Early June 2016–Guernsey

4th June – Saturday – Cherbourg to Guernsey

0800 start for the 48 miles to Guernsey.  We started out fully wrapped up as it was a very cold morning, but fortunately warmed up later.  The tricky part of the trip should have been the over-falls in the Alderney Race, but we managed the smoothest of passages.  Well timed by Mick.  Mostly motor sailing we arrived at 15:00 to gather at the waiting pontoons for entry into the inner harbour at high water approx. 17:30.

The lighthouse on the Castle Cornet breakwater at the entrance to St Peter Port.

The new waiting pontoons at St Peter Port.  It is now possible to walk ashore, whilst waiting for the tide to rise.

View from the waiting pontoons just outside the sill.  The harbour dories tell you to raft up here before high water and then escort you inside one or two at a time, very civilised and orderly (unlike Jersey which is organised chaos).

The same sill at low water.  Note : Large concrete lab, not to be messed with.

After being Chippy Starved for over a month, we headed to the Fish and Chip Cafe, just behind the Town Church.  Pure Joy.

5th June – Sunday

Or should I say ‘Seafront Sunday’, an occasional pop up festival.  They appear throughout the year and are well attended.  An array of brightly coloured stalls started to arrive at 0900, representing all kinds of groups, hand made items, with lots of food and drink stalls.  Along with 4 stages for bands, performers and dancers, all along the seafront.

One particular young band managed to perform their full set on each of the 4 stages throughout the day!  The whole thing finished at 1700 and by 1800 you would not have known it had been there. Great people watching from the boat.

Also today Jill from Yacht ‘Peggy’ made herself known to us, we had been chatting via email last year as we were both travelling in Holland and it was lovely to put a face to a name.

7th June – Tuesday

Our friends David and Carol came to collect us and we had a trip around the island and a lovely coffee at a posh garden centre.  They then came back for lunch on-board.  It was really great to have a catch-up.

9th June – Thursday

Whilst washing the bedding the other day, Mick checked the stern gland, which is located under the back cabin bed.  It is made of rubber and appeared to be slightly perished, as it was only 2 years old, Mick photographed it and talked to the importer of the part in England, who contacted the manufacturer and sent them the photograph.  The manufacturer said they had never seen this before and would send a replacement part to Guernsey free of charge. 

Replacing this part involves taking the boat out of the water.  We could either use the marina crane costing hundreds of pounds or take the boat to the Drying Pad (concrete with wooden sleepers) on the harbour wall and wait for the tide to go out.  During which time the job has to be successfully completed.

Fleur on the Drying Pad.  My job was to constantly watch the ropes and alter them as the water level changed.  Very necessary but makes watching paint dry seem exciting.

We left our mooring at 12 noon and waited for the water to subside.  At approx. 15:00 Mick started to replace the part and checked all the stern gear.  It was 19:45 when the tide came in, no leaks were found and we were able to float back to the mooring.  A long, tense and challenging day.

10th June - Friday

Fish and Chips with Ferne and Steve from ‘Walkabout’ and later had drinks on board Fleur.

11th June – Saturday

To celebrate the Queens 90th birthday, the local museums were free to enter.  No prizes for guessing, we managed to fit two in.

First we went to Castle Cornet.  Every day at noon a canon is fired from the ramparts, today it was a 21 gun salute.

The castle is arranged on many levels and by noon there were people hanging from every vantage point.  Quite a spectacle. 

There are 4 small museums within the castle grounds, enough to keep us occupied for 3 hours.  Worth the normal £10 entry free. 

We had lunch and made our way to the town museum which is in Candie Park.  It currently has an exhibition of photos of all the small creatures that we can’t normally see that live with us.  I personally prefer to be in the dark on such things, so amused myself in the gallery, which is on a time line and features many works by local artists from the 1700s onwards.  The museum did not represent the £5 normal charge.  However it is undergoing refurbishment.

12th June – Sunday

Queens Birthday parade.

Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey, a serving Rear Admiral.

Inspecting the troops.  Guernsey brass band also played at the parade and were very good.

A group of old RNLI boats arrived today, there presence was heard long before they appeared.

14th June – Tuesday

We walked to St Sampson which is the next town from St Peter Port.  Approx. 45 minutes along the sea front.  It is a small town based around a harbour with a few shops and cafes.  We then walked to ‘Oatlands’, a visitor retail centre with a large craft shop ‘Craftwise’, two floors of everything crafty.  The rest of the centre was a little quiet as it is low season, but the walk was good.

Guernsey Marina

£31 per night.  4 nights for the price of 3, up to the end of May.  The small facilities on the harbour-side are adequate but small,  the walk to the facilities near the harbour office is worthwhile with proper hairdryers.  Washing £2, Drying £1 – Bargain.  Wifi is free and good depending on the height of the tide and the number of users.  Steve and Ferne took us to Waitrose, Iceland and B&Q which are a 20-30 minute walk.  Located along the seafront, walk to the traffic lights near ABN-AMRO offices, turn left and walk 500m.  The shops in St Peter Port are excellent and the M&S too good for fresh bread etc. 

A really good stay.  Next stop France.

End of May 2016 – Cherbourg

24th May 2016 – Tuesday – Le Havre to Cherbourg

We started the day early at 05:00 to make the 73 miles from Le Havre to Cherbourg and witnessed ‘Mariners Twilight’ which is almost light just before sunrise.  The weather was cold but fine and the wind creating our Wind over Tide situation was from the rear, which is marginally better than from the front.  The 13 hour journey means that we crossed a full tidal set and we had to commence at a time which gave us a fair tide as we rounded Pont de Barfleur, the tricky part of this journey.  As the tide changed mid journey we had 5 hours of difficult sea states and I steered for many hours to relieve the auto-helm and gave me something to do.  Typically the wind blew up on our approach to Cherbourg and a large fast ferry took priority as it was departing.  Optimising the route, our captain saved us an hour of the journey time.   

We have walked the length and breadth of Cherbourg in the last 11 days.  On the 26th we went West along the coast.  A good hour later after passing the military base we came across the beach.

West beach

Passing the Abbaye du Voeu.

Reaching the steel sculpture on the headland, giving up and walking back.

Ferne and Steve arrived unexpectedly today on yacht ‘Walkabout’ who we met on our 2014 trip.  It was really nice to catch up and discuss this years respective trips.

Another day was spent going East, we did not however reach the beach, just ferry and cruise terminals.

27th May 2016 – Friday

‘Harmony of the Seas’ arrived today on her maiden visit to Cherbourg and only her second trip with paying passengers.  She is currently the largest Cruise ship in the world and dwarfed the local ferries.

The whole town turned out to have a look, market stalls popped up and the man with the horse drawn tram appeared.  When she departed at 6.00pm prompt, the harbour walls were lined with people in every direction.

28th May 2016 – Saturday

Southerley, RAF, Chichester and Slipper cruising clubs arrived for the Bank Holiday weekend.  More Brits than French on this pontoon. 

There are markets on several days in Cherbourg, and the Thursday and Saturday events are the biggest.

There are alleys and lanes which are worth investigating and you discover some interesting old nooks and crannies.  The town is a mixture of old and modern and the two main churches have been restored well.

For the next few days the mist came down.

1st June – Wednesday

We went looking for the Lidl supermarket as advertised on-line, up the only hill in Cherbourg to be met by a derelict building and locals laughing at us in a local Tabac.  The other one listed on-line also proved illusive.  So the hunt for the phantom Lidl’s was a total waste of an afternoon, but good exercise!!

3rd June – Friday

Today we paid the marina bill and were given the booklet we should have been given on arrival.  It has discount vouchers for museums and galleries.  Note many of the museums are free on Wednesdays!

The Musee Thomas Henry is located behind the Italian facade of the old theatre in the main square.  The original contents of the museum were a gift from Thomas Henry, born in Cherbourg, who became a famous art dealer in Paris.

The ultra modern gallery was only opened in March 2016.

Named ‘Quasar’ it houses the library and the museum, which covers 2 floors.  5 euros normal price, 3 euros with the discount.  Mostly classical paintings on the first floor, 18th and 19th century on the second floor with a series of Bronzes by a famed local artist.

Cherbourg Marina

Cherbourg Marina has excellent facilities.  With RYA discount and weekly discount we paid 236 Euros for 11 nights, 21.45 per night.  New toilet blocks have been built on the end of the visitor pontoons.  Les Eleises shopping centre on the left of the harbour-side in town houses many shops and the Carrefour Hyper market.  Markets on Tues, Wed, Thurs and Sat.  The Wifi has been mended today.  Wifi has only been available in the marina office.

Our previous visit to Cherbourg is documented in posts from August 2014.

Mid May – Fecamp, Le Havre and Honfleur

The trip to Fecamp (pronounced Feecom) from Dieppe was a foggy, zen-like trawl .  7 hours from 10:00 – 17:00 covering 32.7 miles.  Staring into fog, 20 to 100m visibility, for so many hours does something to the mind, but you have no option.  Full lookout at all times, with the occasional toot of the Fog Horn for punctuation. Fortunately we only passed 3 other boats.

The mist was lifting when we left Dieppe but soon descended again once we got to sea.

It was a relief to see the white cliffs (Les Falaises) of Fecamp.  We were only 2 to 3 miles off shore all the way and must have passed miles of beautiful cliffs.  I dropped a fender overboard as we were approaching, so this years man-overboard drill is done.

Fecamp has a small promenade which really comes alive at weekends, when all the families arrive and the restaurants and stalls get lively.  During the week it is a calm place to promenade and survey the sea.

There are some lovely old buildings but the town centre has been largely reconstructed.

This boardwalk takes you along the harbour wall.

14th May – Saturday

Benedictine Palace.  As a life long (drinking life) fan of Benedictine, thanks to Nellie who introduced us all to it as a right of passage, I was very much looking forward to visiting Le Palais Benedictine.

It is a stunning building which was rebuilt in 1902 after the previous distillery was burned down.  Alexander LeGrands family had been associated with the monastery for many centuries and they rediscovered the recipe in the mid 1800s.  Alexander made a Disney style palace in a gothic, arts and crafts style which is the star attraction of the town.

A tour of the palace and its treasures which are many, lead to a video and tour of the distillery.

Then the necessary quality control.  I got to try ‘1868’ and ‘Single Cask’ for a mere 2 euros extra as one taste is free.  I have tasted enough of the original to spot the difference in these variations.  They are double the price and very similar.  Sadly the shop was more expensive than buying from a normal shop and the chocolates were 16 euros a box.  So we left empty handed but glowing.

The building itself is worth the 7 euro entrance fee (with discount).

Fecamp Marina

30 Euros per night.  Ok facilities with plug sockets.  Excellent Baker and Butcher a short walk along the harbour-side.  Carrefour City supermarket on the harbour-side and a L’Eclerc 20 minutes walk out of town (the tourist office said ‘on the flat’, we did not go).  We did however use the tourist office wifi as the marina’s was hopeless.  The marina give you a stamped booklet ‘Carte D’Hote’ which explains all the places of interest with discount entries.  Beware a northerly wind can blow into the harbour and make for a rocky night.

16th May – Monday – To Le Havre

Having seen what Fecamp had to offer, we set sail for the 30 miles to Le Havre at 09:00 arriving 15:00.  On what we call a ‘delivery trip’.  6 hours of engine with a bitterly cold north-westerly on the nose.  Mostly unpleasant. 

Le Havre is the third largest port in Europe and you are greeted by tankers waiting to deposit their wares, ferries and cruise ships.  The entrance is large and forms an ‘s’ shaped channel into the marina.  ‘O’ pontoon referred to in the Pilot guide now has an additional ‘P’ pontoon for visiting yachts.

17th May – Tuesday

The cruise ship terminal has lead to the development of a large shopping centre in the old dock buildings ‘Docks Oceane’, which is finished to the highest standard and also houses a L’Eclerc supermarket.

Docks Oceane, with free wifi for the non-shoppers.

Now I must pay a backward compliment, Le Havre is not as ugly as it first appears, and is a world heritage site.  The architecture is brutalist concrete, on a grid structure, on the whole.

The blocks and blocks of flats make the grid with shops beneath.  They are interspersed with garden squares and wide boulevards with a modern tram system.  Some ancient buildings have been saved and pop up unexpectedly within the grid.

The most prominent building in town is the concrete monolith ‘Eglise Saint-Joseph’ built in the 1950’s.  Inside the high tower creates an ‘elevator to god’ and has a very calm feel.

Also worth noting are the hundreds of beach huts, each row currently displays the image of a movie legend and they go on and on, very small with little privacy from the neighbours, they are a curious site which come to life when the sun shines.

20th May – Friday – Honfleur by Bus

Honfleur has a chocolate box harbour-side ‘Vieux-Bassin’ lined with Cafes.

We took the 08:40 number 20 bus at stop ‘D’ for the 18km.  The town has an additional large marina holding many Hotel River Boats and Cruisers.  The picturesque streets wind into each other and lead you on a pleasant saunter around town.  Make a point to visit the wooden church, which is very much like an upturned wooden boat with its adjacent bell tower.

The old quarter has some exceptional examples of timber framed houses and businesses.

As we had walked Le Havre the previous day, lunch beckoned to save our legs.

The bus took us over the ‘Pont de Normandie’, the largest bridge of its type when built.

A really good day out.  It is possible to sail here but the tides were not with us.

21st May – Saturday

Firstly, thanks to a free magazine the ‘Le Havre Infos’ we embarked on another grand day out.  Le Havre’s celebration of Brittany was taking place.  The people of Brittany have a long proud tradition which they are fond of celebrating, even though we are in Normandy.

Stalls, performers, Celtic dancers, musicians, pipes and drums were all part of this vibrant event. 

Secondly, the annual ‘Visits noctunes dans les musees’ was also taking place today.  Free museums at night.

During the day we had visited the Natural History museum which was free to enter anyway, small and perfectly formed with a special Polynesian exhibition with masks, and objet we had never seen anything like before.

The musuem of modern art (MUMA) displays the work of local hero Eugene Boudin, an early representative of impressionism.  Along with several other significant impressionist pieces from Monet, Pissaro etc it provides a fascinating insight into their dedication.  They toured this area extensively and copies of their work pops up in the towns and on promenades.  As a real bonus a beautiful lady was singing Opera, accompanied by a pianist and alto saxophonist.  Quite dreamy.

We also went to the nearby Maison de l’Armateur, a shipping merchants house which gladly survived the 1944 bombardment.  It has a unique light well, like a reverse lighthouse, down the centre of the 5 floors, and curved rooms surrounding each floor.  The ‘Grand Design’ of its time.  The house also displays a collection of ballooning memorabilia which was comprehensive, the owner being a founder of the ballooning fraternity.

Lastly, when in France look out for the extra large spring onions, they are a bit stinky but yummy.

Le Havre Marina

30 Euros per night or 173 for a week.  The facilities are good if a little dated, but a shower costs 1.5 euro.  Although the water stays on for several minutes which is unusual.  The hairdryer user requires particular dedication,  if you can squeeze between the washing machine and the wall in the hallway and are in possession of an extension lead, a plug socket is available.  The wifi is poor and intermittent, especially at weekends.  There are 2 ‘Super U’ supermarkets close by, one on the Rue de Voltaire and the other near the tourist information centre.  The town has lots of shops and a shopping centre and the ‘Docks Oceane’ shopping centre is worth the walk.  The towns promenade stretches to St Adresse to the north and is also a lovely walk.

Next stop Cherbourg.

Early May – Boulogne, Le Touquet, Dieppe

4th May – Wednesday – To Boulogne

A sunny day with a smooth sea and good visibility make for a perfect Channel crossing day.  40 miles from 11.30 to 18.30, 7 hours using the tide, with only ferries at Dover to give us any concern.  Which were no problem, as in our book, they go first.

Mick hoisting the French courtesy flag for this year’s trip.

The entrance to Boulogne Harbour, note the sandbank on the left.  There is an ever present Dredger too, and permission to enter the harbour is required by radio.

However, on arrival Mick found an electrical problem in the engine, which took a few hours to diagnose and repair.  Thank goodness we had a second helping of last night’s curry on hand.

5th May – Thursday

The local map showed an old walled town, which turned out to be quite special.

Once again Boulogne was somewhere we used to catch a ferry to in our youth, not knowing that the town itself was worth exploring.

Within the old walled town is a Basilica, with a large dome, which is the main marker on the horizon.  Pretty streets with shops and cafes lead you to it.

The ramparts around the town are walkable and give a panoramic view of the main town and harbour.  Nearby is the Chateau museum, which has a real moat. 

Boulogne is known for its fishing industry and there is a large fleet of boats, which do come and go at all hours.  With the bonus of a harbour-side fish market, along the boardwalk, with leads to the beach and aquarium (which is currently under development and expansion).

Boulogne has a large tidal range and at the moment the spring tides are making variables quite dramatic and the steep gangways a challenge.  To combat this the harbour had an electric lift for people to haul their goods up from their boats, you can just make out the tray of the lift above.

The photo above also shows the rocks at the lock entrance, which are marked in the pilot books, do not venture passed the last pontoon!

8th May – Sunday – To Le Touquet

We have to specially thank Alexandre, one of the marina managers, who went out of this way to help us with train and bus times to allow us to visit Le Touquet. 

The station is a 20 minute walk from the marina.  The modern train arrived promptly at 08.48, Boulogne to Etaples.  Then a bus from the stop just outside the train station (No. 513 to Berck) to ‘Robert Lassus Square’, stop 9, Le Touquet.

We first walked the length of the beach, watching the Sand-yachts speed along, while the tide was out.

We came across ‘Le Touquet Wake Park’  comprising two huge portable pools with a cable system above which pulled the wake-boarders from one end to the other, via jumps and obstacles.

The town itself has a prosperous, old-world charm.  Lots of boutique shops, cafes and artisan food producers.

Even the fish market was impressive.

The train fare was 12 euros each and 1 euro each for the bus.  A grand day out.

We caught the bus back to Etaples (above), which is an alternative harbour for visiting Le Touquet.  The harbour dries out at low tide and there is flight traffic from Le Touquet airport.  It was nice to bump into Caroline and Dom on their lift-keel boat ‘Hermione’.

Boulogne Marina

All the marina staff are very helpful and friendly.  Very good free wifi and map.  Euros 23.50 per night.  Good facilities with a plug in the hallway.  The markets are Wednesday and Saturday, mainly local produce.  There are several supermarkets nearby and a large ‘Carrefour Market’ 10 minutes walk along the riverside.

9th May – Monday – To Dieppe

Very early start 06:00 to catch the tide for the 10 hour trip to Dieppe arriving 16:10.  A beautiful sunrise helped us on our way.

A calm sea and 15 knots of wind gave us a good motor sail, through the tide change.

10th May – Tuesday

Took the trolley the 1.7 miles to the Auchan hypermarket, which is 1.5 miles up hill, no wonder the GPS said it would take 45 minutes!

Very big thunder and lightning storm in the evening.

11th May – Wednesday

Sunny day then foggy.  We walked around the town.

Dieppe’s sizeable harbour, lined with cafes.

Again we found a wealth of historic buildings, cathedral and churches.

Half timbered building near the old town.

The impressive castle stands at the end of the beachfront and is embedded into the White cliffs.  It houses the town museum.

Dieppe Marina

Euros 20 per night.  3 days wifi is available with a password from the marina office.  The signal was very poor and frustrating.  The facilities are a long walk from the visitors pontoon, but are good with plug sockets.  There is a small fish market on the harbour-side.  Small supermarkets nearby with the large Auchan Hypermarket a 1.7 mile uphill slog, with other shops around it on a commercial retail park.

Next stop Fecamp, the home of Benedictine, my favourite liquer!