Page 33 - Yachter Autumn 2023

unwilling to start, soon Dad was on the radio
to warn the container ships heading straight
for us that we were there. Then he was over the side and it turned out we had a rogue fishing buoy wedged between the rudder and propeller. Resolutely refusing to budge, Mum eventually had the idea to tape a kitchen knife to a pole and to try to pop the buoy. Thankfully it worked and we were free. However when pulling up the sails again, the main halyard snapped...
The wind was building, the waves getting bigger and the tide had swept us miles away from Guernsey. Today was Toby’s 11th birthday and he’d been promised fish and chips and ice cream, so we went to Cherbourg instead. Maybe we’d not had enough excitement though, as embarrassingly I fainted in customs!
The following morning we made the short hop to Alderney, where we were pleased to find a band playing in the pub; mum and I were soon on the dancefloor. We stayed in Alderney for a few days and loved it, walking most of the way round the island along the dramatic cliffs of to see the forts, gannets (Solan Geese!), pigs, beaches and eat ice cream. On our last day, we anchored alone in a beautiful little bay with clear water for lunch, before sailing to Sark. Sark is one of our favourite places from last year, so it was nice to be back in the turquoise waters with huge cliffs and caves.
Next stop was Treguier, France. Toby tried to catch fish for 50 miles but without much
luck. Up the river, we anchored on a pretty bend underneath a little Chateau where we had Toby’s birthday tea and cake! Treguier was lovely and we found another music festival! Mum even managed to go out on her bike, so everyone was happy.
On to Port Blanc, where we anchored in the clear blue water in the bay. Port Blanc was amazing and we all really want to go back. The bay has a sailing school and we spent many hours watching everyone zoom around, using us as a racing mark! There was great climbing and clambering to be done over the granite rocks, including some big scary climbs with
mum and dad. We had BBQs on the beach on islands with no one else there, and Mum finally did some painting, while Dad practised his wing-foiling (with me following in the kayak as a rescue boat). Meanwhile, Toby was still trying to catch fish for supper!
We left Port Blanc for Trebeurden, via
a lunch stop near Ploumanac’h, where we found hot showers and a brilliant chandlery, where Dad was able to buy underwater glue for a hole that had appeared and was letting
in water! Sadly we weren’t able to explore the islands around Trebeurden, as we were told that we needed a passport stamp from Roscoff
LEARNING TO RELAX 33