First channel crossing

[rkane]

First of all, thanks to all of you who responded to my questions regarding l'Abervrac'h / Chanel du Four. Secondly, as the time for our first trip to France draws closer 2 things seem to be looming ever large in our minds - fog and shipping lanes. we don't have radar on our boat, and wonder if anyone has any advice from experience as to what time it's best to depart from Helford / Falmouth for Brittany. Obviously, timing for arriving at the Chanel du Four could dictate this - but we'd rather spend a night in L'Abervrac'h or L'Aberildut waiting for a favourable tide and have a less stressful crossing than be governed by this. Are the shipping lanes better / worse at night than in the day? And are we right in thinking that, in practise, there are two main bands of shipping, one just off the english coast and one off Oessant and that mid- channel will be fairly ship free? Would we be better off sailing up the English coast and crossing from - , say, Dartmouth to Morlaix and then coast hopping back down the french coast - or would this make little difference. Also, we've read a lot (always a mistake!) about unforecast fog on the Brittany coast. Are there any weather conditions that seem to make this more likely - or is it a completely random affair? Sorry if these questions seem very obvious to seasoned channel hoppers - but a bit of reassuring feedback and advice might do wonders for our sleep between now and next week.

Thanks again



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[Doug_Stormforce]

Firstly, lets deal with the fog. The Brittany Coast (and Channel Islands) is most susceptable to sea fog during spring and early summer when the waters have not yet warmed up and warm damp SW and SSW winds arrive from the tropics. As you move further into the summer fog along this coast line becomes far less likely but still possible.

Regarding shipping lanes, the bulk of the big traffic will be en route to and from the TSS off Ushant and the TSS of Casquets. I find it useful to draw on the chart the rumb lines for big traffic who are using these two TSSs, to give me an idea of where to expect it and which direction it is likely to be coming from.

When crossing these lanes your ideal heading will be about 140 or 150 True as this will put you at the recommended 90 degrees.

When passage planning I prefer to cross the lanes at night as I find the red and green lights useful for identyfing which perspective I am looking at another boat from, this is not however the preferred option for everyone. A night crossing would allow you to reach landfall in daylight which is definatly useful if you are unfamiliar with the Brittany Coast. One thing to be aware of is that the fishing boats do fish in the shipping lanes off Brittany and that as they constantly change direction their lights can be a little confusing at first.

It would seem to me that going via Dartmouth would add many miles to your passage and actually make you more tired when crossing.

I have however never done the Falmouth to Le Four crossing and as such have not planned it out so may have missed something, whichever way you go have a great trip.

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[Sunnyseeker]

In practice as Doug said there are concentrations of ships but the whole channel is quite a busy place. You can find fishing boats going round in big circles which can confuse the hell out of you, avoiding ships just means keeping a good look out and for you to get some rest knowing that your crew will call you if they are not absolutely sure as to what action to take.
Fog...I've actually arrived just off the shipping lanes near Ch de F as the fog closed in, not too bad but could have got worse....so the tough decision of returning to Falmouth was made...I was a little un popular but feel it was the best decision.
One thing we have found usefull in fog (if you find youreslef in it near ships) is to broadcast our position/speed and course, as we all have accurate position these days ships do listen and it makes them look at the chart and see where you are. We even had responses from some ships saying they would pass ahead or astern giving their course speed and position and expected distance when passing, its nice when you can hear the engines, but dont know where they are. They also told us where other ships were.
Only advice is be prepared to make the decision to turn around, but if the weathers clear its a well marked easy to follow passage, and a lovely place to explore when you arrive....I hope you have a long holiday there are so many lovely anchorages, villages and harbours.
Have a good trip.

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[rkane]

The idea of radioing our position in the fog seems a good one - just one question - having never put out a general radio message before, which channel do you do it on? 16 (I think I'm right in sayig) is just for emergency traffic / initial contact so do you radio on 16 and ask all ships to listen on another specified channel as you would if radioing another yacht?

Thanks again again

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[tcm]

I would say all ships all ships on ch 16 and read the gps position from time to time, wait for them to contact, then choose a channel and do a bit of praying. Well, no i wouldn't - i'd buy a bloody radar - boat house cars and you can't afford less than a grand on a radar? - i don't think so.

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[Jeremy_W]

I think your biggest enemy is lack of sleep.
How good is your #2 on the yacht? Can he/she keep watch for 2 hours+ by day and by night with at least one ship or fishing boat in sight at all times without going into panic mode and waking you every 15 minutes? Will you start the voyage well-rested or will you have been rushing around the previous week? Can you crash out quickly when you go off watch or does it take you a long while to wind down?

None of this matters on a short passage, but it matters a lot on a long Channel crossing. If you charge from a long week's work onto the yacht; hoist sails and go; then don't get a wink of sleep for 20+ hours on passage you'll be incapable of rational decision making. It doesn't matter how tired the crew get. They'll always find enough second wind to hang out fenders and lower sails once the destination is in sight.

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[Vara]

Good point well made,never thought I'd say that to a Liverpool politician/forums/images/icons/smile.gif.
It's a recurring question,as to whether night or day makes for easier crossing and none of the answers up to now take account of fatigue levels or the body clock,acclimatising to "odd" hours and a day night watch system takes time and perseverance.
I would advise all first time crossers to go by day and then move onto night work as their confidence levels and their ability to get kip while off watch builds up.
It's no good being able to see a landfall or ships lights at 4 in the morning if your too fuddled to process the information.

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[tome]

Good point.

A couple of years back we reached the stage where my wife could relieve me with reasonable confidence to allow me a couple of hours crucial sleep. Since then, passage making has become much easier and we are considering Solent to Brest non-stop this year. Previously we have had to make a series of shorter passages.

I would go for a day crossing first time as my experience is that night sailing is more stressful for many. I took a relative novice across to Cherbourg a couple of weeks ago and he was sea-sick for the first time. When we talked this through afterwards, he frankly admitted that he found the pitching at night quite stressful and thinks this may have triggered his demise. You may well be an exception, of course!

Either way, good luck. You'll walk a lot taller on your safe arrival. Oh, and as tcm says get yerself a radar fitted for future peace of mind...

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[charles_reed]

Shipping lanes

You'll not actaully cross a TSS as such, but you'll catch the end of the Ushant traffic.

I used to radio Ushant control - found them very helpful - "we'll keep you advised of any potential collision situations". I used to prefer crossing the lane (I was closer to the end than you'll be) at night, you have a far better idea of headings and relative speeds than in daytime.
Commercial traffic is generally very considerate: one Liberian flagged tanker altered course even though we'd have missed by about 400m - when I thanked him he said I was coping with enough seas not to have his wash added to it. (It was about a seastate 7 and a NW so fairly discomfortable). My guess is that the watch-officer was danish and you'll find comparable care from most of the N Europeans.
The ones to really look out for are the People's republic of China.
At the time of year you're crossing fog is a very low probability - but I've often met quite thick sea-mist at the entrance to the Chenal.
On one occasion 2 pairs of pair-trawling trawlers in line abreast stemming the first of the ebb which was definitely too exciting.
This burns off about 3 hours after sunrise.

I used to passage plan on 6 knots unless on a beat, and plan to arrive 2hrs after HW Brest. I wouldn't like to guess how fast you sail your boat so would suggest you work it out for yourself.

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[robp]

I'd urge you to take TCM's advice. On that trip and with the miles you will cover over time, I reckon it's unlikely that you will not get fog! I winged it for several years and the year I had it fitted, we ran into a pea souper. Boy was I glad to have radar! If you look at all the costs you have, this one doesn't change things much. Less than a grand and take a course too. You can do the whole thing inside a week.

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[brianhumber]

As others have said the shipping stays more or less in line from the two TSS so do not see any advantage in crossing from Dartmouth.
As TCM advised, best bit of kit on board is a radar, worth every penny.

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[MarkJohnson]

I have just returned from my first channel crossing. I went from Swansea to Cameret three weeks ago.

I did not cross the shipping lane, but rather the convergence area before and after the TSZ's. The ships seemed to come in groups, which I thought odd. We were only in contention with one ship, who seemed to be stopped in the water. I have radar so I felt reasonably safe. My advice is to cross the area in daylight, certainly if its your first time. At least you have good visibility, and the large ships should be able to see you easier.

On the return trip, we encountered another group of five ships. The radar showed 4 were going across my bows, and the fifth just behind me. The radar is very handy, but a compass bearing will do the same job re collision courses. The fifth ship, a red gas tanker did a slight change of course to pass behind me.

We encountered a light mist in the Chanel du Four, about 1/2 mile vis. But as the GPS was loaded with waypoints, the Chanel was no problem. We went thru at about 1/2 tide, a neap, and were whooshed through with a three knot current behind us.

Cameret was great, as was Douarnenez, as was Morgat, though we did not go ashore there.

Have fun.



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[Jeremy_W]

To answer your questions (what was colmce saying about politicos?) I prefer to cross TSS's by night.

If the wind is heading you never be afraid to select an alternative destination. Better to be in France than bashing into headwinds for many hours with an increasingly sick and tired crew to keep to the original plan. Changing plan for the benefit of your crew takes courage, but bashing on can be stupid.



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