First crossing to Cherbourg

LadyInBed said:
If you arrive around or just after midnight, the marina staff are very accomodating. They normally charge for the day and night after arrival. The same with leaving, I've never been charged for the day I leave,even if it's 4 pm.
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Strangely it is one of the very few marinas which I found less than helpful and certainly the only one where I have paid for a berth and then left before using it. One evening I found the night staff very unhelpful (small fat bloke with the beginnings of a goatee beard) and with a musical concert going off the scale, right next door, I departed at 01h.

So another tip for the OP, if the park next door is fenced off and a sound stage is getting erected, just leave. Go anywhere but leave. The bass rumble will nearly vibrate you out of your bunk till the early hours and the drunks will scream at each other and break bottles till daybreak.

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doug748 said:
Strangely it is one of the very few marinas which I found less than helpful and certainly the only one where I have paid for a berth and then left before using it. One evening I found the night staff very unhelpful (small fat bloke with the beginnings of a goatee beard) and with a musical concert going off the scale, right next door, I departed at 01h.

So another tip for the OP, if the park next door is fenced off and a sound stage is getting erected, just leave. Go anywhere but leave. The bass rumble will nearly vibrate you out of your bunk till the early hours and the drunks will scream at each other and break bottles till daybreak.
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Better than the all night rave in Alderney we were next to once.

If one does just leave now, one would be on the system as arriving and not visiting PAF.
 
I can confirm that Cherbourg east entrance can be awkward at night first time. On my first visit I arrived on the tide, at night, via Barfleur, from Le Havre. I was not using GPS, as it is a simple trip once one picks up the light at Barfleur, as darkness falls & then hop from buoy to buoy. As we arrived, there were lights everywhere. As it was high tide, we could see more over the wall than expected. We decided to follow a fishing boat, but as it went inside it turned to Stbd. We could see the mast head light & did not realise there was a wall between us & the boat as we followed the light.
Caused a bit of a panic, when I realised what had happened. We were all pretty tired after a windy beat to Barfleur. Then finding my way to the inner marina with all the lights was a bit confusing. I had not bothered with a proper passage plan for the last bit after the Pierre Noire buoy. I had just plotted a rough bearing the day before, but the tide wanted to push us to the west & we had to work hard to stay on course. I only had a chart for the western English Channel. I did have Reeds but little time to study it. . There is still a fair tide inside the outer harbour as well.
 
Daydream believer said:
I can confirm that Cherbourg east entrance can be awkward at night first time. On my first visit I arrived on the tide, at night, via Barfleur, from Le Havre. I was not using GPS, as it is a simple trip once one picks up the light at Barfleur, as darkness falls & then hop from buoy to buoy. As we arrived, there were lights everywhere. As it was high tide, we could see more over the wall than expected. We decided to follow a fishing boat, but as it went inside it turned to Stbd. We could see the mast head light & did not realise there was a wall between us & the boat as we followed the light.
Caused a bit of a panic, when I realised what had happened. We were all pretty tired after a windy beat to Barfleur. Then finding my way to the inner marina with all the lights was a bit confusing. I had not bothered with a proper passage plan for the last bit after the Pierre Noire buoy. I had just plotted a rough bearing the day before, but the tide wanted to push us to the west & we had to work hard to stay on course. I only had a chart for the western English Channel. I did have Reeds but little time to study it. . There is still a fair tide inside the outer harbour as well.
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If you fancy something a bit sporty, try the small gap in the Eastern breakwater close to the shore.
 
Apart from the ferries, you can also encounter some unusual traffic entering Cherbourg.

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Daydream believer said:
Take your RYA membership card for 25% discount on berthing fees. Other memberships probably work. I am told even the Tufty club gets a discount, provided your membership is up to date ;) ?
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Yes, they can show you a long list they have of organisations that get a members discount. You just need to point to one, any one.
 
I should have said if you have AIS you can spot the entrance often by the ferries entering the rade, if you don’t have AIS fit one before you go as it does help mid channel to cross the shipping lanes.
 
Mudisox said:
or even better use the true inshore passage from Barfleur and enter that entrance with about 1.6m at low tide. Much less tidal stream there.
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You really are joking :unsure: :rolleyes: ?
In the dark, First time, No GPS, Tired, No decent scaled chart, I might be navigating in the way I have always done,(terribly) but that still does not mean that I take risks with rocks. I was told ages ago when I learned in the Thames estuary. One leaves ones mark on a sand bank. A rock leaves its mark on you. Plenty of offing, stay safe ;)
 
The tides are really nothing to be concerned about, and won’t bother you unless you cock up your planning. Their evil reputation largely dates from the days of heavy small boats with an apology for a motor or none at all. A modern boat, even a small one will always get there, and there is some pleasure to be had from watching the SOG in the last hour creep up from 5-6-7-8 knots as you use the bit of tide you’ve saved for the last hour.
 
johnalison said:
The tides are really nothing to be concerned about, and won’t bother you unless you cock up your planning. Their evil reputation largely dates from the days of heavy small boats with an apology for a motor or none at all. A modern boat, even a small one will always get there, and there is some pleasure to be had from watching the SOG in the last hour creep up from 5-6-7-8 knots as you use the bit of tide you’ve saved for the last hour.
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Or drop to almost nothing if you got it wrong! If you really mess up on a falling tide, Omonville la Rogue is a deep water harbour a few miles west of Cherbourg. Very pleasant, but not a place to be if the wind or the swell have any east in them

As for the small entrance to the east, I seem to remember seeing it dry at low tide, so watch the depth!
 
Stemar said:
Or drop to almost nothing if you got it wrong! If you really mess up on a falling tide, Omonville la Rogue is a deep water harbour a few miles west of Cherbourg. Very pleasant, but not a place to be if the wind or the swell have any east in them

As for the small entrance to the east, I seem to remember seeing it dry at low tide, so watch the depth!
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We stopped at Omonville once to wait for the tide but I was put off by the alarming drum-shaped steel mooring buoys and no wind or current to keep us off. This may have changed in the intervening 25 years.
 
johnalison said:
We stopped at Omonville once to wait for the tide but I was put off by the alarming drum-shaped steel mooring buoys and no wind or current to keep us off. This may have changed in the intervening 25 years.
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I had a couple of days there sheltering from a SW gale.

The mooring buoys then were diamond shape and the fattest part covered with barnacles; like a giant rotary rasp!

I had to rig out a spinnaker pole with a 'bullrope' to keep the buoy clear of the topsides.
 
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That wasn't a problem when we went there. There was a good easterly breeze blowing, we picked up a buoy and picked up a buoy using our usual mooring line, and a passing fisherman told us to put something better, which I was planning on doing anyway, but I supplemented the heavy line I used with the anchor chain. It didn't matter that we were bouncing around because we were whisked off to Madame's sister, who lived in the village.
 
My memory of Omonville is fishing hoping to catch dinner and instead bringing up a fair sized eel. Horrible slimy wriggly things to deal with. Fortunately had not swallowed the hook so was able to return it to its natural habitat.
 
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