Sea Kayaking Safari – Brittany – Day 2 Ria d`Etal

2026 08 17 Ria d’Etel by Catriona H

We decided we needed a sheltered paddle as the wind was increasing during the day. We launched from Saint-Cado a small village on the Ria d’Étel and headed inland with the tide. First we went through a small tunnel under a causeway. There was not enough headroom so we used a variety of techniques to avoid banging our heads. 

We passed by several stakes in the water and saw some nets underneath. We found out what these were later. Then we passed an old building with a good mural of an old man, a ship in a storm and a seahorse. 

We passed further up the estuary, passing a small harbour just after the tide turned. We paddled until we thought we would run out of water, and returned to the small harbour for lunch. We met a Belgian ninger practising rolls in a Greenland kayak while wearing a traditional tuilik (a tight-fitting waterproof jacket that seals around the cockpit rim and your wrists/face) requires specific techniques to handle the extra buoyancy and snug fit.

After a nice break we headed down for another stop, where there were notices explaining the long history of shellfishing in the area, the stakes were to show the location of oyster nets. The estuary is also a natura 2000 site with lots of seagrass.

We sped back with the ebbing tide, and played in the tunnels under the causeway. Before landing and heading to a café for coffee crepes and beer.

Catriona 

Catriona was asked to re-submit her homework in a more lyrical form:

As winds grew strong upon the bay,
To shelter we pursued our way.
From Saint-Cado, a village small,
We launched our craft, and left behind the squall.

With rising tide, we drifted inland deep,
Beneath a bridge where headroom was asleep!
We ducked and slid, a varied, awkward crew,
To clear the stone before our eyes anew.

Past wooden stakes that marked the watery deep,
And hidden nets where quiet fishes sleep,
A painted wall appeared along the shore:
An ancient man, a ship, a seahorse lore.

Up the estuary we gently wound,
Until the turning tide and peace were found.
We paddled onward till the shallows grew,
Then turned to lunch where waters met anew.

There met a Belgian rolling on the tide,
In Greenland craft, with tuilik at his side,
A snug-sealed jacket keeping water out,
While practising his rolling skills about.

A restful break, then onward down we steered,
To read of shellfish when the coast was cleared.
The stakes marked oysters underneath the sea,
In Natura 2000’s sanctuary.

With ebbing tide, we sped upon our way,
And played once more in tunnels of the bay,
Before we landed, weary, glad, and free,
To find a café, crêpes, and cooling beer, you see.

— Catriona