We left Sauzon to continue our Island tour. It was a very short sail to the small island of Houat. Given the wind direction we eschewed the tiny harbour of Port Saint-Glidas and headed for the popular anchorage Tréac'h er Goured. We hadn't quite understood the scale of "popular"! There must have been close to 150 boats anchored there for the July 14th weekend! The French seem remarkably blasé about anchoring. We like to get the hook down, set it and ensure we're ok for a while before heading ashore. The French arrive, dump a load of chain in the water and are in the dinghy, heading ashore before the boats has stopped moving. This often leaves the boat drifting close to others and we've seen some very near misses by boats swinging close together, especially as the tide turns!

The bay was also providing entertainment for the kite surfers, as the offshore wind was blowing quite well. I've not seen foiling kiteboards before. As the weekend progressed, the bay got busier and busier. The beach was littered with dinghies as everyone went ashore - though there's not much to do ashore - it really is a tiny place. For a while there was space in the port, but it also up eventually. On Sunday evening we went ashore to join the masses watching the football World Cup final. "On a big screen" the poster in the village centre had said, In aid of the Sapeur-Pompiers. With fireworks too! Well, it was good fun. 300 people watching the football on a TV smaller than the one in our living room at home :) We sat with a French couple who were also in the same anchorage as us - and picked up some hints and tips on other places to go. They always head to Spain for their holidays, crossing Biscay in August back and forth. It's funny that to us, Biscay is a Big Deal, but to them it's the start of their holiday. Puts things into perspective a bit - that's not to say its to be taken lightly - but gives a more realistic slant.

The fireworks were great. Straight above the harbour, with charred paper drifting down onto the moored boats! Not something the you'd see in the uk, and we were very glad to be anchored three quarters of a mile away!

So it was out first after-midnight dinghy back from the beach to the boat. We'd left the anchor light on, along with the cockpit lights and some interior lights - but it was still hard to see the boat from ashore. We have a little all round white light which we stick on the outboard at night, to comply with IRPCS as the number of dinghies moving around unlighted is a bit worrying. Accidents can and do happen! As we got further off the beach, we could see Duplicat pretty well. We'd changed the anchor light a couple of years ago for a Lopolight unit, which draws very little power but emits a surprisingly bright light.

The next morning we motored over to Hoëdic (prounouned "Edic") and anchored off the north of the island near the port. Another beautiful spot that turned into a boat park! We went ashore for a walk around the Menhirs - but didn't spend as long here as Houat. We were heading south! 2 more islands were on our radar....