Ey
es
ite
/^ A
la
m
y^
St
oc
k^
Ph
ot
o
VIVIERS DE TÉRÉNEZ
On the south side of the Landévennec bend you’ll see a low
waterside building with a covered veranda, just downstream
from No 22 red buoy. This is the Viviers de Térénez, run by
the Picart family, a haven of seafood where you can tuck into
superlative crabs, lobsters, oysters and also smoked fi llets of trout
farmed in the estuary. You might fi nd an empty mooring on this
bend, or anchor a little further upstream in the shallow muddy
fringes near Térénez island. Then it’s worth taking the dinghy
ashore to the Viviers for lunch. Be there soon after midday!
The Aulne slides through an almost forgotten valley, with
vistas of looming hills and forest before the country becomes
softer beyond Trégarvan. There are few signs of life above
Le Passage village until the river curves south opposite a busy
road. The last two miles are quiet again, passing marshy saltings.
Above the lock you creep under an impressive viaduct before
reaching Port Launay’s restful quays, lined with very French
houses. Moored comfortably here, you can take the dinghy
further up to visit Châteaulin town.ANSE DU FRET
A promontory called Île Longue juts out over a mile from the
south side of the Rade de Brest and is surrounded on the chart
by plenty of pecked purple lines and Entry Prohibited labels.
This sensitive military zone is a French submarine base and you
must keep well outside its cordon of protecting buoys. However,
it’s OK to enter the south-east corner of the bay, keeping close
past Pointe de Lanvéoc and following the shore round to the
shallow inlet known as Le Fret. You’ll see local boats moored
opposite the quays of a small village. For several days either side
of neaps there’s enough depth to stay afl oat at anchor here, or
you may fi nd an empty mooring. Le Fret is a charming, out of
the way corner of the Rade, which most visiting boats pass by
because of all the military warnings on the chart.Gin-clear water at Pointe
de Saint-HernotA backdrop of typically
French houses gives Port
Launay an authentic feelTHE ÉLORN RIVER
The smaller Élorn River joins the Rade de Brest opposite Moulin
Blanc, a secret water to explore by dinghy on the tide. The head
of navigation is the old market town of Landerneau, where you
can land near a low road bridge. Beyond this modern crossing
is the 15th-century Pont de Rohan, with quaint stone houses and
shops over the river. In the 17th century, sailing barges drifted
up to Landerneau carrying timber, fl ax and a special local granite
from Logonna on the Aulne.ROUND TO DOUARNENEZ
The Toulinguet channel leads close around Pointe du
Toulinguet past the enticing white sands of Pen-Hat. Beyond a
tail of humped rocks – Les Tas de Pois – head just east of south
for seven miles before turning into Douarnenez Bay past Cap
de la Chèvre. This sheltered bight remains something of a
cruising secret, partly because La Chèvre can look so austere
that many boats hurry past. But behind the harsh headland
lie 70 square miles of boating paradise fringed with pines and
gorgeous beaches. At the head of the bay, soft rolling country
lifts gradually inland.
Douarnenez is in the south-east corner of the bay at
the mouth of the Pouldavid River. As you round Pointe
de Leydé, the wooded hump of Île Tristan appears, with its
neat lighthouse amongst the trees. On the west shore is
Tréboul village and a sheltered strand where holidaymakers
splash about. You’ll fi nd Douarnenez town clustered above
the east bank, beyond Île Tristan.