October 25 2021- November 2 2021
Time to set off on our trip to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria but the weather is not cooperating. Timing wind and spring tides in late October is challanging but we set off at 10:00 bound for Roscoff, France on the Brittany coast. Fabian briefly comments that we are in for an uncomfortable day. He was half right. It was an uncomfortable day and night. We arrived in Roscoff 10/26/2021 08:00 , as the sun was rising , a day later after beating into wind against tide much of the night.
Early morning greeting in Roscoff, Brittany -October 26
We spend 2 days in this delightful French town. No Covid checks, very friendly people, and again a dinghy guides us to our slip. After checking in with customs we are now on the continent with freedom to travel straight to the Canary’s without dealing with customs and immigration . The EU makes traveling in Europe much easier than in the past.
Roscoff is a popular tourist destination in the summer season with a ferry terminal near our marina. The tourists have left but with clear skies we head off to play tourist waiting for the winds to turn favorable. Spring tides in Brittany can be up to 25-30 feet which make for some interesting sites. We spent a day exploring the town .
Roscoff is a simple relaxed and very enjoyable spot to spend a few days.It seems as if everyone walks to get around often with 3 generations out walking through the center of town which abuts Roscoff’s picturesque waterfront.
Time for a fantastic french gelato and soak up the local ambiance.
Tuesday I take a short ferry ride over to Isle de Batz whose history goes back several thousand years . A photographers dream.
Daniela’s mother required unexpected surgery so she flew to Berlin to confer with the doctors. Next morning Fabian and I have a spirited day sail to Aber Wrac’h arriving in a gale with driving rain.
What strikes me about the north coast of France is how rocky and inhospitable the coastline is but how friendly the people are . Very different than Paris .
I have seen more lighthouses in the past week than I have in my past 50 years.
Moving slowly west Fabian and I spend a beautiful 7 hour daysail to Brest where we plan to wait an upcoming weather window to cross Bay Biscay and hopefully on to Las Palmas.
I asked Chris Tibbs ,the meteorolgist for the Oyster World Rally, to weigh in on our weather. Chris is a sailor’s meteorologist and provided a very detailed weather outlook complete with narrative and routing recommendations. We all agree that tomorrow starts a wind shift to the NNW moving to NNE that should last for 3-4 days . Our opportunity to cross the Bay of Biscay is here. We’ll get our shopping done in the morning, today November 1 is a national holiday celebrating All Saints Day. We plan to leave at 13:00 tomorrow.
