Spellbinder rounded the NW tip of France with me, Rupert and Rose providing her crew. We were in company with the delightful Sarah Louise owned by my friend Olivier.

The ‘Abers’ are inlets in that part of the coast. I had been into L’Aber Wrac’h a few times, and into Aber Benoît, but Aber-Ildut was new to me. It proved delightful and easy, just off the Chenal du Four.

Our next stop was Ile de Sein. It’s a lovely island off the coast, quite wild but stunning in its situation just off an infamous and challenging bit of water called the Raz de Sein. We anchored and explored. I was reminded of how most of the inhabitants responded to De Gaulle’s ‘Appel’ of 18th June 1940, making their way to England to join the Free French.

We then had a great evening sail to Sainte Marine, opposite Bénodet, where the main Squadron summer rally was to start. We’d been on the move for a couple of weeks, so it was time for a day of admin, mainly laundry and food shopping. Sue re-joined Spellbinder from UK, while we said goodbye to Rose and Rupert.

We had an evening drinks reception in Sainte Marine, then sailed round to Bot Conan for a welcome lunch. We anchored off in fine weather, and enjoyed a great lunch under a large awning.

An evening motor over to the Îles de Glénan seemed like a good idea, and we had great fun walking around a couple of the islands and socialising with others.

Next we headed to Port Manech for a lunch in the well-known restaurant Chez Jacky. It was a bit of a seafood fest, and delicious. We much enjoyed inviting old friends Alan and Julie, holidaying in the region, to the lunch as well. There our new crew David and Ginny came on board.

We headed off over the bar to the river, making use of a fair wind, and anchored south of the Ile de Groix for the night, before heading to the delightful island of Houat, and the huge anchorage on its east side. As I was running the cruise, I had some treasure to hide and a poem to write to lay a trail of clues to it. Ably helped by my crew, we enjoyed a good walk doing it.

We also had a great evening playing cricket on the beach, including our French members, for whom this was quite an odd experience.

Lots of fun was had in Houat, and Ginny and David took us out to a lovely lunch. After a brief logistical stop in Port Haliguen we headed to the Golfe de Morbihan for more socialising and hospitality from French members Gilles and Pascal.

We much enjoyed the Golfe de Morbihan, and also fitted in a couple of great walks in Ile d’Arz and Ile Des Moines, to work off all the oysters.

When it was time to leave we headed out to Sauzon in Belle Ile where we took a buoy and explored the town, while Sue undertook a long walk to Le Palais, where we entered the inner basin and joined her.

We were now into the final day of the organised cruise. It was a day of flying, boules and a final dinner. The Royal Air Squadron had flown in, and they took us for flights in their light aircraft. Thank you Greville for flying Sue and I around Belle Ile, giving us some great views.

It was a great flight, and we entertained Greville and other RAS members Nigel and Sophie on board Spellbinder for lunch afterwards.

Before the final dinner a needle RYS vs RAS pétanque match was played – sadly the Air Squadron won convincingly, although I suppose we should be grateful that pilots are good at placing things on the ground! I had packed our team with French members, but it was to no avail.

A final dinner in Sauzon marked the end of a fine month of cruising in the Channel Islands and Brittany. I have left Spellbinder in France for a week while I return to life in UK, but head back shortly to sail her to the West Country for more adventures.