An Explosive Trip to Port Haliguen

Port Haliguen

After two lovely days on the Ile de Groix we decided to head for Port Haliguen on the Quiberon Peninsular on our way to the Morbihan. It was light winds but we tried to sail. I put up the cruising chute ... and failed completely. The line for the snuffer sock had somehow got wrapped around the chute. In the end I dropped the whole thing and stuffed it down the forward hatch to sort out later!

Once we had our white sails set we weren't making bad progress, about 4.5 knots over ground in sunshine. There were regular broadcasts on the radio, which as we got closer to the Teignouse passage I managed to translate from te rather fast French that there was an exclusion zone just East of the Teignouse lighthouse due to explosions taking place. We ended up following a circular course under engine as the wind died keeping clear of the underwater operations.

Teignouse Lighthouse

As we got a little North of the lighthouse the wind picked up and we started sailing again. We couldn't make good a course for Port Haliguen at first, but as the wind curled around the Quiberon peninsular we headed more and more towards our destination. I put the autopilot in wind vane mode holding a close hauled course and we gradually swung round almost making it in one tack. A cheeky tack later and it was engine on to enter the harbour.

We were met by a dory and asked if we wanted to go into the inner basin. We said "yes" and were led over the sill to a long pontoon berth. In June it was quite quiet and we liked being in the basin. It was close to the amenities and restaurants ...one of the first things we did was buy an ice cream! I would imagine that in high season though it might be rather hot, crowded and noisy.

Rather strange sculpture in Port Haliguen

Again we made good use of the bikes going into Port Maria along the delightful coastal route. Port Maria is a typical French sea side resort. We had a lovely lunch there overlooking the beach at a hotel restaurant.

View from Port Maria