alexincornwall
Active member
Afternoon all,
We’re taking our boat from Falmouth La Rochelle in just under three weeks’ time (fingers crossed, this trip has obviously been a bit stop-start of late). It’s a one hit journey south but we’ll be taking our time on the return (I posted about that last year: Falmouth - La Rochelle with a month to get back ).
I’m beginning to consider the route south in more detail and note that there seems to be a considerable difference in opinion where Ushant is concerned, particularly whether to take the outside track (west) or the Chanel du Four on the inside. I’ve done this once but we were on passage from Bristol - Gib and were miles out to the west. I was leaning towards the outside route for the following reasons, but interested in opinions.
The westerly route -
Pros:
- Fewer tidal gates to time for
- We’ll be well clear of the nasty rocks
- Possibly less chance of poor vis
- I want to be well west of the Raz de Sein so this puts us in a good starting position
Cons:
- We’ll be cutting the TSS and ITZ relatively fine, though not actually entering either
- We’d make up a few miles over the inside track though it’s pretty negligible
- I suppose we might lose the benefit of some calmer seas in the lee of the islands
- We’d also lose the benefit of a fair tide if our Chanel du Four timings were spot on
The return trip north will definitely be via the Chanel du Four as we’ll be taking in Cameret and L'Aber Wrac’h.
We’re taking our boat from Falmouth La Rochelle in just under three weeks’ time (fingers crossed, this trip has obviously been a bit stop-start of late). It’s a one hit journey south but we’ll be taking our time on the return (I posted about that last year: Falmouth - La Rochelle with a month to get back ).
I’m beginning to consider the route south in more detail and note that there seems to be a considerable difference in opinion where Ushant is concerned, particularly whether to take the outside track (west) or the Chanel du Four on the inside. I’ve done this once but we were on passage from Bristol - Gib and were miles out to the west. I was leaning towards the outside route for the following reasons, but interested in opinions.
The westerly route -
Pros:
- Fewer tidal gates to time for
- We’ll be well clear of the nasty rocks
- Possibly less chance of poor vis
- I want to be well west of the Raz de Sein so this puts us in a good starting position
Cons:
- We’ll be cutting the TSS and ITZ relatively fine, though not actually entering either
- We’d make up a few miles over the inside track though it’s pretty negligible
- I suppose we might lose the benefit of some calmer seas in the lee of the islands
- We’d also lose the benefit of a fair tide if our Chanel du Four timings were spot on
The return trip north will definitely be via the Chanel du Four as we’ll be taking in Cameret and L'Aber Wrac’h.
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