After waiting for weather in Salcombe for 3 days it was looking OK for a crossing of the Channel to Roscoff on Wednesday Night. We dropped off of the Mooring about 18:00 and headed out to sea, where the wind had been blowing strongly from the South for a few days the water over Salcombe Bar was rough and Steep but we had plenty of depth so were quickly through. The weather forecast had the winds being light and variable until sometime after 22:00 then they should go round to the West and increase to 12-15 Kts for 3-4 hours then sometime after Midnight they should start to ease and by dawn we would probably have to motor.

We motor sailed for about 4 hrs till the wind filled in then sailed quite nicely for 4-5 hrs and approaching France finally had to motor again. The passage was straight forward other than the sea state was still quite rough due to having 3-4 days of strong S wind but Falken just ploughed on through it. Mid Channel we had the shipping lanes to cross but only had a couple of ships come withing a mile of us so an uneventful crossing. We were tied up in Roscoff in the Marina at 09:30 so just over 15 hrs to cover the 100 miles.

Post Brexit UK yachts and crew visiting France now have to Check in with French Customs and get passports stamped. I had submitted the required Customs paperwork via email to the Roscoff Customs office before we had departed the UK with our expected ETA. We wanted to get all the formalities completed before we got some needed rest after the crossing so headed off to the Roscoff Ferry Terminal where the customs Office is located, as we just walking up the ramp heading to the Marina office we were met by three Customs Officers who seemed to be expecting us. We were escorted to the Customs office in the Ferry port were they checked our papers and stamped or Passports so within 30 minutes we were cleared in to France.
After the 15 hr Crossing the plan was not to do a lot and just rest up, Later in the afternoon we were joined by Friends Neil & Elaine on there Moody 336 “Shadow” who had just sailed along from Perros-Guirec and who we will be sailing in Company to Camaret with.

Friday Morning started with rain but it had cleared by late Morning allowing a good walk around Roscoff which was lovely in the Sun.
We will head west to L’Aberwrach on Saturday and then the plan is to go through the Channel du Four on Sunday as conditions look good

When you are waiting for weather you eat

lovely lunch at the crab shed Salcombe

Interesting Passage from Portsmouth to Salcombe

Our plan (based on the weather forecast) was to probably motor from Portsmouth to Swanage and then wait till evening for the change of tide and the wind to fill in from the east to do an overnight passage to Salcombe as the first leg of our summer cruise, well plans change
From just past Cowes we joined a racing fleet all tacking there way down to the western Solent with more than enough wind and even an acceptable direction so when we got clear of the Hurst we decided rather than stop in Swanage we would just keep going, we were making 6+ kts and as long as we kept that up would clear Portland bill before the tide went against us and should be in to Salcombe in the early hours of Sunday Morning.
It started well and although we had to motor sail a few times to keep our plan of clearing Portland bill before the tide went against us we generally had a good sail. When we cleared Portland, we did have a drop in speed to around 5 kts but were still making good progress. We ate dinner and settled in for the night passage although as dusk fell around 10pm we could see darkening clouds to the southwest. Based on our speed we should safely be in to Salcombe by 2am.
As we were about 20 Miles from Salcombe we started to see the night sky illuminated by lightning, at that point it was still far away and we could only see it and not hear it. As we progressed west the storm was getting closer and closer, but it looked as though it would still miss us. By 12:30 we could see the lightning hitting the sea and at one point the Flash and Bang of the Thunder were almost together so less than 2 miles away. Just as we started our approach to the entrance of Salcombe the wind picked up to over 30Kts with gusts well over 40 and the rain increased to the point that we could no longer see the end of the boat. As we entered the Estuary, we could no longer see any of the Channel markers and visibility was down to ft to avoid any of the moored boats in the channel. We picked the first Mooring Buoy we could identify and even though it had a Harbour Notice on it saying “No Mooring” tied ourselves on to it. We would move in the Morning when we could actually see something.
We were straight to bed although it took a while to get to sleep as we were still pumped
117 Mile covered in the day which as it was our first sail, we felt pretty good about
Now resting up for a couple of days in Salcombe waiting for weather to cross the channel to Roscoff

See you in two months

The tanks are full
The Dinghy is on
Supplies have been loaded

Heading for Salcombe Tommorow then Roscoff Monday or Tuesday depending on Weather from there who knows but probably Camaret and South

Hoping for a good Summer and back end of July

So after a Winter Ashore we are back in the water and on the way to the First MOA rally of 2022 in Lymington over the Easter Weekend.

left Portsmouth in Thick Fog but past Cowes the wind picked up and had a lovely sail