Roger Barnes said the French do these things well - sign up for the whole package! We were talking about the 'Week in the Gulf of Morbihan'; a different way to run a sailing rally. The Gulf is a tidal bay with one narrow entrance to the sea. It lies between Nantes and Lorient. If you are towing a boat it is about 3 to 3.5 hours journey from Roscoff. A look at the Admiralty Chart 2358 shows that the tidal streams can run up to 9 knots.

650 boats had signed up for the rally, not nearly as big as Brest, but it proved to be much more exciting. The Gulf itself is roughly egg-shapes with its long axis lying roughly east west; the entrance to the sea is near the pointed end in the west. The bay has many low islands; two have villages on them and most have one or two houses. Apart from the tourist industry the cultivation of oysters is the main industry. The size of the Gulf is roughly 9 by 4 nautical miles. The Gulf is fed by three rivers from the north - on one is situated the town of Auray and on another the city of Vannes.

My cousin and I arrived on Sunday 20th. May having towed my Tideway dinghy from Roscoff. On Monday we reported to Port Blanc, a ferry port for the main islands. The boats in the rally were divided into six fleets; we were in the Sail and Oar section. These were the smaller sailing and rowing boats without an engine. There were also fleets of double-ended yoles, gigs and sea rowing boats, small traditional boats based on a working tradition, classic boats over 9m long, even larger boats by the famous designers of the seventies, and traditional craft in the old style. Many were replicas, some old.

Monday was spent looking round the wonderful old port of Vannes; in the evening we were able to launch from the slip at Port Blanc. We had a pleasant sail over to Ile aux Moines, returned and tied up to a pontoon near the slip. We had been allocated a permanent tent, on a concrete base, equipped with electric light, fridge, two bedrooms and furnished. We were treated to a French style breakfast all for £27 per head for six nights. A good toilet block nearby.

Tuesday and Wednesday were free sailing days. Tuesday we made a circuit of Ile aux Moines. The organiser told us we might have trouble at the north end if we got there too early on the tide. We did get it wrong! We sailed and rowed for about 45 minutes to do about 200 yards. Nevertheless the whole day was most pleasant. We landed for lunch and swam at the south end of the island. We were fascinated to see oysters growing on the stonework of the little breakwater at Ansede Penhap, where a local man came down with a wheelbarrow and wire basket to At Ile Berber collect his lunch. He knocked the oysters off with a chisel and hammer. When the rising tide is running north on the west side of the island, a counter current is running south on the east side, but we had no difficulty sailing against it. Wednesday we again sailed south with the tide. As we approached Ile Berder we saw yachts to the south of us going through the narrows as if they were jet propelled. We hastily rowed for the western shore, landed and had a leisurely swim and lunch. We waited for the tide to turn near the 9 knot note on the chart and followed the western coast until we got to the south facing beach near the anchorage of Pont de Toulindag where we indulged ourselves to an ice cream! We sailed and rowed, got through the narrows of Port Blanc, got caught in a counter current against which we had difficulty, but some local man towed us in. The evening was a reception and welcoming meal plus entertainment. We got chatting to a man who turned out to be the local mayor, he stood us another drink.

Thursday was the first day of the organised part of the rally. We were all bussed to the port and were to be afloat and ready to go at 11 am. Each of the six fleets had a different itinerary, so the fleets were criss-crossing each other and taking turns to visit different ports, beaches and anchorages. We were to sail south past Ile Berder, through the tidal race of which we had been afraid on the day before. The water was very rough with unpredictable peaking waves including two small one which came over the side which we pumped out. I found that I had to keep my eye on the boats ahead to note the set of their sails and to keep to the fast flowing rough water to avoid the smooth looking whirl pools and counter currents as several boats could make no headway. The dreaded Grand Mouton eddy was quickly passed on our port side and once through the narrows to the north of Pointe de Port Navalo things quietened down. We made for the beach to the south of Pointe de Kerpentier. There seemed to be hundreds of boats on the beach. We dragged our Tideway Buzzard as far as we could and laid our anchors fore and aft, paddled ashore and across the rocks for a rest and to paint/sketch pictures to be followed by a free lunch under the pine trees - I was able to have as many oysters as I could eat!

The Fleet in a tide race When the tide turned we all set off for Port le Bono, a good way up the Auray river. Le Bono has an ancient drying harbour, backed by a delightful village. The sail up the river was very peaceful and scenic with small villages and nice houses fitted into the lovely wooded shores. We were quite early into Le Bono, which was lucky. We moored to a wall at the bows and to series of buoys at the transom. We were able to tie up near a ladder but most were not so lucky and had a perilous crossing over many tippy boats to get to the quay. The Information Clerk told us that the bus would take us back to our camp at 6.30 pm. We took in the atmosphere, did more painting (page 19) and ate our left-over sandwiches and were then involved in our only frustration - the bus did not arrive until about 8 pm. The driver was very apologetic but had been set an impossible schedule. The evening meal in a nearby restaurant set us right however. All of this day and for the rest of the Festival we were guided, helped and if need be, towed by the Police Nationale who were equipped with large and powerful inflatables. They were very good indeed; each boat was also crewed by a local person who knew the area.

On Friday we were taken back by bus to Le Bono. We had another quiet sail down the Auray river on the ebb tide, sailed and rowed north of the islands at the mouth of the river and then northeast towards Lamor Baden, arriving too early. We seemed to be sailing and rowing at a tremendous rate through the water, to no avail. We were stationary over the ground. The oyster beds to the north stayed in the same place. A few boats managed to sail, but most accepted a tow, as we did in the end. It was a good job as we were one of the last to arrive for lunch at Lamor Baden - more oysters! The beach was very crowded. I lent my grapnel to a French Tideway 14' from the River Seine, not too far from Paris. After lunch we had an easier sail southeast to Logeo where we picked up a mooring and rafted up with 5 other boats. That night we were taken home by ferry and returned the next morning by the same means.

Saturday was the final day of the rally. All the fleets were to sail outside the Gulf into the bay to the south of Quiberon. We were sheltered by the outer islands but nevertheless I told myself I was sailing in the Bay of Biscay. At about 1 pm we made for the beach on the south side of Port Navalo for our lunch of sausage and chips - Wot no oysters?! Then for the most exciting sail of all. The whole group of fleets sailed north through the races near Grand Mouton and south of Ile Berder. The boats were very tightly packed; luckily the tide was with us; we had a gentle following wind and sailed northeast, managing to avoid any collisions by dint of a sharp look-out plus a loud voice. The destination was Vannes on the northeast side of the Gulf. To lock in it was necessary to arrive late as the bus back was not until 12 o'clock. We didn't fancy that so dropped off at Port Blanc at about half tide - avoiding the back eddy this time by rowing through the seaweed with the oar almost touching the rocky shore. We tied up to a pontoon and so ended the sail.

We saw many strange boats. One was a class of tiny fibre glass dinghies about 6' long. They had a variety of rigs. I helped pull one up the beach - it was quite heavy. It had a built-in roller at the back, no centreboard but it must have had a lot of built-in ballast. The French 'Ciels' were very good boats, they are clinker pram shaped dinghies and carried a large lugsail with many reefing points. One carried 4 girls and 2 boys and were having a fine time. The yoles sailed either very well or very badly according to the skill of the crew. I was most impressed by my own Tideway and that of Graham Windsor of Dorchester. The boats were very steady and forgiving and sailed and rowed well. Of the English boats there were several Shrimpers and various Drascombes, also several uncommon designs. One was a large punt-like boat from West Mersea; it had a long thin wooden mast and was built like a Conrad Natzio 'Spoonbill'.

On Sunday we had to recover the boat in the early morning to catch the tide high enough, this gave us time to visit by car the eastern side of the Gulf. This was an area of shallow seas with many oyster beds and little tidal islands, each with its little house. It was a very peaceful area far from the more populous ports. We had an uneventful journey back to Roscoff, through roads lined with brilliant gorse and broom bushes. So ended the best sailing holiday so far.