We'd expected Roscoff to be a sprawling port town and so were pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be quite small and really rather attractive.
Maritime trade apparently flourished here until around 1700 when a combination of wars, hazardous routes and a ban on trade with belligerents encouraged shipowners to stop trading and take up privateering. From privateers they became buccaneers and then, after 1763, smugglers - introducing huge quantities of tea, wine and other beverages into England, where customs duties were very high. This fraudulent traffic became obsolete in 1786, however, after an agreement on trade between France and England was signed that lowered taxes on spirits.
Roscoff also has an association with Alexandre Dumas, author of the Three Musketeers. He apparently spent a summer there in 1869, writing the "onion" chapter of his Great Dictionary of Cuisine!
Finally in the potted history department, a 6 year old Mary Queen of Scots came ashore in Roscoff en route to meet the king of France to whom she'd been betrothed.
But enough of the words. Time for some pictures!
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| The coast adjacent to the marina |
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| A Roscoff house with a rather attractive garden |
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| So the Vieux Port is which way exactly? |
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| Roscoff Vieux Port - a bit lacking in water |
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| Looking across the Vieux Port to its entrance |
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| The Chenal de L'Ile de Batz. We sailed through that at high water! Oo-er... |
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| More of the Chenal de L'Ile de Batz... |
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| ...and more |
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| ...and more... |
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| ...and more. That's the Ile de Batz ferry pontoon from which... |
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| ...this picture of Roscoff town was taken |
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| A close up of Roscoff. Interesting mix of architecture wouldn't you say? |
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| Roscoff town street scene... |
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| ...and another |
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| No idea what the dragon's doing up there. Is it dead? |
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| Chapel of St Barbe. Apparently he was a bit of a live wire (geddit?) |
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| There's always a bit of modern "art" isn't there? This one's on the marina's breakwater |
We'd deliberated for a while over where to go next after Roscoff. In the end we decided to head directly to Beaucette on the island of Guernsey for a combination of the following reasons:
- In southern Brittany the peak marina season (and prices!) was limited to July and August. We'd confidently expected the same to apply in the north but, to our dismay, the peak season here actually includes September too. £25 a night(ish) would inevitably take its toll on our funds.
- We'd visited most of the ports to the east and north of Roscoff previously, so we'd be covering old ground if we made our way around the coast to Cherbourg.
- We were also a little weary of cruising and ready, as Jo would put it, to sleep in a square bed!
- We've got lots of work to do on our house this winter.
Preferring to arrive in daylight if possible, we set off into the blackness of 0430 French summer time - 0330 UK.
It was dark too, but what a fantastic sky! You don't see that many stars with the light pollution where we live!
The best bit about setting off in the dark is watching it get light - partly for the beauty of the sun rise and partly because you then have a chance to spot pot markers before you run over them and get their lines tangled in your propeller! Yes, we had to motor sail once again for much of the way, This is becoming an unwelcome habit!
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| Sun rise over the Sept Iles |
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| More great sky... |
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| ... and yet more |
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| The blue bits are sail repair tape - holding poor old Cyclone's head sail together! |
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| St Peter Port's harbour from the Little Russell |
Beaucette marina was formerly a quarry. The Royal Engineers blew a gap through its rocky exterior to allow local and visiting boats to be accommodated within its secure surroundings. We think it's a bit special and so always choose to stay there in preference to St Peter Port. It's a bit out of the way and, apart from a pricey restaurant, fantastic views and great coastal walks, there's not a lot there - which suits us. It's quiet and we like that.
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| The entrance to Beaucette marina |
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| It's 13.5m wide apparently, but it doesn't seem like it when you're going between those rocks! |
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| Er... A cow Elvis. (One of Jo's!) |
From Beaucette, you can get a bus to anywhere on the island for £1. We've used this before to take an anticlockwise route around the whole island to St Peter Port - enjoying the views on the way.
Apparently others have now cottoned onto this as, when the bus arrived at our stop, there was standing room only. The bus was full of wrinklies who'd presumably got on at St. Peter Port and weren't getting off until they'd circumnavigated the island and returned there. A 50 minute standing bus journey (after standing 30 minutes at the bus stop) wasn't quite what we'd envisaged!
Our visit to St Peter Port coincided with a hill climb event. Cars, motorbikes and karts took turns to race up a closed (and very twisty) public road against the clock, This provided quite a spectacle with a huge variety of vehicles taking the challenge. Unfortunately it was interrupted when, perhaps inevitably, a motorcyclist had an accident and an ambulance had to be called, We hope he's ok.
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| St Peter Port's hill climb, with bikes... |
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| ...karts... |
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| ...pukka racing cars... |
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| ...road cars, including Westfields - I had one of them... |
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| ...and a Ford Anglia! Did your's have a Cosworth engine Tim? |
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| Castle Cornet, St Peter Port |
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| St. Peter Port coast... |
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| ...and shopping street |
On our second day in Beaucette, we decided to go for a walk around the nearby coast. We weren't out for long as the weather was pretty miserable, but the pictures give a good idea of the place:
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| Cyclone tied up in Beaucette marina with the entrance to left of shot |
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| The beach just north of Beaucette. There is a sandy one a bit further on too! |
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| Fort Doyle and Jo behind bars. About time, eh?! |
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| Take aim...... FIRE!! |
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| Another nearby coastal scene |
At 0745 Monday morning, after 3 nights at Beaucette, we were ready to head for Cherbourg.
Fate, however, intervened and a turn of Cyclone's "ignition" key produced a horrid mechanical sound followed by a whirr of the starter motor - and nothing else.
Fearing the worst - stripped ring gear on the flywheel which would, in all probability mean boat out of the water and then engine out of boat for a repair (megabucks) - I set to the problem with my tools (and a huge amount of trepidation!).
When I was able to withdraw the starter motor, this was what I found:
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| Those loose bits are part of the casting and are meant to be attached... |
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| ... something like this, only without the gaps! |
Fortunately I was able to retrieve all the broken bits from the bellhousing and a very helpful harbour master took me to the local Lucas dealership in his van. They didn't have a replacement in stock but hope to have one in tomorrow or the next day. Until then we're stuck here.
But there are worse places to be and better it happened here than when approaching a tricky harbour entrance!
Thanks for reading.
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