aod
New member
It's been a while since I posted on here but I thought this important enough to mention it.
I raced to Cherbourg in September last. We all went out for a meal, few drinks and ended up in a club. In the we early hours my bed called and so I left to walk back alone. Within minutes I had two guys begging for money. I carried on walking and ignored them and they carried on following and begging for money. I guessed they were early 20s and one was taller than me. After about five minutes I decided enough was enough and stopped and told them 'No' The taller of the two put his hands in the air in a surrender style and uttered 'No problem'. As he did his coat gaped open and there as plain as day was a baseball bat poking out of a pocket so I guessed it was a problem. I backed off into the road in an effort to hail a cab or just attract attention from passing motorists and the two guys ran off around a corner and out of sight. Nothing further happened and I got back to the marina safely and called one of the crew to tell them that when they decide to leave to come back together, which they did without any problems.
I have sailed to Cherbourg on numerous occasions and never had an unpleasant stay indeed I love the place. So I thought this incident to be a one off and didn't put too much score on it.
This weekend just gone I took part in a RORC race to Cherbourg and being a long slog we didn't finish until the wee hours of Sunday morning. Running low on supplies a couple of us went into town to forage for some food but the first road we walked along with illuminated signs turned out to be a narrow very dodgy kebab street with groups of people milling around drunk. I think as we walked down that street almost everyone was looking at us even the guy urinating against a shop window looked up and as we passed groups it went disturbingly quiet as their shouts turned to whispers. A guy from a kebab shop correctly identified the two sober gits in mid layers ambling down the street to be Brits and promptly and probably with some concern for our welfare approached and whispered to us that it was dangerous and we should go. We had already realised that and had never stopped walking having immediately abandoned any thought of supplies the primary concern now not getting back to the boat in one piece.
We weren't followed or anything and we safely walked back to the marina along deserted but bright roads and as we neared the marina we could clearly see and hear a gang of 20 to 30 yobs in the car park behind the marina. They managed to turn over a bottle bank and started lobbing the bottles all around the car park. It wasn't dangerously near us and didn't affect us other than it was a disturbing sight.
When we got back to the boat it turned out that in a totaly unrelated incident someone had been driving along the East Quay at speed before performing handbrake turns, one thinks for fun. But they had miscalculated and went off the end and having rolled down the rocks ended up in the harbour. The emergency services were there in some force with more vehicles arriving all the time blue lights everywhere.
15 minutes later we left and as we sailed out of the harbour we saw just the roof of the car poking out of the water so we don't know if anyone was still inside it or not. No rescue or recovery was being attempted by the emergency services at that time indeed the the Police etc were just stood at the top milling about.
The reason I have written this is not to attract reams of advice about not walking in towns late at night, or that all towns are like that and what do you expect etc.
I have written it because I have decided that in future when I go to Cherbourg I will warn my crew mates, or indeed friends, that if they go out in the evening to stick together, and if it's late, return to the marina via the roads as oppose to the wooded park immediately behind the marina.
IMHO Cherbourg as lovely as it is isn't quite the safe place that it once was, and I thought I would mention it on this forum because it might just make a reader think, and thus prevent a great sailing experience and excellent meal and fun drinks from becoming a traumatic nightmare.
I raced to Cherbourg in September last. We all went out for a meal, few drinks and ended up in a club. In the we early hours my bed called and so I left to walk back alone. Within minutes I had two guys begging for money. I carried on walking and ignored them and they carried on following and begging for money. I guessed they were early 20s and one was taller than me. After about five minutes I decided enough was enough and stopped and told them 'No' The taller of the two put his hands in the air in a surrender style and uttered 'No problem'. As he did his coat gaped open and there as plain as day was a baseball bat poking out of a pocket so I guessed it was a problem. I backed off into the road in an effort to hail a cab or just attract attention from passing motorists and the two guys ran off around a corner and out of sight. Nothing further happened and I got back to the marina safely and called one of the crew to tell them that when they decide to leave to come back together, which they did without any problems.
I have sailed to Cherbourg on numerous occasions and never had an unpleasant stay indeed I love the place. So I thought this incident to be a one off and didn't put too much score on it.
This weekend just gone I took part in a RORC race to Cherbourg and being a long slog we didn't finish until the wee hours of Sunday morning. Running low on supplies a couple of us went into town to forage for some food but the first road we walked along with illuminated signs turned out to be a narrow very dodgy kebab street with groups of people milling around drunk. I think as we walked down that street almost everyone was looking at us even the guy urinating against a shop window looked up and as we passed groups it went disturbingly quiet as their shouts turned to whispers. A guy from a kebab shop correctly identified the two sober gits in mid layers ambling down the street to be Brits and promptly and probably with some concern for our welfare approached and whispered to us that it was dangerous and we should go. We had already realised that and had never stopped walking having immediately abandoned any thought of supplies the primary concern now not getting back to the boat in one piece.
We weren't followed or anything and we safely walked back to the marina along deserted but bright roads and as we neared the marina we could clearly see and hear a gang of 20 to 30 yobs in the car park behind the marina. They managed to turn over a bottle bank and started lobbing the bottles all around the car park. It wasn't dangerously near us and didn't affect us other than it was a disturbing sight.
When we got back to the boat it turned out that in a totaly unrelated incident someone had been driving along the East Quay at speed before performing handbrake turns, one thinks for fun. But they had miscalculated and went off the end and having rolled down the rocks ended up in the harbour. The emergency services were there in some force with more vehicles arriving all the time blue lights everywhere.
15 minutes later we left and as we sailed out of the harbour we saw just the roof of the car poking out of the water so we don't know if anyone was still inside it or not. No rescue or recovery was being attempted by the emergency services at that time indeed the the Police etc were just stood at the top milling about.
The reason I have written this is not to attract reams of advice about not walking in towns late at night, or that all towns are like that and what do you expect etc.
I have written it because I have decided that in future when I go to Cherbourg I will warn my crew mates, or indeed friends, that if they go out in the evening to stick together, and if it's late, return to the marina via the roads as oppose to the wooded park immediately behind the marina.
IMHO Cherbourg as lovely as it is isn't quite the safe place that it once was, and I thought I would mention it on this forum because it might just make a reader think, and thus prevent a great sailing experience and excellent meal and fun drinks from becoming a traumatic nightmare.
