General
Tucked away between St Malo and St Cast, St Briac is a fairly quiet little spot. There are a lot of boats moored here, sailing schools etc. making the place a lot busier in the height of summer. The approach is from the NW, between Ile Agot and Ile des Hebihens, and there are plenty of opportunities to anchor off, if the wind is not from the NW. The further in you go, the better the shelter, but I wouldn’t plan to visit if strong NW conditions were anticipated.
Tides
Similar to Ile des Hebiens. HW as per St Malo, LW 5 mins earlier.
MHWS 12.0m MHWN 9.1m
MLWS 1.4m MLWN 4.1m
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Approach
From the W, pass by Cap Frehel, keeping clear of off lying dangers, and outside les Bourdinots off St Cast. Then pass N of the Ile des Hebihens, and make for the waypoint which is to the W of Ile des Agots, at 48°38.148N 002°10.591N. There is a white sector on the leading light, bearing 125.5°T on the way in; it can be used at night, and passes 0.8NM clear of Cap Frehel. If it shows green you are too far to starboard, red indicates too far to port.
You can approach the waypoint from due N, passing W of Le Vieux Banc, and E of the Banchenou.
From the NE, pass S inside of the Vieux banc, and start at the Red and White St Malo fairway buoy, in the Chenal de la Petite Porte at c. 48°41.45N 002°07.19N. From here a straight line to the waypoint is OK, but take care passing Basse Pouverre on the western extremity of the Nerput rocks, which only has 2.6m at chart datum. If you are approaching at a time when you have enough water to get into St Briac, you should have a good safety margin over this.
From St Malo, go out to the Grand Jardin, then head W out through the Chenal de la Grande Porte, carry on W of the No 2 red buoy by about half a mile, then head for the waypoint. Basse Poulverre and the W of Ile Agot are to be avoided.
If you want a bit of fun, take the inside channel which starts W of the les Sablons marina. The entrance to the channel is silting up.. I found more water on the S edge of the channel, but take care and don’t trust your chart. Exit via the Chenal du Decolle, then S of the Nerput rocks, inside the Ile Agot, avoiding the drying rocks in mid channel, and then head SE passing SWof the red beacon off Ile du Perron. This can’t be described as a recommended track, but it is navigable with care.
Inner Approaches
From the waypoint, the channel in is marked with port and starboard beacons. After passing the Ile de Perron, keep to port if you need to avoid the rock drying 3m only just off to starboard of the transit. The third port beacon, La Bouche, as one might expect, marks the entrance. Give it a bit of a berth, turn up to the NE just inside the entrance, and start looking for a mooring place. There are many moorings off to port in Le Bechet, and some may well be available if you call the harbour master on 02 99 88 01 75 /
06 08 47 68 82.
