Early Season adventure to Brittany or Channel islands on a Brixham Trawler.

Provident English Channel Adventure

The great thing about starting a cross Channel voyage in Brixham is that you have such a lot of choice. Provident's home port is closer to the Channel Isles and an easier hop under sail to the North Brittany coast than from the Solent or from Falmouth. For the skipper that is brilliant because pretty much whatever the wind directions they can decide on a good voyage that every one will enjoy.  If you are lucky to get the prevailling South West wind both ways you can enjoy a beam reach (wind at right angles to the direction you want to go and blowing on the 'beam' or widest part of the boat) which is a fast course for any vessel.

Night Sailing Under the Stars

If you are recently converted to sailing or have maybe done a Competent Crew course and looking for your first offshore experience then this would be a good introduction.  There is plenty of challenge for experienced sailors - watch keeping as you cross busy shipping routes, understanding the lights of ships a night, helping with the pilotage and recording the ships progess in the ships log and on the chart.

Quality Cooking at Sea

Provident prides itself on cooking fresh food on board, whatever the weather. Adult charter voyages are a popular with the chef as she or he can cook their own favourites, rather than supervise youth crews producing their first meal.  Visiting French Ports means they can dip into the delights offered by French Markets or seafood ashore.  Our price includes all meals but if the crew decide they want to sample a restuarant meal then you need to allow some euros to do this.  Sometimes there is wine on board to buy but it is a good idea to bring a bottle or two to share, in case you first arrive in a wild anchorage rather than a French Port

There are three main areas to choose from:

Channel Islands

The Channel Islands lie to the south east and offer many different islands to visit. The main Islands of Jersey and Guernsey have big marinas and ports for the main towns and very cosmopolitan they are too. Good shopping and excellent food.  Provident loves to visted the less crowded islands of Sark with its high cliffs or Alderney with stunning beaches and sinister gun emplacements from WW2.  The whole area is brilliant for breeding seabirds.

Brittany

Brittany is due south and has even better food and some challenging entrances for a sailing yacht. Provident has visited the Granite Rose Coast many times and places like Paimpol or the deep winding rivers upto Lezardrieux or Treguier are firm favourites and all within range.

French Islands

Isle de Brehat is a bit like a French Isles of Scilly. A rock garden of granite and low slung cottages with tiny towns and small stone walled fields.  The Sept Isles are uninhabited, and host an old lighthouse and 26 000 breeding gannets.

West Country

If the weather is too wild to cross the channel or you arrive back a few days early then South Devon and Cornwall have some quaint harbours and exciting sailing along the rugged coastline. Dartmouth and the Britannia Royal Naval College, Salcombe, Cawsand, Fowey, St Mawes, Falmouth and the Helford all offer a welcome shelter for a variety of wind and swell directions, as well as being beautiful locations. The South West Coast Path provides access to good coastal walking at almost every anchorage, and a beach barbeque is always a possibility.