No way Wednesday 12 May, next is Thursday 13 May

Yesterday, the forecast was indicating a good window for passing through the Four and Raz-de-Sein on Wednesday morning. But today, the Arome model, which is probably the best close range forecast model is indicating up to 20 m/s (40 knots/Beaufort 9) South of the Raz-de-Sein around tomorrow noon, which is clearly prohibitive of any attempt to go through. 

Windy wind gust forecast for Wednesday 12, 14:00. No way to get through even with back winds...

So we had another day waiting in Aber-Wrac'h...

9 & 10 May 2021, who is sailing in these Covid times?

So, who are the people sailing along the Channel in these Covid times with such bad weather in the past 10 days? They are interesting people. Let me tell you...

Trifon, a "Lévrier de Mer" from "Le Guen et Hemidy", from 1990 (picture by Jean Cadin)

Our first neighbours is Trifon, a "Lévrier de mer" from the boat constructor "Le Guen et Hémidy", the same that constructed La Malouine, my previous Brise de Mer. They are six crews on board. They came from La Rochelle, and heading North to Iceland with a funny small carbon rowing boat on board, and a project...

Start of the 2021 season, Cherbourg to Aber-Wrac'h, 6 & 7 May 2021

After ending the 2020 season in Cherbourg late august last year, I came twice to visit Belisama there to ensure everything was Ok. Finally, late April, I came again from Sweden to welcome the crew that would accompany me from Cherbourg to Sables-d'Olonne where Belisama is expected on 17 May to get her skeg fixed... Here is the crew on the way from Cherbourg to Aber-Wrac'h, the first step on this difficult route. 

Discovering the Bora along the Croatian coast... 13-15 February 2021

In Croatia for two months by now, with renovation of the new house almost completed. Weather was cold in past weeks and we took advantage of a nice sunny forecast over Croatia to explore the coast between Rijeka and Zadar during last weekend. It was sunny, windy and cold when we left Pula. The picture below is the view towards south-east as we start the journey along the coast. 

Typical Bura configuration along the coast

The weather was fantastic when leaving Pula (by car, not by boat). Just a few questions regarding the heavy cloud load over the mountains on the horizon and the whitish haze over the sea in the distance. Any serious resident in Croatia would have warned us about Bora in this configuration. In fact, the cap on top of the mountains is the sign announcing the Bora, but not much time in advance. In the absence of warning, we discovered what it means by ourselves!

New home port for Belisama in Štinjan, Croatia?

Apologies for not communicating since I left Belisama in August in Cherbourg as I could not pass the Raz-Blanchard during the "spring tides" (as they call in English the "marées de vives eaux" in French). Since then, we have (re-)settled in Štinjan, Croatia. 

Therefore, next sailing season will see us going around Spain, in the Mediterranean, toward Croatia. Here is the view towards the West from the house in Pula, looking at the Brijuni island. 

Unexpected early end of 2020 season in Cherbourg, 24 August...

We had a nice stop over in Cherbourg, moored close to the "Cité de la mer", a fascinating museum where the visit of the Redoutable submarine is  really worth.

We stayed in Cherbourg until 22 August, and after careful planning using Windy and the maps of currents by hours in the area, we decided to leave at 1:00 at night, with WSW winds 14-16 m/s, to benefit from the currents pushing us out of the English Channel along the French coast where they are strongest, then tack towards SSW in order to make it to Brest. But it did not work this way...

Tribulations on the way to Cherbourg, 19-20 August

The segment Dunkirk to Cherbourg is 180 nautical miles long (334 km) initially along the coast until the Cap Gris-Nez, then along the cargo ship traffic corridor in the Dover Straight, the 30 km large passage between England and France, and finally straight to Cherbourg in a quite deserted area until you reach the "Le Havre" corridor. It should have taken us around 36 hours at an average speed around 6 knots. It took us more than 41...

On the map, you can see numerous marks indicating wrecked ships. At the end of the journey, we understood why...