The Glenan Islands
We left the anchorage at Morgat at 9:17 without a breath of wind and headed for the feared Raz on the most begin day you could imagine. It was a stunning start to the day, we were lucky to have made it around the corner for we had friends in the Solent who were running for cover in Chichester harbour as Storm Floris was due to hit the north of the UK but would also bring strong winds to the south. I tried fishing for about 45 minutes until we reached the corner without any luck, I must admit I was surprised having seen a local catch fish not10 yards from our boat last night.
As we approached the corner to head directly to the channel for the Raz we lost all winds and I had to stop fishing and put the engine on. As we motored I could see another boat coming from the North about four miles away on a collision course..it was Songlines. Soon my phone was buzzing, "Hi paul where are you going…" Soon Songlines had decided to join us in the Glenan's!
We had not managed to make it to the Glenan's in the past, on the first occasion in this area it was thick fog and on the second it was too windy. This time however it was neeps and still, if we didn't go now we never would have gone. Once we had passed the Raz we made a big course alteration to the east and we were able to raise our point sail once more and we sailed for hours this way. And then the wind just dropped and the sail came down and we were motoring again.
We entered the achapeligo from the north, and being neeps the tide did not go out too far and as it was dead low tide this made anchoring really easy all we needed to do was choose a spot and drop anchor as the tide was only going to go up. There was plenty of space and we were happy. An hour later Songlines arrived and I was invited for a beer.
The Glenan's are certainly a pretty place to be and it would have been nice to stay longer but we wanted to go south as we want to get to La Rochelle . We went ashore the next morning and found our way to a bar and had a drink and a bowl of chips. From the other side of the islands we could see that at neeps we would have been able to find space but at springs we would have had difficulty with the depth.
That evening the winds were due to shift Northwards and it was not clear if where we anchored would be protected from the resultant swell or not. Whilst we were at the northern side we were inside a row of rocks. We decided to stay it was an easy exit should condition become uncomfortable.
As it happened the winds did not exceed 15knts and it was ok but I got up at about 4am and I looked out the window and we had swung around and were now quite close to a boat that had anchored after us. Boats do not seem to understand that heave boats like our tend to stretch out their anchor chain and anchor too close by. I woke Linda up it was time to go, the wind was perfect for going south and the wind was due to die later in the day so it was actually a blessing that we left.
As we approached the corner to head directly to the channel for the Raz we lost all winds and I had to stop fishing and put the engine on. As we motored I could see another boat coming from the North about four miles away on a collision course..it was Songlines. Soon my phone was buzzing, "Hi paul where are you going…" Soon Songlines had decided to join us in the Glenan's!
We had not managed to make it to the Glenan's in the past, on the first occasion in this area it was thick fog and on the second it was too windy. This time however it was neeps and still, if we didn't go now we never would have gone. Once we had passed the Raz we made a big course alteration to the east and we were able to raise our point sail once more and we sailed for hours this way. And then the wind just dropped and the sail came down and we were motoring again.
We entered the achapeligo from the north, and being neeps the tide did not go out too far and as it was dead low tide this made anchoring really easy all we needed to do was choose a spot and drop anchor as the tide was only going to go up. There was plenty of space and we were happy. An hour later Songlines arrived and I was invited for a beer.
The Glenan's are certainly a pretty place to be and it would have been nice to stay longer but we wanted to go south as we want to get to La Rochelle . We went ashore the next morning and found our way to a bar and had a drink and a bowl of chips. From the other side of the islands we could see that at neeps we would have been able to find space but at springs we would have had difficulty with the depth.
That evening the winds were due to shift Northwards and it was not clear if where we anchored would be protected from the resultant swell or not. Whilst we were at the northern side we were inside a row of rocks. We decided to stay it was an easy exit should condition become uncomfortable.
As it happened the winds did not exceed 15knts and it was ok but I got up at about 4am and I looked out the window and we had swung around and were now quite close to a boat that had anchored after us. Boats do not seem to understand that heave boats like our tend to stretch out their anchor chain and anchor too close by. I woke Linda up it was time to go, the wind was perfect for going south and the wind was due to die later in the day so it was actually a blessing that we left.
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Leaving Morgat -
Taking protection from the sun -
Passing the Raz -
Our anchorage -
The next morning fog! -
The fog soon cleared -
Gioing ashore to explore.