Raz de Sein - in absence of local knowledge, advice/experience sought.

O

Obi

Well-Known Member
Joined
23 Jun 2009
Messages
742
Location
Landlocked temporarily.
Visit site
Ive asked in the capitanerie, but no one knows - I think they work here and dont neccessarily sail. Perhaps its my poor french creating a language barrier that prevented me from getting a clear understanding.

Im heading south, and could take a good few hours off my passage from Brest to Ile de Yeu if I go through the Raz de Sein.

Conditions look to be W or NW F3toF4 possibly F5 in the gusts. Spring tide.

Im aiming to enter on slack water if I go through the Raz.

Its my expectation that it will be fine> The wind will be cross tide/(almost) with tide when the tide turns, the wind is not especially strong. It is the spring tide that has led me to ask for advice.

Experience in similar strong tidal areas, The Swinge (Aldernay), Chenel du Four, in similar conditions also suggest that starting on slack, with wind across tide on springs should be ok. But this is the Raz de Sein and has a worse rep than the rest and it is not an area I have been through before.

In the absence of a cohesive clutch of opinions I will go the long way, but I thought I would seek comments from others first.

Thanks
Mark
 
Just go, and aim to arrive a little early you should be fine. One side or the other is easier to reach calm water again, not in th emiddle.
 
Seems a good plan. It should be quiet, esp if the swell is low.
Some guides imply that only neap tides, dead slack water, no wind and no swell will stave off disaster. Of course, in the real world, each of these factors has to be weighed in the balance. You will notice that local boats use the passage in all sorts of lively conditions. Getting there at slack water is the one thing that you can control on the chosen day.
 
It's quite possible, in any such tide race, for there suddenly to be a patch of 'lumpy' and some chunks of water to come leaping on board. Equally, the boat may be rolled/pitched quite violently a couple of times by said lumpy bits and their opposites.

Unlikely to be an issue unless there's big swell rolling in and the streams are established and strong. Secure stuff below and clip on. Probability is that you'll exit into smooth untroubled water, carry on south with a good tide under you, and wonder what all the fuss was about.

:)
 
I've only been through a handful of times and have stopped at the isle de sein for one night, but you have the right approach. Avoid wind against tide or swell against tide and time your arrival for slack or just before it goes with you. Have all your hatches shut and stay clipped on. Have a good trip.
 
Obi said:
Ive asked in the capitanerie, but no one knows - I think they work here and dont neccessarily sail. Perhaps its my poor french creating a language barrier that prevented me from getting a clear understanding.

Im heading south, and could take a good few hours off my passage from Brest to Ile de Yeu if I go through the Raz de Sein.

Conditions look to be W or NW F3toF4 possibly F5 in the gusts. Spring tide.

Im aiming to enter on slack water if I go through the Raz.

Its my expectation that it will be fine> The wind will be cross tide/(almost) with tide when the tide turns, the wind is not especially strong. It is the spring tide that has led me to ask for advice.

Experience in similar strong tidal areas, The Swinge (Aldernay), Chenel du Four, in similar conditions also suggest that starting on slack, with wind across tide on springs should be ok. But this is the Raz de Sein and has a worse rep than the rest and it is not an area I have been through before.

In the absence of a cohesive clutch of opinions I will go the long way, but I thought I would seek comments from others first.

Thanks
Mark
Click to expand...

We have passed this way nor 44 times in 22 years and have been through in about every variety of conditions. In the conditions you describe you can go safely through when you want as long as it is with the tide, but one thing to watch might well be the visibility. The air is very humid at the moment and the Raz can kick up a local fog very quickly as the tide turns, bring colder water up from the depths. We have seen the Raz many times from up by Le Four/Camaret only to have it vanish in minutes as we arrived and the tide changed. Going south through you would find it next to impossible to hit the rocks (reassuring in fog) as the tide takes you away fast but it can still be disconcerting when the 50 or so other boats you could see are now not visible! BTW it is as easy at night as in the day, very well lit.

If you look on the chart you will see two relatively shallow areas just south of the Raz and it helps to set waypoints to avoid these which will be rougher. We used 4 wpts for the transit, an approach one to the north east (clear from Camaret or Morgat/Douarnenez) then a pair straddling the Raz in a line from Due North to South true, and an exit one south east which becomes the approach one for the return trip. Try and keep on track between the two N/S ones, but it will be very hard as the tide takes you west and most likely your track will be a wide curve westwards! The rough bit going northbound is to the NE of La Vielle.
 
Excellent advice, thanks to all.

Robin, on my afternoon stroll, I found a couple that came through from the south yesterday, and said it was fog fog fog - well pointed out. Ill expect to encounter that then, and use GPS accordingly. Thanks for the WPT tips.

Lady Campanula, amazing isnt. I watched, with binos from the land, a yacht suffer through the Swinge as they hit the full tidal flow, Im sure it went sideways a few times, as well as pitching like nothing I had seen before. Maybe it even went backwards at one point having been spun through 180'. Two days later on the slack of a spring tide, I had the most pleasant passage through.

Neil - thanks, Ill be sure to clip on. I probably would have done, but hadnt thought about it until you mentioned it.

Doug, Mudisox, thanks, I think it should be alright.

There must be an element of shelter from the ill de sein with the wind in the west/nw. If the gremlins dont get, this should be a rewarding passage.

Thanks again!
M
 
Plomong - I like your thinking, alas there is no first mate, c'est moi, c'est tout.

I arrived in Ile de Yeu some days ago and have been enjoying it since. However, I thought I should add to the thread to at least say I made it through, it was indeed fine.

The conditions were so benign, I thought I could make a few hours earlier on my arrival if I went through before the tide turned favourable. Well, you can imagine progress was slow, with gps showing 1.5 kt SOG and log showing 6.5 through the northern overfalls it did indeed take a few hours to get through. But it was ok enough, lots of yachts coming with the tide, heading north, bouncing all over the place on drunken-esque tracks over the confused seas, unable to hold a true straight course.

Simply put, I dont want to see it any worse, it certainly looked as though it had potential to be utterly, utterly horrible. The sun was shinging, the wind slight, and from the west, so the islands were providing additional shelter..Yet the sea was coming from all angles, and although small (1-2m) it was steep.

Of course, in any stronger conditions I wouldn't be going against the tide.

A fellow sailor, whom I rafted alongside at Guernsey is here also, when they came through the Chanel du Four apparently solid waves were landing in thier cockpit. Im really not looking forward to such things alone.

The next looking nasty for me is Cabo Finnestere (sp?) which seems to have 25+ knots of wind every time I look at the gribs.

M
 
Stop off in Camarinas, where you can refuel easily at the great little yacht club and then you can wait for ideal weather and it's a short hop just around the first corner.
 
Obi said:
A fellow sailor, whom I rafted alongside at Guernsey is here also, when they came through the Chanel du Four apparently solid waves were landing in thier cockpit. Im really not looking forward to such things alone. M
Click to expand...

Sure it can be like that, but if the weather's sensible, you'll have no problem alone. Heed the warnings of the pilot books obviously, but don't be put off. In normal sailing conditions, providing you get the timing right, no problems. SWMBO has been known to sleep through both the Raz and the Chanel du Four.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top