I had a productive morning of writing and route planning. Eric told me about the Gulf of Morbihan, a natural harbour with about 40 islands. It sounded like a place I couldn’t miss so I set it as my goal for the day.

I left Étel with recharged batteries (in both senses of the phrase), clean clothes and food for the next day. Eric and I paddled out on the ebbing tide and then battled a headwind towards Quiberon. I was rather envious when after an hour, Eric turned to surf the downwind back home. Thank you Eric and Lucie for a wonderful stay.

Quiberon is a tied island that stretches out to sea more than 10km. It was the venue for the 2019 world champs that I was going to race until I got type 1 diabetes a couple of weeks before. I decided to save a day’s paddling and portage the tombolo where it’s only a few hundred metres wide. Back in 2018, I paddled around the area when I did the Breizh ocean race, so I didn’t feel I was missing out.

I landed on the beach by Fort Penthièvre and wheeled my boat over the road and train track to the other side. After a quick bite to eat I pushed on. Looking across at the pine trees on Quiberon bought back good memories of my last trip there.

The sea was still brown in patches, which it turns out is not river water, but blooms of phytoplankton. Any organism which can’t swim against currents is termed plankton, so that includes some jellyfish, but mostly microscopic organisms. Plankton that photosynthesize are phytoplankton. They’re super important for marine ecosystems and produce more than 50% of the world’s oxygen!

I tapped along into 15-20 knots of wind, working from buoy to buoy along the shore. As I approached the Gulf of Morbihan my speed picked up as the tide sucked me in. A huge volume of water drains through a 900-metre wide channel at Port Navalo so the tidal current is fierce. The Gulf opened up into a beautiful panorama of islands and I consulted my map to find the one Eric had recommended.

The tide flowed like a river and I paddled along at 20 km/h without any effort. Arriving at a pinch point between two islands, it became crazy. This point has the 2nd strongest current in Europe. Whirlpools opened up in front of me and for a moment I thought my boat would be swallowed. Not a place to go for a swim. There was no point fighting the current but it felt like I was getting carried to the depths of the underworld. Yachts and tourist ferries were everywhere, horns blaring as they were swept sideways, seemingly completely out of control. Boat collisions must be frequent here!

I reached Île Petit Logoden, a tiny island covered with pine trees where camping is permissible. Looking at the weather forecast, I saw thunderstorms were predicted. It certainly felt humid and I packed everything away, ready for rain.

Sure enough, at about 4.30, I was awoken by a clap of thunder. For about 15 minutes, I watched lightning to my south, before the downpour began and I was driven to my tent. The storm came directly overhead and I had nowhere to hide, my tent surrounded by trees. I felt very small, at the mercy of nature. My tent stayed dry and I was treated to an intense show. The energy in the air was amazing, the thunder crackling and the whole sky lighting up. What a special night!

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