When there are a bounty of islands close together, you often don’t need to sail far to find wonderful destinations and adventure. Brittany off the French coast offers so much variety to explore, but where do you start with an itinerary? You can start right here and borrow ideas from our 300 nautical mile yacht charter that took in the Quiberon Bay islands, the Gulf of Morbihan and Ile de Ré across 10 days.
Exploring Crouesty, Belle Île en Mer and Houat
Day one: At the beginning of the weekend we left the port of Crouesty, a deep water port that is very well equipped to make your stopover as pleasant as possible. Our first destination was the port of the Palais, Belle Île en Mer, via Quiberon Bay. When we arrived at the port, we had a few hours to wait before the lock opened to allow us to enter the basin.
Day two: We departed early in the morning we motored to the port of Sauzon, Belle Île, which was dry and made it difficult for us to spend the night there. We carried on motoring to Pointe des Poulains, passing between the coast and the famous rock called Le Cochon (the pig). The scenery was breathtaking with beaches, rock stacks and coves galore. We had lunch at Ster Ouen cove, on a wild coast, and left our anchorage in the afternoon to tour the Belle Île, before spending the night at the beach on Houat.
Sailing to Arradon, Hoëdic and Grand Mulon
Day three: We made for the Gulf of Morbihan with a lunch break on the north west tip of Île-aux-Moines. After a drop by Arradon, we left for a very peaceful anchorage in a cove on the river Auray.
Day four: We passed in front of Crouesty and made a quick stop to use the sanitary block for a refresh, picked up supplies at the market and refuelled. In the early afternoon we sailed for Hoëdic and found, by chance, a place on the pontoon. We enjoyed a long visit on this island, walking to the fort, around the port of La Croix and discovering a very pretty coast. We found an anchorage in a very sheltered cove north of Grand Mulon, where a local fisherman gave us with lobsters – a tasty treat indeed!
Navigating Vannes and Yeu
Day five: We left for Vannes and the harbourmaster reserved us a place to allow one of the crew to easily reach the station to return to work.
Day six: We had a lazy start to the day, leaving mid-morning for a very short navigation past charming Conleau to pick up two crew members who arrived by train. We wanted to visit Île de Ré in the next two days, but a gale was forecast so we sailed at night for Port Joinville on the island of Yeu.
Day seven: We arrived at Yeu in the early morning and watched a canoe race between Île d’Yeu and Les Sables d’Olonne before walking on shore. We rented a couple of bikes to visit the old castle and the port of Meule.
The beauty of Île de Ré
Day eight: We left early for the port of Arz en Ré, Île de Ré, as the lock’s opening window was just three hours and we didn’t want to miss it. We covered 50 nautical miles under spinnaker with a record speed of 12.4 knots.
Day nine: While on Ile de Ré, a gorgeous island packed with miles of pristine sandy beaches, we enjoyed a beautiful bike ride and visited the main town of Saint Martin, La Flotte and Sablanceaux Point to see the sea rowing championship.
Day ten: We left at night to sail 110 nautical miles to Crouesty, heading along Yeu Island on the wild coast side.
If you want to discover the islands off Brittany’s coast, give the LateSail team a call on 01227 479 900.
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