Audierne

[franksingleton]

Winds next week will be mostly SSW to W.
Loctudy very sheltered in those winds.

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BUT, Wednesday and Thursday winds for Loctudy on the latest GFS were very much round to S. Ventusky.com has a good display. They also show the DWD ICON-EU. Or, PocketGrib

PS Correction, Wednesday, not Thursday. I had an earlier forecast in mind.

 

[Koeketiene]

BUT, Wednesday and Thursday winds for Loctudy on the latest GFS were very much round to S. Ventusky.com has a good display. They also show the DWD ICON-EU. Or, PocketGrib

Even so - Loctudy is open to the sea in the SE.





We all have our preferred weather routing site, and over the years I have found Sailing Weather - Marine Weather Forecasts for Sailors and Adventurers - PassageWeather to be very reliable.
It is the only website I visit - in combination with a GRIB app on my phone.
FWIW: judging by information available, Saturday seems like a good time to leave.

You may well be of a different opinion, but I do not find Audierne an ideal starting point for a Biscay crossing.
And for the following reasons:
- no 24 hour access. Therefore your departure time options are restricted.
- you may be on the south side of the Raz du Sein, but the tide still runs strong in the Baie d'Audierne. Ideally, you would want a south running tide. Further restricting your departure time options.
It may be because of my grey funnel background, but I do not like ports I can not leave within 15-20 minutes of deciding to do so.

I will leave it there.
It is not my call/decission to make.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Even so - Loctudy is open to the sea in the SE.

View attachment 96879

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We all have our preferred weather routing site, and over the years I have found Sailing Weather - Marine Weather Forecasts for Sailors and Adventurers - PassageWeather to be very reliable.
It is the only website I visit - in combination with a GRIB app on my phone.
FWIW: judging by information available, Saturday seems like a good time to leave.

You may well be of a different opinion, but I do not find Audierne an ideal starting point for a Biscay crossing.
And for the following reasons:
- no 24 hour access. Therefore your departure time options are restricted.
- you may be on the south side of the Raz du Sein, but the tide still runs strong in the Baie d'Audierne. Ideally, you would want a south running tide. Further restricting your departure time options.
It may be because of my grey funnel background, but I do not like ports I can not leave within 15-20 minutes of deciding to do so.

I will leave it there.
It is not my call/decission to make.

I agree nothing to recommend Audierne as a starting place and there is nothing in the forecast that would make Loctudy untenable or for that matter uncomfortable. Friday evening / Saturday morning looks good to me for a departure as I said earlier and today or tomorrow looks for getting through the Raz before the wind strengthens and turns southerly. Bit of a no brainer really.

 

[webcraft]

We are in Audierne. Came in 2 hours after HW and least depth under the keel was 2.2m

We initially berthed on one of the hammerheads. Harbourmaster greeted us and warned of swell in the forecast weather. He offered us another berth on a finger, and we are now very comfortable.

Looking at the weather, we may be here for a while.

- W

 

[franksingleton]

Even so - Loctudy is open to the sea in the SE.

View attachment 96879

View attachment 96880

We all have our preferred weather routing site, and over the years I have found Sailing Weather - Marine Weather Forecasts for Sailors and Adventurers - PassageWeather to be very reliable.
It is the only website I visit - in combination with a GRIB app on my phone.
FWIW: judging by information available, Saturday seems like a good time to leave.

You may well be of a different opinion, but I do not find Audierne an ideal starting point for a Biscay crossing.
And for the following reasons:
- no 24 hour access. Therefore your departure time options are restricted.
- you may be on the south side of the Raz du Sein, but the tide still runs strong in the Baie d'Audierne. Ideally, you would want a south running tide. Further restricting your departure time options.
It may be because of my grey funnel background, but I do not like ports I can not leave within 15-20 minutes of deciding to do so.

I will leave it there.
It is not my call/decission to make.

We all have our opinions about the best presentation and ease of use of the various automated forecasts. There is, basically, nothing to choose between them as either they provide the same model or are based on the same model. My preference is for those that can be saved automatically for later offline viewing and comparison with later forecasts. Although they cannot be saved, I like the Ventusky presentation. Regarding Webbie’s passage to A Coruna, it did look OK. but forecasts have been inconsistent recently. Keep taking the medicine. Keep checking.

I agree nothing to recommend Audierne as a starting place and there is nothing in the forecast that would make Loctudy untenable or for that matter uncomfortable. Friday evening / Saturday morning looks good to me for a departure as I said earlier and today or tomorrow looks for getting through the Raz before the wind strengthens and turns southerly. Bit of a no brainer really.

Well, on the latest forecast, Friday will see a fair amount of F7 on the nose. Saturday, lighter but possibly too tight to make good progress., particularly with the sea that will be running. Sunday winds would be favourable. Why go to Loctudy which with a strong southerly could be unpleasant when you can have a quiet night in Audierne? And without an unnecessary detour around Penmar’c and all the buoys. A no brainier? Of course, it does depend to some extent on what boat we are talking about. I get the impression that Webbie is not a big boat man.

 

[webcraft]

I get the impression that Webbie is not a big boat man.

Saved from the grave Morgan Giles 30, on extended sea trials!

- W

 

[Koeketiene]

We all have our opinions about the best presentation and ease of use of the various automated forecasts. There is, basically, nothing to choose between them as either they provide the same model or are based on the same model. My preference is for those that can be saved automatically for later offline viewing and comparison with later forecasts. Although they cannot be saved, I like the Ventusky presentation. Regarding Webbie’s passage to A Coruna, it did look OK. but forecasts have been inconsistent recently. Keep taking the medicine. Keep checking.

Did I upset you in some way?

 

[LadyInBed]

Last time I was in Ste Evette there were no buoys.

More room to anchor
Lovely Cloud shot

 

[franksingleton]

[QUOTE="Koeketiene, postITH: 7302744, member: .I
Did I upset you in some way?
[/quote]
Not at all. The words you highlighted were intended to mean “keep watching the forecasts”. You seemed to agree that a due S might nor be good in Loctudy. As regards shelter and comfort, I have been in Audierne with F10 Outside and Loctudy with F8. It was quieter in Audierne. It 3as safe enough in Loctudy.

 

[franksingleton]

Saved from the grave Morgan Giles 30, on extended sea trials!

- W

Looking forward to seeing her. Should arrive this evening.

 

[webcraft]

Well, we are very comfortable in Audierne, just turned the boat round to face into the incoming hoolie. Sadly someone in an out of control lift-keeler with the keel up rammed us while we were stationary, but they were quite apologetic, showed me where the chandlery was and gave me 10 euros towards the cost, so all amicable.

I have also now met Frank, who came down to see us when they got in.

Lovely town, sheltered, great shops, good showers, cheaper than Camaret. Looks like we may be here for a while.

- W

 

[PlanB]

Camaret is better IMO, marina or anchor if there is space still. Nice town, good chandlery good supermarket and other food shops

But I once had a really crap haircut in Camaret - and bought the most expensive sausage ever in the market!
But the showers etc really are like an oubliette.
Although there are some really beautiful wooden wrecks on the way into two, which were the subject of some wonderful pencil drawings I bought at great cost.
In short, ther are minuses, but lost of plusses.

 

[Poignard]

There are several fine very walks on the headland above Camaret.

Top 11 Hikes and Walks around Camaret-Sur-Mer | Komoot

 

[franksingleton]

Chacon a son gout. Audierne has everything we need, so does Camaret but less conveniently and the shower block is abysmal unless you want a 1/2 mile hike.

 

[Robin]

Chacon a son gout. Audierne has everything we need, so does Camaret but less conveniently and the shower block is abysmal unless you want a 1/2 mile hike.

We anchored usually, off the fish farm mostly the one used by the windsurfer school back then , used our own on board facilities and took the dinghy into town, timed to park on the slipway near the supermarket road and shop before the water vanished out again, so a few 'free' days. The chandlers were excellent, calling in anything not in stock on the next ferry over from Brest.

 

[Birdseye]

Someone on an earlier thread mentioned Audierne as a good place to wait to cross Biscay. I gather it is up a river, anyone got any more info?

- W

We did Royan to Bilbao. The latter is an all weather entrance. Royan is a decent place to leave from. About 160 nm or 36 hours max and you can get a reliable forecast for that length of time. Wouldnt suggest departing any further south as you get into sandbanks / firing ranges etc and the French dont stop firing because you are sailing there. Bilbao is a lovely city and not to be missed. Going this roiute gives you chance to visit loads of interesting French ports on the way to Royan.

 

[[3889]]

We are in Audierne. Came in 2 hours after HW and least depth under the keel was 2.2m

We initially berthed on one of the hammerheads. Harbourmaster greeted us and warned of swell in the forecast weather. He offered us another berth on a finger, and we are now very comfortable.

Looking at the weather, we may be here for a while.

- W

Don't forget to visit the Traiteur, it's a local highlight, apparently.

 

[KompetentKrew]

Camaret … the shower block is abysmal unless you want a 1/2 mile hike.

Camaret has a second set of showers?

I loved Camaret - as an anchorage it seems very sheltered and dinghying in was always easy and comfortable. The code for the showers can be obtained by asking nicely of those berthed in the marina.

Disagree with a previous comment that the supermarket is a long walk - it's short by my standards, and larger and better-stocked than some.

After seeing that two-thirds of the chandlery's floor space is given over to clothes, bottles of Brittany alcohol and other touristic souvenirs, I was surprised to find that the remaining third is tightly and comprehensively packed with good chandlery. Consulting fuelfilter-crossreference.com I was able to find a fuel filter for my Nanni - ? it was barely more expensive than Peachment ? but I was nevertheless well glad at being saved a journey further afield. The ladies on the staff know nothing about boating or the chandlery stock but by approaching another scruffy-looking customer I was able to obtain directions to a good fabricator (he is east of Crozon and, unless your bike has electric assist for the hills, I recommend the bus).

 

[dgadee]

There are several fine very walks on the headland above Camaret.

Top 11 Hikes and Walks around Camaret-Sur-Mer | Komoot

The crew got lost when we were there (Audierne) when she went shopping. She has no sense of direction. She ended up stopping a family accompanying a coffin into a church to be pointed back towards Audierne.

 

[Mudisox]

Have they stopped the continual dredging that was there when I last went in?
Nice enough place though. I only draw 1m.