Joan’s editorial in the summer ’94 Bulletin concerning the problem of trailing your boat three or four hundred miles, and then having to endure poor weather struck a chord with me — after suffering what can best be described as the Monsoon of August ’92 in Scotland, I remembered why I tended to head south. Members might be interested in visiting an area which can provide a reasonable amount of both sun and sailing.

In little more driving time than it takes to reach Falmouth or Oban from the north of England, it is now possible with the much improved roads on the French side to reach southern Brittany and the Loire Atlantique. Here the climate is better than the UK. By taking the night ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo and having a cabin, the journey can be less tiring than my usual ‘one quick stop’ journeys to the extremities of Britain.

If anyone is planning to head in that direction next year, might I suggest that they could do worse than start, as we did this summer, from Arzal on the Vilaine, which flows to the sea south of the Gulf of Morbihan and north of the Loire.

The Vilaine is controlled by a barrage at Arzal, which means that you have the choice of exploring upriver as far as you like without tides — in fact you can cross to the north coast on the Vilaine/Rance system if you wish — or heading out of the estuary into the open sea. Here it is possible to coast hop to the Gulf of Morbihan or if you are ambitious, visit the offshore islands. I had planned to do the latter but changed my mind when I started looking up at the waves, and the crew threatened mutiny.

The Vilaine is a very pleasant river whichever way you go, and is pretty quiet even in the holiday season. Upstream about three miles beyond La Roche-Bernard are water meadows and woods with plenty of places to tie up in peace. There is a public slip at La Roche-Bernard but parking can be a problem when the town is busy. However it is possible to tie up a small boat here for a short while to the old quay.

One can then wander into town through the old quarter happy in the knowledge that the tide won’t go out. Downstream it is possible to tie up at the old fishing village of Tréhiguier on a pontoon, or dry out. The bar and crêperie are right on the quay.

At Arzal it is possible to launch a boat off the shore adjacent to the barrage itself, up or downstream, but the kind folk at the Commune de Camoël have built a concrete slip nearby. This is usable at most states of the tide, with parking and toilets free. There are also camp sites nearby if you need one.

One point which was brought home to me very forcibly, was that just because the sun is shining it doesn’t mean that the sea is any more forgiving or predictable. A lee shore is still a lee shore. We had to fight our way off what had been a fairly placid piece of coast after stopping for a sunbathe and a swim, when the sea became very rough very quickly — saved by the outboard — I was so glad I had repaired it! Storms out in the Bay of Biscay can set up an incredible swell, even though there is not too much wind. As the Vilaine estuary and the coast thereabouts is pretty shallow, some large waves can break a long way offshore!