Saturday 25th September - ferry home from St. Malo
Early departure from gite. Dark cloudy morning, no stars out. Left about 8:00am and headed to St. Malo via the route we took yesterday across the Rance at Pont Chateaubriand. Glimpses of the Rance from the road north from here.
A bit of a wait for the ferry as various Brittany Ferries trucks loaded / unloaded food for restaurants etc. This time had comfy seats reserved in the Salon on deck 9, a bit extra but worth it for a long crossing. Could also leave some of our stuff here while we went outside / to the cafe for coffee, light lunch and tea. Watched the departure from St. Malo, 10:30am, on the outer deck. Views of the old town, Grand and Petit Bes, Cézembre island. Past the quay with the lighthouse which we walked out onto last week. Some sailing boats out, including three - mast historical looking ship. Views of the Barrage de la Rance shortly after leaving the harbour. Cap Fréhel, a distinctive flat promintory. Think I saw Pointe du Grouin to the east. Drier and mainly sunny, but there was a cool east wind, so uncomfortable staying out too long at a time. In the words of Ouest France's weather forecasts, the sea was peu agitee, with some white waves, but we had a far smoother crossing than the same one on the way back from the 1982 Bryce hols (note 1). Since then, I think they've improved / stabilised the ferries, making for smoother crossings, at least when it's not stormy. Comforttable inside. Ate and enjoyed food.
I don't think there was much, if anywhere in the Channel where I couldn't see land. Before heading north, we headed northeast, passing the Channel Islands, following the Cherbourg peninsula, about 70 miles long, stretching halfway across the Channel here. Passed close to Jersey, with Sark ahead and Guernsey further over to the left. Haven't taken much of an interest in them since a dimly remembered school trip to Guernsey just before I started sceondary school. Passed very close to the northwestern tip of the Cherbourg peninsula, Alderney to our left. Rounded the peninsula at Cap de la Hague, where there was a tall thin grey lighthouse and some buildings above the cliffs with tall chimneys, a mine perhaps.
The southern Isle of Wight came into view a good three hours before we were due in port, the chalk at the western end particularly standing out, catching the sun. The landslipped cliffs between St. Catherine's Point and Ventnor were prominent, too; though I wasn't sure what I was looking at until we got quite a bit closer. The chalk at the western end appeared detached from the rest of the island. Near Ventnor, a harder rock ledge on the highest part of the cliff looked, from a distance like a large building, but knew there wasn't one there. I think we must have seen Portland, too, though that looked different from out to sea, too. Looking back south, it was hard to tell, but could I still see the northern Cherbourg peninsula very faintly on the horizon? Continued watching the IOW as we had tea in the cafe (Note 2).
Went outside again as we passed Culver Cliff, the sea now busy with big ships. Portsmouth came into view as we rounded the island. Could see along the coast between Fawley and Selsey Bill, the South Downs behind. Picked out the spire of Chichester Cathedral. A fine evening we came to Portsmouth, everything lit by the low sun. Though the Bretagne coast was less busy and more picturesque, I thought now that our home coast stood out well, lots to offer, plenty going on, generally a good place to come back to. Good that we were able to stay on deck until we docked, didn't have to go down to the car deck until afterwards; though this did mean we were later home. Docked at 6.15pm UK time, off the ferry about 7.00pm . Therefore, got to view Portsmouth Harbour and the assortment of ships here in the daylight. Passed close to the Historic Ships area, with HMS Victory. In front of it the Arc Royal warship.
Note 1 - St. Malo - Portsmouth sailing home from the 1982 camping holiday, August 1982 - so much for Dad's ideas of spending nine hours or so sunbathing on the outer deck. The crossing was very choppy. For much of the way, he sat huddled outside, clutching a loaf of French bread, using it as a focal point to avery sea sickness. Mum, meanwhile took my brother and me to the restaurant for lunch. I felt really ill, went an ashy white just as Mum paid for the lunch. Promptly made a b'line for somewhere, a crew member calling out as I went the wrong way and hastily handing me a paper bag. My tidal trouble didn't help either - worse in those days, both aches and moodwise, hence, earlier in the week, the crazy golf strops and general moaning. Exactly the sort of thing I meant by coming back to Brittany now as an adult in a better frame of mind than I'd been back then and enjoying it more as a result.
