Oosterschelde - North Biscay, Belle Isle & Gulf Of Morbihan Festival - 8 days €775

Spring Voyage to the Gulf of Morbihan

This voyage will bring you to the ancient French city of Vannes. This little city lies at the Gulf of Morbihan, a shallow island sea filled with small islands ‘halfway’ down the French west coast. The ‘Oosterschelde’ will be the flagship of the maritime event ‘La Semaine du Golfe’. On 22 May you are expected onboard of the ‘Oosterschelde’ around 10:00 hours. The ship will be moored in the Veerhaven in Rotterdam. On this evening there will be time to show the ship to your family and friends - if they have travelled with you - whilst enjoying a cup of coffee. Then the captain will gather everyone and tell you about the (safety)rules onboard and the planning of the voyage. That same night we leave. Across the ‘Nieuwe Maas’ and the ‘Nieuwe Waterweg’ we sail to the North Sea.

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Normandy, Channel Isles & Ushant

Through the Strait of Dover we reach the English Channel. Here we will make our first stop, for example on Alderney (one of the Canal Islands) or in the French harbour of Cherbourg.After this we continue west. Île d’Ouessant with its lonely lighthouses marks the end of the English Channel. We sail close to the edge of the continental shelf where the Bay of Biscay becomes the Atlantic Ocean so this is a great voyage for spotting ocean seabirds as they return to the coasta of Europe to breed, and an excellent voyage for dolphins in the rich seas. Past the coast of Bretagne we sail towards the south.

Belle Ile - a favourite Biscay Island

Before we enter the Gulf of Morbihan we anchor at ‘Belle Île’. The name says it all; here we will go ashore for a beautiful walk, of a visit to a citadel or one of the cafés or restaurants. For the last part of the voyage in the ‘Golfe du Morbihan’ a pilot will come on board. With speeds up to 9 knots on these narrow waters, this is no unnecessary luxury. In Vannes there will some time to take a look around at all the boats and ships, which have gathered here for the festival. Sunday 29 May you return home.

Lofty Rig with huge gaff sails

The gaff sails on all three masts are huge and it is a long way up to release the gaskets and set oosterschelde's square sails. There is a Captain, Mate, couple of deck hands, engineer and chef so the ships guest crew will need to work hard as a team to race this impressive ship.

Oosterschelde is a very comfy ship - restored for adventure charter with a huge saloon with bar, piano, wood burning stove and library so if you have always fancied running away to sea for a few weeks, we can't think of a more stylish way to do it as hands on ships crew.

 Depending on wind and weather conditions the travel plan could be altered, however we always try to sail as much as possible

Both of Classic Sailing working directors have sailed on Oosterschelde in Jan 2011 so we can tell you what she is like to sail on if you give us a ring.

More details and photos of Oosterschelde - see vessel details tab above.