I spent the morning faffing about and got the boat ready to leave at midday. For those of you wondering why I’m leaving in the afternoon, it’s not because I want a lie-in, it’s because I’m paddling with the tides.

The wind was blowing 18 knots NE so I decided to paddle out to the Iles Chausey. They are a group of 365 islands, 17km from Granville and 30km from St Malo. There are 365 islands at low tide and just 50 when the massive 15-metre tide has risen. 

I paddled along the coast to Agon-Coutainville, waves building. I took a bearing from an isolated danger buoy out to the Iles and followed my compass for 1/2 hour before the islands reassuringly popped into sight. The sun shone, the sea sparkled and I had 20km of lovely downwind surfing out to islands. Considering my boat weighs about 45kg once loaded, it’s awesome in the downwind. 

I spent the next couple of hours exploring this paddlers paradise. It’s very picturesque with white sandy beaches and turquoise water. Finding a camp spot was tricky as every grassy knoll was surrounded by big rocks that I couldn’t get my boat up. In the end, I went to Grande Ile and hauled my boat to the top of a never-ending beach. 

Tomorrow I’ll see where the waves take me but I’d quite like to go to St Malo.