A few days ago, we arrived in the small French island called Bréhat. We were there almost two and one-half years ago, when we were first starting our time on Sila. Bréhat is one of our favorite French isles, which is saying a lot because French isles have brought us many memorable experiences. It was fun to compare our first visit with this one, go for a couple of nice walks, and have an interesting dry out experience. (When we dry out, we come into a harbor with a flat bottom and let the tide drain out the water, thus letting Sila rest on the ground until the tide comes in again.)
The first time we came to Île de Bréhat, it was early July, near the height of the tourist season. There were tourists then and many wealthy French people who have vacation homes there, so the island was bustling with people. A few days ago, November 5th, the island was calm, almost desolate. The narrow cobbled lanes and little stone houses were silent, creating an eerie air broken only by the rare year-rounders, driving their tractors around the island. The difference was amazing, if not shocking.
Porter, Ben and I on one of the many, narrow, cobblestone lanes
Our first time on Bréhat, we took this picture.
Same place, two and one-half years later
The first time we dried out on Bréhat, two and a half years ago, we had a little trouble getting ashore. When we stepped down from the boat, our feet immediately sank into sticky mud. On walking ashore, my boot would sink down and get stuck if I did not move quickly. If I moved too quickly and stepped wrong, my whole boot would come off, stuck in the mud. We did ultimately get ashore but it took some time and our legs were covered in mud. A few days ago, the mud was still sticky and squelchy but did not steal the shoes off our feet. Bréhat set a high standard for what bad mud is like, so we often find ourselves noting that a place does not compare to the record-setting shoe-stealing mud of this French island.
The famous Bréhat mud picture from 2013
Both times we have had....interesting experiences with drying out in Bréhat. The first time, we came in and anchored in the middle of the harbor. When the water drained out, we set down right on the stream that carries out the last bits of water. We were tipped slightly for a good chunk of the day and some of the night. The chances that we would set down right on the stream were low and we felt we had the worst of it. We were sadly mistaken. A few days ago, we anchored in a different part of the harbor. By our bad luck, we were right next to the other stream and we were tipping ever so slightly again. I found it funny that twice, in different spots, we landed on the two bad places.
We went to bed and over night, the tide rose then set us back down, this time, on the other side of the draining stream. Sila gradually began to tip more and more. At breakfast more bad luck struck. I felt this funny feeling, then a panicked instinct. Everybody threw out his/her arms to catch anything not tied down. With a jarring thunk, we keeled over to about 25 degrees. 45 degrees is diagonal, so we were tipped a lot. Though quite uncomfortable, we were all fine, and I even thought it was kind of funny. We were safe because Sila's hull prevents her from tipping all the way over. Now we know where the expression"Keel over" comes from. Sila leveled out as the water came in.
Ben eating breakfast on the very-tipped boat
As uncomfortable as it was, you can see in this picture that Sila can't really tip over anymore
Somebody needed to stay on the boat to make sure she righted herself smoothly when the water came in, so Daddy kindly volunteered while Ben, Porter, Mama, and I went for a walk.
Porter at the tidal mill, November 2015
The same mill in July 2013
This is Porter and me at a lighthouse in 2013
Here I am headed toward the same lighthouse in 2015
Mama and I took this selfie near the lighthouse
While Ben and Porter explored the island together, I went walking around with Mama. This chocolate bar was one of the highlights of our time together. -JackRabbit
Fantastic!
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