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south to north via Azores
SN5
= South to North via Azores
- Best time May to September early October -
This is the sailing route with one tack off the Azores to try to
lay the English Channel. It will be close hauled more or less all the way.
With a fast boat and a few crew should be OK.
The total distance involved from Gibraltar to Falmouth is
2105 nautical miles - at an average of 5.5knots that's around 16 days.
The Azores are beautiful islands and it may be good to stop of
for a while and explore before starting the 2nd leg to the English Channel.
From August onwards there is always the chance of the remains of
some hurricane remains, ex USA, tracking over towards the UK and the English Channel and
there can be some strong gales as well - off Ushant is no place to be in a
westerly gale so it may be worth making all the west'ing you can during the 2nd
leg..
Not too many people take this route but it is of course a very
good alternative to lots of motoring - the important thing is to clear the
prevailing northerlies off the Portuguese coast.
Have a look at my
BISCAY LOG BOOK for some of my
experiences whilst making the direct passage from North to South!
From the UK
SN1
= north to south - direct route by sea
SN2 = north to south via Canal du Midi
SN3= north to south via Le
Havre - Paris - or Calais or St Valery
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From the Mediterranean.
SN4 = south to north via Atlantic coast
SN5 = south to north via Azores
SN6 = south to north via Canal du Midi
SN7 = south to north via canals to Paris and Le
Havre or Calais
Lorry option
= a list of web sites of British and French haulage
companies who specalise in boat transport.
VNF
= Voies Navigables de France - details of license fees and canal offices
- official paper
Canal du Midi
= My log and some pictures of a recent transit. (SN7)
The
Scenic Route =
My log and some pictures of a recent transit. (SN6)
click here for
canals chart
These
web sites may be useful for the end of the canal system in the
Mediterranean
.
www.port-napoleon.com/
GENTLE SAILING ROUTE
TO THE
MEDITERRANEAN
There are
several ways of getting your boat to the Mediterranean. On the back of a
lorry, via the French canals, four or five day’s non stop across the Bay
of Biscay then down the Portuguese coast or spend the summer or two,
gently coasting southwards, enjoying the harbours, cities, towns and
villages of France Spain and Portugal.
This is not a pilot book, rather a passage plan and guide to the nicer
places between the South Coast of the UK to the beautiful
Mediterranean Sea. It can all be done in easy stages, to suit a lightly
crewed boat, with perhaps only a couple of people on board who are
without ‘offshore’ experience. Actually, it is a lovely way to explore
a lot of delightful foreign places.
gentlesailing.com
1 – Planning the voyage
2 –South coast to
Chenal du Four
3 - Chenal du Four to La
Rochelle
4
- La Rochelle to Spain overview
5
- La Rochelle to Coruña
6 - Coruña to Gibraltar
Specially
drawn charts of:
Cherbourg to L’Aber-Wrac’h.
Chenal du Four to La Rochelle
La Rochelle to Spain
La Rochelle to Coruña
Coruna to Gibraltar
+illustrations, pictures, paintings |
