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!!!!
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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