Leaving Cherbourg for Roscoff is all about managing the strong currents around the channel islands. We plotted a course North of Alderney and Guernsey.
On the chart plotter you can see that we were North of the plotted course, for two reason; A) heading 20 degrees further South would make the genoa become unstable and we needed the sail area, B) the strong current pushed us South anyway. Note the SOG of 13+KTS.
Due to spring tide we had very strong currents pushing us in the right direction. The GPS speed of 13+ KTS was the result of 7 KTS current and 6 KTS of actual speed through the water in 4 BFT winds.
The seas were confused but not high. The winds increased later in the night (of course) to 8 BFT, or light storm (35 KTS true) and we hammered along under 50% Genoa only. We Arrived Thu Oct 31 early morning and went straight in our bunk after securing the boat in Marina Bloscon.
The 17th century “Chapelle Sainte-Barbe” was, and still is, an important landmark for boats to approach the harbour.
During the 15th century Roscoff became a prosperous town due to sea trade with Spain, and the UK. The construction of the harbour wall started in 1560 and took 200 years to complete since it was funded by mooring fees and local taxes and not by war-budgets like Cherbourg.
In 1548, 6 year old Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, disembarked in this location, after being engaged and later married to King Francis II of France. Francis was only 8 yrs old at the time. He died at age 16.
Roscoff, is labeled “petite cite de caractere de Bretagne” and for good reason. The picturesque old city with its cafes, restaurants and artisan foodstuff shops, makes for a pleasant afternoon stroll. It will be jam-packed here during summer with yotti’s crossing from the UK.
Croaz Batz is Bretton for Roscoff. The church supports an impressive belfry.
The Roscoff rose onions are famous for their unique flavour, their high vitamin C content and long shelf-life. They were highly sought after by sailors and are made famous by the Roscoff Johnnies who crossed the channel to sell their onions to the UK.