Isles Chausey anchorage - Chenal Beauchamp

[AHoy2]

Weather looks good this weekend for a sail (suggests SWMBO for an overdue fix of French culture) so I have proposed a Jersey - Chausey - Granville - Jersey round trip.

By way of a change and shorter trip I am considering entering Isles Chausey via the Chanel Beauchamp from the north and anchoring overnight in La Mauvaise area then departing south through the channel for Granville. Although all seems straightforward I have not used this channel and anchorage before so any advice/comments welcome from those with experience of the location e.g. tide rate and holding, shelter etc. (coming off of springs at the moment and only moderate breeze forecast).

TIA.

 

[Gwylan]

Weather looks good this weekend for a sail (suggests SWMBO for an overdue fix of French culture) so I have proposed a Jersey - Chausey - Granville - Jersey round trip.

By way of a change and shorter trip I am considering entering Isles Chausey via the Chanel Beauchamp from the north and anchoring overnight in La Mauvaise area then departing south through the channel for Granville. Although all seems straightforward I have not used this channel and anchorage before so any advice/comments welcome from those with experience of the location e.g. tide rate and holding, shelter etc. (coming off of springs at the moment and only moderate breeze forecast).

TIA.

Chenal Beauchamp is doable in most conditions that you are likely to be there. Never stopped in La Mauvaise - name means something doesn't it?
May depend on the tide rate through there and your confidence in your ground tackle.

Spent a torrid night on the visitor moorings a couple of weeks ago. Mostly because some visitors had mamanged to mix up the two lines of fore and aft moorings. Also there was a degree of chaotic rafting. The result was that when the wind came the boats were all over theplace. There was some nudging and bumping, lots of dancing about with fenders and oooh la la'ing.

But have also spent idyllic evenings there.

The current does get quite interesting up in the visitor moorings though. But we have anchored sucessfully to the east of them. Though the chart looks terrifying, we are a bilge keel boat and check the coefficient trend before making those kind of decisions.

 

[Seven Spades]

It is a scary place to anchor because when the tide goes out rocks appear, I worry about swinging into rocks.

 

[Bathdave]

Spent a torrid night on the visitor moorings a couple of weeks ago. Mostly because some visitors had mamanged to mix up the two lines of fore and aft moorings. Also there was a degree of chaotic rafting. The result was that when the wind came the boats were all over theplace. There was some nudging and bumping, lots of dancing about with fenders and oooh la la'ing.

But have also spent idyllic evenings there.

The current does get quite interesting up in the visitor moorings though. But we have anchored sucessfully to the east of them. Though the chart looks terrifying, we are a bilge keel boat and check the coefficient trend before making those kind of decisions.

We go there pretty regularly (just got back day before yesterday)

The trot moorings have been dragged way out of position over the last couple of months to the extent that it is quite hard to see which run some of the buoys are in, and many of the gaps between them are unworkable -either 5m or 100m

The French have a more 'relaxed' approach to rafting than the British and it can be alarming to have a local boat come onto you.

It was mega springs this week and even the trots pretty much dried...we borrowed a private buoy just east of the trots line, it well and truly dried, but we can take the ground. Looking out over the isles at LW from the yacht club, I could see a couple of dozen boats anchored in all sorts of nooks and crannies that I wouldn't have the first idea on how to get into them or whether they were safe...local knowledge !

 

[AHoy2]

Thanks for the above input, all helpful to the eventual decision making.

As mentioned in the OP we wished to avoid the Grande Ile moorings on what would be a busy weekend and also avoid a night entry in to Granville, hence the consideration of anchoring options. Chenal Beauchamp anchorages are shown on the charts and mentioned briefly in the Bloc Marine and Carnegie pilot books, but I could not obtain any further information.

Given the favourable weather and good visibility we decided to go with the Chenal Beauchamp exploration on a half-tide ebb situation. Some info below for anyone contemplating a first visit there.


The first (anticipated) issue was the navigation/pilotage challenge which proved fairly demanding on a first approach. Fortunately I have a very competent (and calm) First Mate which made the nav workload reasonable. The quantity of visible marks requires some work to identify the relevant ones particularly with no identifiable channel but plenty of various rocky outcrops/islets. The tidal stream in the channel was not an issue at that tide state. The form of the various marks is not consistent and the N cardinal mark at the pinch-point before La Mauvais was just a painted pole which appeared more like an isolated danger mark from a distance, that caused a few moments of holding position and discussion!

The first anchorage option at the North of the channel was not readily identifiable and exposed to the forecast NW F5 wind, the second option (our choice) in the area of La Mauvais was also exposed although more identifiable but had a largish fishing boat anchored in the one area I would have considered, so we continued to the south of the channel where the third identified anchorage proved to have obstructions on its approach and limited swinging room, with a small mobo already at anchor.

We concluded that none of the anchorages would be suitable for an overnight stay given the unknown holding plus the swinging space required with the 11m tide. Night navigation would be extremely difficult in the event of any issues occuring. Instead we opted to anchor in the lee of a rocky area on the south of the Isle Chausey and make a late evening/night entry into Granville for the comfort of the marina plus the ashore attractions.

Edit: the only other boats we saw in the channel were two local fishing boats and the small mobo.

Chart below shows the Chenal Beauchamp and route taken.
Red star = intended anchorage
Yellow star = waiting anchorage: Note sand bottom, holding not solid but ok in the F4/5 NW

 

[Gwylan]

We were there for the previous springs. We did stand, but we are a bilge keeler. Seemed to have found a flat bit.

I was anxious not knowing if there were any other non bilge boats that might have been challenged by what was going on.

The moorings will need to be sorted and re laid. But they are free so it would be miserable to complain.

The flexible approach of French boats to the moorings was an eye opener. Up until then I had only been surprised at their speed in marinas and their speed of approach to pontoons.