After
doing the antifouling we took our friends David and Lynda out for a
brief sail one afternoon and then Ti Gitu left Falmouth on 15th
April. The winds were forecast to be very light but later in the week
forecast to be very strong so we took the decision to burn diesel
just to get across.
As it
turned out the light winds allowed us to sail most of the way to the
Morlaix river. We took 25 hours which in light winds was great.
After
passing through the rocky entrance to the river we anchored in the
middle away from the prolific oyster beds and waited for high tide
when we would enter the town of Morlaix through the lock.
Late in
the afternoon Ti Gitu started up the river and a passing local power
boat came alongside asking if we were going up to the town and then
informing us that the lock was being repaired and wouldn't be usable
for about ten days.
With the
strong winds forecast we decided that it would be prudent to turn
around and go into the new wonderfully modern bland marina at
Roscoff.
By Friday
night the wind was howling and we were being bounced around. Despite
the enormous breakwater when the wind is from the NE there is a swell
that enters the marina and makes life uncomfortable. It was out with
the wonderful springy old climbing rope that Mike gave us years ago
and stops the snatching at the moorings. We were also lucky to enter
at high water as the notice at the entrance warning of strong
currents is correct. The water runs through at about 3 knots on neap
tides and I guess more on springs which makes manoeuvring a yacht
very interesting.
The town
of Roscoff is just a short walk away and is lovely. There are many
very old buildings and all the local people are incredibly friendly,
helping out when I try to use my half dozen French words.
We visited
the Roscoff harbour master to see about going into the harbour but as
strong easterlies are forecast he said not to go as it would get very
swelly against the wall. A shame as it is not only much more
picturesque but is also a third of the price of the marina and Ti
Gitu could dry out easily on the twin keels.
Looks like
we will be stuck here for about a week so it will be off with the
bikes and start exploring – when it stops raining!!
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