Lady Martina - 2017

Pas de Caux & Calais Coast Cruises 2017

2017-05-30T10:06:35+00:00

Section IV Pas de Caux & Calais Coast: 13th to 30th July: (18 days);

The major historic ports of the Northern French coast and one or two minor ones, completing our cruise of France and preparing for the cross-channel journey back to England

Part 1. Thursday 13th July Le Havre to Fecamp see Le Havre to Fecamp 2017

Part 2. Saturday 15th July Fecamp to St Valery en Caux see Fecamp to St Valery-en-Caux 2017

Part 2. Monday 17th July St Valery en Caux to Dieppe see St Valery-en-Caux to Dieppe 2017

(Shore leave Wed 19th July Ferry Dieppe to Newhaven depart 12.30 arriving 15.30: Returned Sun 23rd July Ferry Newhaven to Dieppe depart 16.30 arriving 21:30) We returned a day earlier than scheduled to take advantage of a small break in the weather.

Part 3. Tuesday 25th Dieppe to Boulogne see Dieppe to Boulogne 2017

press 'Next' to see more...

Normandy Coast Cruises 2017

2017-05-30T10:06:35+00:00

Section IV Pas de Caux & Pas de Calias: 13th to 25th July (12 days)

The major historic ports of the Northern French coast and one or two minor ones, completing our cruise of France and preparing for the cross-channel journey back to England

Part 1. Thursday 13th July Le Havre to Fecamp

Part 2. Saturday 15th July Fecamp to St Valery en Caux

Part 3. Monday 17th July St Valery en Caux to Dieppe

Part 4. Wednesday 19th Dieppe to Boulogne

Part 5. Friday 21st July Boulogne to Calais

Part 6. Sunday 23rd July Calais to Dunkirk

press 'Next' to see more...

Le Havre to Fecamp

2017-05-29T16:33:31+00:00

Thursday 13th July Ref: 2017/17

We had a great cruise from Le Havre to Fecamp ; arriving in the harbour at exactly the right time to cruise through the bridge and open barrier to moor in the sheltered Bassigny basin and there to find the town en fete with its annual Fecamp Motor Team rally of thousands of motorbikes descending from the mountain and parading through the centre in a wild and spectacular procession with lights and horns blazing. It was a magnificent sunny and warm day and still later in the evening for the event but the winds at sea were an unexpected Force 4 which, against our following tide of over 2knots, made for a moderate sea at times, though it was smooth and slight at others.

{gallery}2017/Le-Havre-Fecamp{/gallery}

I cruised at a steady 1500 revs, or 8knots, throughout and monitored our progress and the times and tides worked out as expected. It was just that additional wind from that awkward quarter that prevented this from being the perfect passage. Also we went well out to sea to pass the Antifer point, following the chart instructions not to enter their exclusion zone unless going to or from their Le Havre Antifer port and therefore crossing north of their A17 and A18 channel buoys. We found the town to be much more attractive than I remembered it over ten years ago, when it was more of a fishing village with some tourism but now that trend seems to be reversed.

Temp 27>24 deg C, RH 56>49%, Pressure 1021-1019mb falling slowly, good viz, sm/slight/mod in F4 with breeze variable then SEly and NEly up to 15knots

Fecamp to St Valery en Caux

2017-05-29T16:33:31+00:00

A well-timed cruise from Fecamp to St Valery en Caux after a lock delay and disquiet on board. I had been frustrated by the absolute lack of connectivity by use of the harbour Wi-fi or the Vodafone/SFR data sharing facility which was probably due to the very busy traffic on this Bastille Day weekend. I was up early and made my way over to the Tourism Office and used the speed of their Internet and the comfort of their accommodation to put in a good two hours of work on my cruise preparation and cruising web site updates.

I had thus checked all of the maritime weather web sites and concluded that, though today would not be perfect with winds to the upper end of F4, it would be with the strong tide and so would leave the seas state manageable.

{gallery}2017/Fecamp-St-Valery-en-Caux{/gallery}

We were given to believe that the barrier would be opening around 2pm today local time but it was around 2.30pm before it did so. I had been getting quite confused when adjusting for French time and French Summer time and the CA/Imray index was pointing me to the Calais rather than the Dieppe Standard Port tide reference page. However, later on, when I had a chance to study the whole situation properly, I concluded that 2.30pm was indeed the time I should expect the gate to open and our cruise to proceed!

It was a shame because I needed to pay the marina office and return our gate key and they were closed and re-opening at 2pm and so I could have gone there first! As it was, just as soon as we left the inner marina I had to stop at the outer harbour visitor’s pontoon and make my way to the office to complete these chores before we could leave…

I made slight increase from 6 to 7 knots for our speed and that still got us to St Valery en Caux 40mins before their High Tide and well within the times for the tidal gate to be opened for us to enter upon arrival. We had to wait until the 5pm bridge lift (as they operate on the hour and half hour during the tidal window) but the bridge controller had replied with that information on VHF Ch9 and so I was well aware and could tie up and wait. He waved us to the Eastern visitor’s pontoon V2 and we could tie up with space to spare alongside and our voyage was completed.

As we settled in, we could hear the sound of live outside music and so I took a walk and learnt that there were still some chops open and the organisers were conducting a sound check for a big open-air festival of music from local performers. We were back later to enjoy the free show!

Temp 20>30>24 deg C, RH 67>40>50%, Pressure 1025 mb steady, good viz, sm/slight/mod seas with breeze Wly 9 up to 15knots

St Valery en Caux to Dieppe

2017-05-29T16:33:31+00:00

We planned and completed a good cruise from St Valery en Caux to Dieppe despite indifferent weather conditions. I had checked the weather from multiple sources and it was forecast for F4/5 from the north-east but I was expecting winds of just 9-11 knots inshore but with a 0.4-0.5m sea due to swell and past days winds and that proved just about correct when I monitored conditions throughout our 2hr30min passage. It was worse just outside St Valery and again rounding the Roches d’Ailly but throughout the cruise it was manageable, our speed averaging a knot faster than the slow 6 knots I had adopted for economy and we were perfectly able to have our hot drinks, sandwiches and snacks to pass the time.

{gallery}2017/St-Valery-en-Caux-Dieppe{/gallery}

With our poor language skills, I thought that the harbourmaster had said that the gates would be opened at 5pm today. I had re-calculated the tides and passage timings over and over again, adjusting the boat computer time clock so that the MaxSea versions of tide times corresponded with those of external sources. As a result of all this, I worked out that the tidal gates should open around 3.45pm this afternoon and so I tried going over to the harbour office to check with them but they were closed. Luckily, there was another French skipper there and, although he could speak no English, we talked in French and he was able to confirm that the gates should be open by 4pm and so they were.

I prepared on that basis and was just able to be ready and take the first bridge lift out of the inner harbour but it was short notice and therefore some time before Kathleen could manage all of the ropes and fenders and so I had to go on autopilot and help her in the end as we were getting into the swell beyond the shelter.

Both the exit of St Valery en Caux and the entrance to Dieppe were very straightforward and the Dieppe harbourmaster and the marina both answered me on VHF channels 12 and 09 accordingly. I was directed to a good berth alongside the main pontoon and the young assistant helped me moor with indications throughout. The marina office was a good cycle ride away but I found them there and speaking English well after Kathleen and I had given Lady Martina a good wash down.

The weather forecast is for fresh to strong winds for the next few days and so, until it is forecast to improve, we are now making plans to return home for some shore leave by ferry from Dieppe to Newhaven and train thereafter as we have much work to do at home and things to catch up with

Temp 29>27 deg C, RH 68>40>62%, Pressure 1021-1019 mb falling slowly, mod viz, sm/slight/mod seas with breeze NEly 9 up to 11knots

Dieppe to Boulogne

2017-05-29T16:33:31+00:00

This was a cruise from Dieppe to Boulogne in difficult but safe circumstances during the only window i could find during in the windy weather but it led to a safe arrival and a change of scenery and so was successful from those points of view. More than that, there was not going to be any improvement in the forecast for several days at least and we had spent enough time in Dieppe, with its exposed moorings tossing us around all of the time.

{gallery}2017/Dieppe-Boulogne{/gallery}

I was up reasonably early this morning and then first checked on the weather forecast and established that the gap in the winds was still expected as there would just be 9-11 knots with gusts up to 15 knots and, if anything, the predictions were slightly better than the previous night. There were still 0.5m seas predicted and that was within the F3 designation, and the UK inshore forecast for the North Foreland to Selsey Bill area was ‘smooth to slight’ and so I felt it was right to go ahead with our cruise across the long bay to Boulogne.

I went about the business of preparing Lady Martina for her trip after a week’s inactivity and then walked to the office to pay our extra night’s fee; additional to the week that we had already paid, as Kathleen walked to the shops to get some supplies. I was confident of the weather to the point that I planned to leave earlier than the 12.30pm departure time (that was optimum for 10 knots) and I would now be cruising more like 8 knots for economy.

All went to plan as we ate, finished our preparations and then slipped our moorings. I kept Lady Martina in the inner harbour before setting off to allow Kathleen to have plenty of time to ship and stow the ropes and fenders and then I set off after taking the precaution of making sure everything was fully secured inside and out. That turned out to be a wise precaution as the state of the sea off the harbour was a portent of things to come. With the strong Spring Flood Tide following us, we were against the NNEly breeze which was only a couple of knots more than the 10knots forecast but, together with the ‘left-over’ waves from the recent windy conditions, were more than the 0.5m predicted sea state and on our bow, making us slam up and down.

At least the waves were not on our beam and so we were no rolling but successions of waves would make us pitch until they passed and that was making Kathleen feel uncomfortable. She was managing until she needed to go below for her regular visits to the ‘head’ and then she ceased to enjoy it and, after struggling, made up a bunk in the bridge and went to sleep; leaving me to navigate the boat! Unknown to her, it was not long before the breeze started to back to a more NWly direction and that corresponded with our approaching the north of the bay we were navigating. This meant that the breeze on our Port bow and then beam and was was across the tide rather than against it. The sea calmed down from Mod to Slight and even became Smooth later as the breeze dropped to only 6 knots when we approached Boulogne.

We finally overhauled all of the sailing vessels who had left Dieppe 3-4 hours earlier than us as we cruised across the Boulogne inner bay and got our clearance from Port Control on VHF Ch 12 and then our berthing instructions on VHF Ch 09 from the harbour assistant. She waved us into the alongside berth on the quay-side pontoon and we were happy, comfortable and safe there. We were very low on fresh water but first we used the hose and soapy-sponges to wash and dry off Lady Martina before using the very high pressure to then fill her tanks.

After visiting the office and paying for just a single night to start with, we cleared the bridge and then took a walk around the harbour. I still remember the ‘Fast Cat’ service that plied between Boulogne and Ramsgate when I first visited and the considerable infrastructure is still there and one wonders why the two Cities do not join together with some EU money to start a new fast service that takes advantage of their strategic position and assets. There was a touching informal pictorial memorial with bunches of flowers to a tented-black lady who had obviously passed away in the port and I suspect she was sleeping rough before perishing and we were left wondering how and when.

Temp 20>27 deg C, RH 76>50%RH, Pressure 1015-1013 mb falling slowly, fair viz, sm/slight/mod seas with breeze NEly going NWly 12 reducing to 6 knots