ñ.oo i %%z Ä w SAILING DIRECTIONS FOE TL·LE BAY OF BISCAY, BEING A NAUTICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COASTS OF FRANCE AND SPAIN, COMPRISED BETWEEN THE LIMITS OF USHANT ISLAND AND POINT ESTACA. COMPILED CHIEFLY FROM THE LATE SURVEYS MADE BY ORDER OF THE FRENCH AND SPANISH GOVERNMENTS. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY JAMES IM RAY AND SON, CHAET AND NAUTICAL BOOKSELLERS, 102, MINORIES. 1855. • *#* COMMUNICATIONS TOU THE IMPROVEMENT OE THIS, OR ANT OE OER "WORKS, ARE RESPECTEU LET SOLICITED, AND WILE EE THANKEULEY ACKNOWLEDGED. CONTENTS. ÜSHÁNT TO S O C O A. PAGE Ushant Island ... 1 The Fromveur Channel 2 The Passage du Four 3 St. Matthew's Point ... 4 Brest Harbour 5 Camaret and Douarnenez Bay 6 The Isle de Sein or Saints 7 The Chaussee de Sein 8 Quimper River ... 9 Concarneau - 10 The Glenan Islands - - - 11 The Isle de Groix ... 13 Torts Louis and L'Orient 14 Belle Isle .... 16 The Beniguet Islands, and Houat Island 17 Haedik Island, and Quiberon Bay- 18 River Vilaine ... 19 Croisic .... 20 The River Loire ... 21 Bourgneuf Bay ... 23 Noirmoutier Island and the Isle D'Yeu 24 St. Gilles Sur Yie, Olonne 25 The He de Re and Pertuis Breton 26 Pertuis D'Antioche, and Oleron 27 The River Gironde, and the Roches Bonnes 28 Arcachon Basin ... 33 Bïyonne, and the Fosse of Cape Breton 34 Socoa, and St, Jean De Luz 38 iv CONTENTS. THE NORTHERN COAST OF SPAIN. PAGE Fuentarabia, and Port Passage ...----40 St. Sebastian ----------42 Cape Machicaco ---------43 Bilbao ..----..--44 Santona ----------47 Santander - - "- - - - - - - -48 St. Vincent de la Barquera - - - - - - - - 51 Gyon - -..----.-52 Rivadeo, and Port Vivero - -- ----53 Vares or Barquero ---------54 SAILING DIRECTIONS FOR THE BAY OF BISCAY. %* THROUGHOUT THIS WORK THE BEARINGS AND COURSES ARE ALL BY COMPASS, UNLESS WHERE OTHERWISE EXPRESSED, BUT THOSE GIVEN THUS [E.N.E.] SIGNIFY THE TRUE. THE GIVEN DEPTHS ARE THOSE AT LOW WATER SPRING TIDES. THE DIS­ TANCES ARE IN NAUTIC MILES OF 60 TO A DEGREE. TLIE DIRECTION OF THE WIND, TIDE, AND CURRENT, IS ALWAYS TO BE UNDERSTOOD AS THE TRUE. THE VARIATION OF THE COMPASS IS ABOUT 2} POINTS WESTERLY. IT HAS RECENTLY BEEN ORDERED BY THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF THE ADMI­ RALTY THAT THE WORD " PORT" IS TO BE SUBSTITUTED FOR THE WORD "LARBOARD " IN ALL H.M. SHIPS OR VESSELS, ON ACCOUNT OF THE MISTAKES WHICH FREQUENTLY OCCUR FROM THE SIMILARITY OF THE TERMS " STARBOARD" AND " LARBOARD-" USHAN T TO S0C0A. ÏTSHAK·'E' or ©lyssSASTT is an irregular craggy island, about 4 miles in length, from east to west, and about 2 miles in breadth. On the western side of the island is Lampaul Bay, a harbour frequented only by the French, and difficult to navigate. At the entrance of the bay, between the rocks on either side, are soundiugs of 40 fathoms, with a bottom of rock and small shells, thence decreasing gradually to 5 and 6 fathoms at the head of the bay. In the middle of the bay is a rock called Le Coreé, which is always above water, and has a clear passage on either side of it. But this place is difficult to get into on account of the dangerous reefs which extend off this end of the island, drying in some places, but always breaking when there is any sea. The Jument Bock, the southernmost of the rocky ridge on this side of the island, dries 19 feet at low water; it lies about W.S.W. from the island, distaut rather more than a mile, with Bélanger Mills open 2° to the right of Le Coreé Bock. On the opposite side of the entrance to the Bay of Lampaul a rocky ledge extends some distance from the land, and dries in several places. The outermost rock of this ledge is called Leurvas Bock, and is 4 feet above the sea at low water. There are numerous rocks on all sides of this island, so that in passing, it is necessary to give it a good berth in order to avoid them. On the north and east sides of the island are two bays, frequented only by the native vessels, which occasionally anchor here. The most eastern one, called* Stift" Bay, is dangerous, on account of several rocky ledges in it, and is quite open to gales vom the eastward. The other bay, called Beninou Bay, is well sheltered to tha vvestward by a small island called Keller; here small vessels may anchor in 8J to 12 athoms, sand and rocky bottom, and ride secure from all winds except those from the northward. B 2 THE FROMVEUR CHANNEL. The lighthouse on the north-eastern end of Ushant shows an excellent fixed light, at 272 feet above the sea, visible in clear weather to the distance of 6 leagues. Its position is lat. 48° 28' 31" N., and long. 5° 3' 32" W. The magnetic bearings from different parts of the English Coast are as follow:— MILES. From St. Catherine's Point, in the Isle of Wight...W.S.W. •§ W 192 From the Bill of Portland S.W. by W. | W..162 From the Start Point S.W. § W 120 From the Eddystone Lighthouse S.W. £ S 110 From the Lizard Lights S.S.W. f S 89 From the Scilly Light S. § E 97 The same bearings from the west-side of Ushant to different points southw ard are MILES, To the Passage du Haz S. £ E 27 To the west-end of the Chaussée de Sein S.S.W. ^ W 25 ToGijon S.S.W. ^ W 295 To Cape Penas S.S.W, f W 288 To Cape Ortegal S.W. ^ W 303 To Cape Finisterre S.W. f W 372 From Keller Island a rocky ledge extends 1| miles to the westward, and dries in various places. Its outermost ledge, called the Basse Callet, has 11 fathoms on if, with 37 to 40 fathoms close to ; but immediately within it is much shoaler water, so that no attempt must be made to go within it and the island, and vessels in approach­ ing this part of Ushant would do well not to go nearer the lighthouse than 4| or 5 mUes. The marks for the Basse Callet are the lighthouse in one with the centre of Keller Island and the Bélanger Mills in one with the western part of Callet Rock. Nearly 2f miles to the south-westward of the Jument Rock on the southern side of Lampaul Bay, is Ushant Bauk, a shoal about If miles long and half a mile broad, on which are 26 to 32 fathoms bottom of broken shells. Around it on all sides are 50 to 60 fathoms, with the same description of bottom, and between it and Ushant are 50 to 26 fathoms. The tide flows at Ushant on the days of full and change at 3h.46m.; springs rise 21 feet, and on the coast to the eastward 24 to 26 feet. In the offing the stream continues to run for 3 hours after the time of high water. In the Passage du Four the tides set strongly, the flood northward and the ebb southward, but between the He de Bas and Ushant the same tides set eastward and westward. The variation of the compass here is 23° 47' W. The space to the south-eastward of Ushant, between it and St. Matthew's Point, is thickly besprinkled with craggy and rocky islets, having numerous channels among them. Of these channels or passages, those most frequently used are the Fromveuv Channel and the Chenal du Four. THE FROMVEUR CHANNEL, immediately to the south-eastward of Ushant, is about 1^ miles wide, and has a depth of 25 to 33 fathoms. Here the tide runs very rapidly, generally exceeding 4 knots, so that the passage must be considered as dangerous, and only to be used in cases of necessity, and then only with the tide. The° course through is about E. by N. and W. by S. The northern side of the channel is bounded by a reef of rocks, showing in many places at low water, which line the shore of Ushant, and extend from it to the distance of about a mile. Coming through the channel from the northward, the first rock met with on the eastern side of the°channel will be the Loédoc, always above wrater, and at a short distance to tho west of this is another called Men Tensel, which dries 13 feet, the two rocks being connected by a rocky ledge mostly under water. A little to the south of this is a group of rocks called the Bannec, dry at all times; and there are several other dangers still further to the southward. Les Pierres Vertes, or the Green Stones, is the westernmost patch of the group of islets and rock3 between Ushant and the main. It consists of sunken rocks which become dry in several places at low tide, at that time appearing about 7 feet above the surface of the water; its marks are Ar Men Guen Gondichoc Rock, seen between the barracks and semaphore on Molene island, bearing E. by S. a little southerly, and Bannec Rock N.E. \ E. To the south eastward of this about 4 miles is another patch of rock called the Cleu Basseven, and about If miles further on is the Buffalo, a sunken rock having but 2 feet on it, upon which H.M. ship Magnificent was j THE PASSAGE DU FOUI?. 3 unfortunately wrecked in 1804. Near the Buffalo are the Pierres Noires, or Black Kocks, which are always above water, and have 17 to 15 fathoms close to them.