Piers Rowlandson, OGA Solent member, decided to join the OGA Cruise in Company, Yarmouth IoW to St Malo, Brittany, France: 25 July – 9 August 2015. He sailed with his boat ‘Carlotta’ and crew members Ed and Angus. He was not disappointed. We include an extract from his full report to illustrate the success of the event, alongside invitations to join the French OGA again in 2016 at Brest and Dournanez.
Gaffers from far and wide arrived in Yarmouth Isle of Wight on Friday and Saturday to raft up and await a weather window. There were two boats from the Netherlands and others from the Solent and East Coast of England. The harbour was crowded for the Taittinger Regatta weekend, and ‘Carlotta’ was racing on the Saturday. The weather deteriorated with gales forecast until Wednesday but on Tuesday evening the sun came out and the wind dropped. ‘Carlotta’ and crew re-fuelled and set off down the Needles Channel at slack water. We encountered large steep waves and with wind on the beam made reasonable progress through the night to arrive in St Peter’s Port 18 hours after leaving Yarmouth to catch up with ‘Betty II’, ‘Step Back in Time’, ‘Cine Mara’ and ‘Gwenili’. We sailed together to Sark and then motored on to St Helier, leaving early to arrive before nightfall.
After motoring past the Minquiers next morning, a north wind sprang up and we sailed into the rocky approaches to St Malo, locking into the Bassin Vauban at 16.30 to meet my wife, Kim. Over the next couple of days the rest of the OGA fleet rafted up alongside on the quay and we enjoyed a few days on the beach, in the shops, exploring the ramparts and galleries while the boys went fishing. On Tuesday the French Gaffers started to arrive for a grand reception in the mediaeval tower guarding the city gates. This informal affair was characterised by excellent food, unlimited wine and great bonhomie. We left the next morning, seeing the frigate ‘La Recouvrance’ weighing anchor before being boarded by French customs officers who examined our ship’s papers as we strayed out of the channel. Once they were off, we set course for St Peter’s Port arriving as the light faded.
The boys had to be back at work, so we cast off at 07.00 next morning sailing up the Little Russel with wind and tide behind us. By 23.00 we were in the Needles Channel after a very fast passage to Alderney. We drifted pas Yarmouth will all sails set, like a ghost ship in complete silence. At midnight we dropped the sails and motored the last few miles to Cowes. It was a highly successful first experience of gaffing in France. A big thank you to Ben for organising it all!
Piers Rowlandson, Solent Area [first published in Gaffers Log, September 2015]
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