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Welcome to my blog. Here you will find the journeys of Ti Gtu and information that I have researched and found useful for maintaining and servicing yachts and motorboats.

I post full information that I find on the Fay Marine information site, accessed through www.faymarine.com/ and I can be emailed at paul@faymarine.com.



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Happy sailing,



Paul Fay



Sunday 24 June 2018

Along the French Coast


Fecamp.

Well we thought Ramsgate was bad but Fecamp is worse. We arrived in virtually no wind and a flat sea but inside the harbour there was a swell that had Ti Gitu snatching at her mooring lines and rolling around for which pleasure we were charged £35.00. If you can avoid the place then do.

 

After one lousy night in Fecamp we decided to sail the 60 miles across to St Vaast. It was blowing well from the North and we had a romping but rough sail arriving at high water which meant it was easy to enter. The marina gate is only open for a couple of hours each side of high water.

We were tired and so stayed 2 nights. Really expensive at 40 Euros a night and despite being a pretty place certainly not worth that.

It is a shame that these French harbours seem to have got onto the British type gravy train of charging the earth for a nights stay. Some years ago there was an article where many Mayer's of these places explained that the prices were kept reasonable so that yachts visited and spent cash in the towns. They do not get our cash any more. In fact after St Vaast we went to Cherbourg but didn't bother to go into the marina, we anchored inside the breakwater at the Western end where we had a really good nights sleep.

The following morning Ti Gitu took the tide along to Alderney. Reading the cruising books they say to cross the Alderney race 4 hours after high water at St Helier. If you do that it means leaving Cherbourg and plugging a foul tide. I watched yachts doing that and could see that once outside the breakwater they were hardly moving.

After examining the tide tables for ages we decided to leave with a fair tide and head well North so that when 5 miles North of Cap de la Hauge we would get the current pushing us South towards Alderney. We nearly got it perfect. We had no wind and a flat sea but were about half an hour earlier than we really wanted as the strength of current was more than we assumed from the tide tables. We ran the engine at little more than tick over giving about 3.5 knots through the water yet with the current we covered the 24 miles in just over 4 hours an average of 6 knots. The current through the Alderney race is spectacular running at 5 knots. Wind over tide here must be impossible!!!!

Anyway we are now anchored in Bray harbour where despite being open to the North East and having winds from that direction the wind is so light that it is not a problem. The moorings here are £15 a night and to anchor with use of showers etc. is a fiver, they even take just 5 Euros as well for a nights anchoring. Helps us get rid of the dam things.

I see that the Scottish Island of Ulva has finally been purchase by the local community. Good for them!!!!

 

 

1 comment:

  1. The thing I hate is that you can get a hotel room in Fecamp for 45 quid so why would you visit by yacht? A lot of our marinas here in Queensland charge 35 quid a night. It certainly makes it hard to cruise on a budget. Its a shame when some places are just to expensive to visit.

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