Tuesday 22 June 2004

Dimanche à la plage

Having done less than nothing on Saturday, I compensated on Sunday afternoon by heading out with Didier to Saint-Cast-Le-Guildo (at least, I think it was) for some sailing. I was a bit worried about the water temperature, but otherwise looking forward to it - its been a long time since I've sailed. Anyway, after some very rapid discussion between Didier and the boat guys, we grabbed a hobie 16 and headed out, me in a borrowed short-sleeve wetsuit.

The wind wasn't promising early on, but it picked up once we got out past the point, and I managed to get some quality time out on trapeze, which I hadn't done before. The conditions were ideal to learn - the wind was just strong enough, but fluky enough to teach some lessons about stability, but the waves were mercifully small. Unfortunately, by the time I had a go at skippering, the wind had died down (well, either that or I couldn't find it, but the sails looked right to me). It was a bit cold with only the short sleeves, but I was spared the real test of a capsize, which was a relief.

After the sail and a hot shower, we headed out to Fort La Latte for a look through the reconstructed fort/château, then across to Cape Frèhel for a walk around the lighthouses. It was really impressive to see the strength of the current created by the incoming tide (close to the biggest in the world, which is just to the east at Mont-St-Michel). By the time we got back to Rennes about 9, the cumulative effect of the sailing and Friday's tennis meant I was pretty shagged.

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