there is much to see, it’s a busy place with people ambling, restaurants and cafes. But there were the steps we had been told to look for, leading up to a first level door, with a few ‘gaffer-like’ sorts outside – weathered looks with wild hair. We ventured up and in our best French/franglais for some, confirmed we were in the right spot, further rubber stamped by the gaffers’ logo on the door. The doorway was hobbit like and opened into the most amazing, cosy, warm, arched and cave like space.
Once we had introduced ourselves, we were welcomed enthusiastically by members and Anne Mettel, the president of the French OGA. The evening kicked off with some beautiful guitar playing and singing by one member, soon to be joined by others, mixing group shanty singing with some stunning soloists simply ambling in to the club.
We did our bit with Liz on guitar and supported by all with our best voices. The punch and beers went down well and the evening felt like being a part of a Shakespearian crowd scene. All in all, not to be missed if ever you’re in St Malo on a Friday evening.
Liz Dodwell (High Barbaree) – our paths diverge!
Saturday August 22nd finds us without a crew, since our son has gone home and our daughter isn’t due for a couple of days. Even though our children describe us as the APs (‘aged parents’ – now 87 and 83), we can manage most things on High Barbaree, but someone to leap ashore or catch lines as we come alongside is always welcome. We looked forward to the trip up the River Rance, and with fellow gaffers Molly and Meagan ready to give us a hand, we hoped we’d manage fine.
The Rance is delightful but it’s a shame so little information is available about its tides and when it is navigable. The answer is to phone the lock keeper at le Chatelier, Liliane, the helpful harbour master at Plouer, or even someone in Dinan, that charming city on the hill with moorings on the river below. The almanac and others told us that the tides wouldn’t allow us to get up there with a draught of about 1m but we learnt too late that that wasn’t the case.
Nevertheless, Plouer is a charming spot with fresh croissants ordered for breakfast and an excellent restaurant. The following day we picked up a mooring off St Suliac, a delightful old village with a nice waterside restaurant and useful grocery shop. On returning to the Bassin Vauban marina in St Malo, we brushed aside the fact our reverse didn’t work as we came to moor, blaming it on the helmswoman rushing through the gears. We should have been warned! We were now into dodgy weather and made new plans accordingly with a day enjoying St Malo, several good meals out, walks round the ramparts and some of us even swimming in the sea pool.
However, our drive failed again as we tried to leave the Bassin Vauban at 6am and we reluctantly said a hasty goodbye to our friends on Molly and Meagan as they locked out, and we then managed to limp back to our mooring. We took the enforced extra day to look over the Etoile du Roy, the three-masted replica frigate moored nearby. Back in the ‘90s she was the Grand Turk and Tim was employed as an extra in the film Longitude. He even got paid danger money because he went aloft but he never appeared in the film as he was wearing shoes!
The following day, we found an engineer and a diver who cheerfully banged away underwater and assured us he’d screwed up the prop nut and even put in a split pin to hold things in place. When we locked out later that day, we took a rib alongside with skipper Bob Escoffier who was involved with buying Grand Turk and Cascalot (now Etoile de France) and other memorable events. The following day we had a fairly uneventful sail to St Peter Port with the only excitement being a brief sighting of a couple of dolphins. That all changed just off the harbour entrance! We once again lost all drive – forwards or backwards. We were however partially blessed because tide and wind were slack and we were clear of the ferry’s path. We called the VTS and Jason and Abi from the marina came out to tow us in.
The next day, a dive boat happened to be working on some buoys and they agreed to send their diver (fully equipped for deep sea diving) down to see if we’d still got a prop! We had, so the best solution seemed to be to dry out against the wall of the inner harbour, which we managed the following day. The marina’s huge fenders did a fair job, but weren’t well inflated and we’d let the keel settle a bit too far out. Consequently, we spent six hours at a very interesting angle with only Tim brave enough to tackle the ladder. Lovely Shane, the engineer, gave up his Saturday afternoon with his son and soon replaced our propshaft ‘key’ which had completely sheered off. However, there were gale force winds around, so we spent Sunday touring round the Island by bus, including a visit to the amazing tiny chapel made out of broken china and shells that our daughter had last visited when she was 8 years old.
So, having missed the carnival which we were meant to be helping organise on the Bank Holiday Monday, Tuesday Sept 1st gave us a brief weather window in which to tackle a very long crossing all the way back to the Solent.
Jeni (High Barbaree) – Guernsey to Yarmouth (IoW)
Our return channel crossing started auspiciously, with a glorious sunrise and calm seas, as we set off from St Peter Port before 7am, accompanied by a few other boats who also knew this was the only window for a few days between gale warnings.
We put our propeller issues behind us (quite literally), motored and then motor-sailed with a gentle breeze through the surrounding islets and islands, and then on to the Alderney Race, with a light breakfast en route.
Apart from the odd disagreement about which growing land mass on the horizon was Alderney, and which the Cap de La Hague, we reached the Race happily with a couple of other sailing vessels in view, and, as planned, with the advantage of a favourable and supportive tidal current.
So supportive, in fact, that we were delighted to find ourselves making 9 knots over ground initially, and towards the end recorded 11 as our top speed!
We kept closer to Alderney than the other boats, and found the water was largely smooth and easy going, until we got closer to Alderney’s north eastern tip, where we encountered a few overfalls but nothing major, and then began to find slightly more rolling seas.
Frustratingly, the rolling sea continued for the rest of the crossing, which was mostly uneventful (but with a good lunch in there somewhere, alongside a bit of heavy weather helm!) until we reach the Isle of Wight, on the bearing we’d hoped for, and in good time at around 1730
We toyed with reefing, but didn’t, we toyed with getting the main down, but didn’t, so in fact rounded the Needles with the foresails furled, but rather more sail that we’d have ideally liked.
And so we found ourselves finishing our long day by coming into the Solent and running up towards Hurst Castle, with wind and tide and rollers behind us, and with another post-passage small sailing boat nearby, wallowing along as well.
We weren’t quite on the point of gybe, but with the light failing, a narrow-ish channel, a heavy tiller, a rolling sea, and the odd moment reminding me of dinghy sailing ‘death rolls’ it wasn’t the most relaxed sailing I’ve ever had, and we were all very relieved to make Yarmouth some 14 hours after departure, just as it got dark.
Hungry and tired, yes, but with a certain sense of satisfaction and achievement.
All I can say is, what a fabulous family team effort, and definitely a ‘rite of passage’ passage successfully ticked off my bucket list!
Niki Erb (Molly of Mylor) – Saint Peter Port to Yarmouth
Having spent a lovely evening and morning in Saint Peter Port including a swim in the beautiful tidal pools, we set off in the company of Meagan for Braye harbour on Alderney. Having had a close encounter with a large amount of seaweed whilst at the fuel pontoon the night before, Charles had carefully checked the impeller and everything looked to be fine…. However, it soon became clear that we were not getting enough water through the engine. After a quick pitstop, we couldn’t see any obvious problem and knowing that time was short, we decided to carry on on our journey.
We had a nice sail although rather slow with not much wind, Charles started to look at the engine and narrowed down that we had a blockage in the water inlet pipe before the stopcock. A number of attempts at clearing it whilst under sail were unable to clear it, so we limped on with the wind falling to the lightest zephyr. The engine was just above tickover and we slowly fell behind both our time schedule and Meagan, but cautious about running the engine at any more than low revs in case it over heated.
We entered the Alderney race and the wind started to pick up. We could see a squall coming in but unfortunately it arrived quicker than expected before we could reduce sail. We quickly found ourselves with 27 kn of wind behind us with full canvas up and the last of the Alderney race beneath us. We had a thrilling wild sail hitting 10knots over the ground, while the setting sun was accompanied by flashes of lightning!
We managed to drop the sail and I picked my way into a completely dark Braye harbour, as by now the sun had set and there was full cloud cover. Charles was on the bow calling out what he could see and with the help of Grant and Amanda on Meagan, waving their torches at us, we picked up a mooring close to the harbour wall and settled down to try and sleep. However Alderney had different plans for us, the wind strengthened further and we lay across the increasing swell in the harbour, resulting in a very uncomfortable night. At 4am we finally abandoned the attempt to sleep and Charles got to work on the engine once more and, with the aid of a dinghy foot pump, some newly discovered piping and lots of gaffer tape, he managed to fasten the pump to the water inlet seacock and blew out the obstruction, much to our relief!
We were now able to reassemble everything and make an early start on the final leg of our journey, before the forecast strong winds arrived. We raised Grant and Amanda who, having had just as uncomfortable a night as us, had managed to doze off in the morning, only for us to rudely awaken them!
In the end, the channel crossing itself was straightforward. We were accompanied at different points on the journey both by Dolphin and by a shoal of tuna who were leaping out of the water whilst feeding. We made good time, largely with the wind behind us on a run/training run. The big shipping causing some mid channel entertainment, as ever. We passed through the needles channel just as the Sun was setting and slipped into a berth alongside Meagan in Yarmouth for a very welcome curry they had prepared for us to mark the end of our lovely summer cruise.
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