Once in the water again we quickly got her victualed and set out of the lock to actually do some sailing. Our first stop was Port Haliguen, about 12 miles across the Bay of Morbihan.
We’d been here before, but this was our first experience in in the visitor holding pen which, at first seemed quite pleasant but as the day went on this little corner of the marina was rammed and we were right in the middle of this chaos. I actually lost count of how many boats were rafted outside of us as on the outside it was possible to walk from one side of the marina to the other as the port and starboard raft’s met!
At low water a flap gate goes up and that’s it, you’re all trapped in with nowhere to go whilst you all rub fenders and try and get some sleep.
At 6am the next morning practically every boat left at the same time returning the pen to some form of tranquillity. Not wanting to go through this experience again, as soon as the tide came in, the flap gate went down, and the lights turned green we exited out for more calmer waters and fewer people.
Back across the bay we entered the Morbihan sea, but instead of turning to Starboard towards Vannes and the islands, we continued north and headed up the Riviere d’Auray to Bono where a very inviting visitor buoy was lashed; at last we were all alone again.
As with Port Haliguen we’ve been here before and we suddenly had this light bulb moment asking, ourselves ‘where has our adventure gone’? We’re now visiting places we’ve been at least twice sometimes three times. We know where the best coffee shops are, the best bread shops and the best bar to get an ice cold beer and a great view – so again what has happened to the adventure? It is definitely time to head to Spain.
In order to do something different we took the dinghy 45 minutes upriver to the picturesque village of Auray which was delightful. The next day we headed up the tributary, known as the River d’Bono, as far as the tide would allow us. Sadly we failed to reach the dam due to a fallen tree blocking the stream.
Bono is a quiet little comer of France but is made famous as being the burial place of Bernard Moitessier, a French Sailing icon. In 1968 Bernard competed in the first round the world non stop single handed yacht race. Sir Robert Knox-Jonson was the winner of this inaugural race on the basis that he was the only one that finished! Bernard could have finished first but as he entered the final section heading north back to the UK from Cape Horn, he suddenly turned east and decided to go around again. Would Bernard have won if he had carried on? As they were both sailing at different times in different oceans at different speeds it is impossible to calculate. Whatever happened, Bernard passed up the chance of instant fame and a world record. He carried on to sail a total of 37,500 nautical miles and spent 10 months at sea eventually landing in Tahiti. It is customary to leave a boating item on his grave, hence the mess…..
18th – 21st August 2025
Trip Mileage 46 miles
Mileage Completed 2555 miles