A forced break from sailing and busyness
Today marks the end of our stay in St. Cast, because tomorrow we will venture on towards St. Quay which had been our initial target last week Wednesday. It was truly amazing here and quiet, although we have experienced a lot of rain and wind. Already when we had arrived, we put up the cockpit tent to make sure that we are covered from the weather which turned out to be an excellent choice expanding our living space not only for us but also Simba.
St. Cast Le Guildo is a picturesque town which is sometimes forgotten due to its proximity to the bigger neighbours such as St. Quay and St. Malo. That said, it features some great houses, cliffs, hiking trails and a few restaurants which are friendly and not too busy. In general, the whole town seemed to be still asleep during the week and prior to busy season (“Dornröschenschlaf” in German). Even the weekly markets only start somewhere later in June. However, this stop and this quiet time is clearly what we needed.
I (André) got already the first feeling of getting a cold in St. Malo, but again we had done and planned so much. After a week in Cherbourg, we really wanted to cover some ground and as you remember had lined up all the stops in a day each: Carteret, Granville and St. Malo. Then in St. Malo, we had to see everything and of course do it all within a day. Some 24k steps later, a rosé as sundowner, and an early departure at 4 am the next day and I (André) was finished. In hindsight, I even realised that I couldn’t enjoy St Malo as much: the marina with a swell and constant noise from ferry boats, so many things we had to see, and must do. Again, remarkable that my body had to bring life to a halt: take it easy boy, this is not your daily grind and no one needs your getting-things-done mentality here.
As we told you in our last post, we did the grown up thing. After 2 hours motoring against the wind, we decided to go to an alternative stop, and the moment the boot was moored everything changed. Life went quiet and slow in the blink of an eye. We moored safely and went back to bed. Lisa had a nap outside under the cockpit tent, while André went together with Simba to the cabin. Remarkably, even Simba sensed that the time was right and slept on André’s legs. Something he rarely ever does, but clearly knew that his captain needed some cuddling.
The next days, and besides some mediocre weather, we enjoyed life: we had a seafood platter, some tasty crepes and moules frites. At last, we went on a little hike covering the beautiful bays and coast walks and exploring the otherwise desterted holiday homes and villas.
And so the days passed by: reading, grocery shopping, some smaller walks and smaller boat jobs, and here we are feeling as if we had a little holiday. Speaking for myself, there is one thing I will try going forward: embed that little holiday a bit more in everyday boating life.
