Tréguier

It’s hard to believe that only two days ago we were in Guernsey. Our passage to Tréguier was relatively fast, and we averaged a little better than our normal five knots. The rocks at the approach to the river were quite impressive, and the current was fast, but it’s well-marked and wide, so we had no problem negotiating the twists and turns, even when our chart plotter didn’t quite line up on the buoys. What we didn’t anticipate was the tiny little sticks, most with tiny little flags, that mark some sort of fishing pot or net or line all over the approach. Some of them were very difficult to see, and we did have to turn to avoid one.

Channel markers at the approach

View of artichoke fields from the river

It was due to the fishing sticks that we changed our plans again. We had thought that we would leave here at high water slack about 0420 this morning—still in the dark. Instead we’re leaving at high water slack 12 hours later. So instead of another stop on the English Channel, we’ll be sailing overnight all the way to Cameret in South Brittany. That’s where we’ll wait for our weather window to cross the Bay of Biscay to Portugal.

All of this gave us extra time in Tréguier, and we’ve enjoyed it very much. The town is very old—15^th and 16^th century—and unlike many French towns along the Channel, it wasn’t destroyed in either world war. Also, in contrast to Honfleur, for example, it hasn’t been overrun by tourists. You can really feel the history here among all the old stone buildings. Unfortunately, we don’t know much about the details of that history and haven’t been able to find much on the Internet in English.

Typical stone houses with flower boxes

Cat in the window

We also had very nice neighbors here. They're from Jersey, and we didn't get their names, but we did watch them sail into the entrance behind us. Then while we were waiting for slack at the pontoon outside the marina, we watched them go past us and dock. That's when we decided that it must be slack enough. The currents through the marina are notorious, so we were being extra careful.

Our night lights: buoys off the stern

John got lots of pictures despite yesterday being overcast. The evening light was beautiful when we came up the river, and today is bright and sunny. I'm sure the photo page will be great when we get it done.