Ad Lib 66

 

Pen Duick V (see Ad Lib 64) skims from crest to crest. Leaping effortlessly, like a silver salmon. 

Stargazer and Pen Duick sail shoulder to shoulder, as they thread the Toulinguet gap. The sun, still to rise, softens a steel grey sky with a suffusion of pink.

Hard on the wind, the two small ships thunder south.

Tacking to clear the Tas de Pois.

The day brightens and mellows. Stargazer tacks on.

Making her landfall five nautical miles east of the Pointe du Raz. For which, Pen Duick has already tacked. Crossing a fleet of Classe Mini 6.50 racers, running in to Douarnenez, beneath serrated ramparts of tumbled granite.

Stargazer follows Pen Duick. Out to the wave gnarled tip of the jutting peninsula. A half filled jawbone, in which only the hardiest rock molars survive the ravages of time and tempest.

The two travelling companions tack on. Standing west to Tevennec. The lighthouse which guards the northern outcrops of the, lower lying,  Ile de Sein. Where Tom Dolan's Figaro lays beached, at risk of breaking up (see Ad Lib 61 & 63).

The tide is setting Stargazer down on the black silhouette of La Vieille. A residual storm-surge rears high. Finding itself confined between the Pointe du Raz and Ile de Sein. Dashing itself against the stoic stone saviour-of-sailors in frustration.

Making seven knots, Stargazer surfs by. Into the Baie de Audierne. Eagerly eating up the miles, through the afternoon.

Heading for the Pointe de Penmarc'h. Gateway to the Kingdom of Summer. Dolphins speed by, circle beneath Stargazer, but do not linger. Speed is all. For the tide is fair, but soon to change.

In the heat of the late afternoon sun, Stargazer eases sheets onto a genteel reach. Her skipper peels off his windproofs, dons shorts and brews a celebratory pot of coffee. 

Stargazer lopes toward Concarneau. Weaving her way between craggy outcrops. A sense of wellbeing settles. as the magical Breizh (Breton) elixir sets to work on her skipper's senses. The potion comprising equal measures of soft sand, hard rock and sparkling seas.