La Moira, Tuesday

23 August : Up bright and early, we were still puzzling over why the Navtex gadget hadn’t been receiving any weather information. It had proved invaluable in the Baltic, and we were sure there should be broadcasts for our area. As we were preparing to leave, a chap arrived in a zodiac to post the latest forecast on the noticeboard nearby.  I rushed over to have a look, and took the opportunity to smile sweetly and ask for a hand with our departure. He readily agreed, and brought his boat round to our berth. We got things a bit wrong, and released the lines in the wrong order, so it was handy that he was there to give us a little nudge in the right direction. Skipper was by now mastering the art of marina manoevring by means of short bursts of power – we were starting to look quite competent!

We motored south towards the Passage de la Teignouse in a very light breeze, and found that the buoys marking the passage were very clearly visible and easily identifiable. We were in the company of a couple of yachts following the channel under sail, and we could have done the same, but there was barely enough wind so we were content to motor.  We were well ahead of slack water, due to the need to arrive early at Le Palais, but the advice we had received, that the passage poses no problems in decent weather, proved to be correct.

By the time we had cleared the passage, the wind had picked up, so we got the sails up and had a fun upwind sail to Belle Ile. The harbourmaster offered us a place in the inner harbour. This has the advantage of quayside or pontoon mooring, but would have meant waiting until one hour before high tide the following afternoon for the lock to open so that we could leave. We therefore asked for a place on one of the large shared buoys in the outer harbour. Despite having read the description in the pilot book, we weren’t quite sure how this was going to work, but were assured that someone would be there to help us. As we approached the harbour entrance, a girl in an orange zodiac approached at high speed. This was the Mooring Fairy. She very efficiently attached our stern to a buoy which already had 3 boats attached to it, and took a line from our bow to a chain attached to the harbour wall. It was hard to see where any more boats could possible go, and we were fascinated to watch as more and more yachts were packed in during the course of the afternoon. We had the presence of mind to launch the dinghy and attach it to the stern cleat before we became too tightly wedged in. To add to the fun, the port is served by quite large ferries which use every inch of the remaining space in order to turn around.

A hard-working buoy!

Here again, we were part of a little floating community. Dinghies, with and without engine, threaded their way between the lines of yachts, ferrying their crews ashore to go shopping and sightseeing.  We paddled across the harbour to the slipway, and this time remembered to pull the dinghy well above the high water mark and to tie the painter to an immovable object.

Le Palais is a pretty little town, overlooked by an impressive Vauban fort. We walked up to the clifftop, with the Skipper muttering to himself all the way. Exercise makes him rather grumpy. The view from the top was worth the effort, though. We had a look round the fort, which now houses a smart hotel, and strolled back to the port. There was a lively holiday atmosphere, with ferryloads of tourists wandering the little streets and filling the terraces of the bars and cafés.

Le Palais, Belle Ile en Mer

Paddling back to La Moira with our shopping, we looked up to find a huge ferry looming over us as it made to leave. We paddled as fast as we could to the shelter of the little yacht colony, ducking under the warps of neighbouring boats to get to our place in the middle.

We ate a delicious chicken curry (if I say so myself) and green lentils cooked with ginger and fresh coriander, and Skipper prepared the passage plan for the next day’s sail to Hoëdic.