French nautical language

[MarkJohnson]

Hopefully, this year I will be sailing to Brittany. Never having sailed to France before, I am concerned about speaking to marinas etc for berths, and of course weather reports.

I have a Navtex, but would like to be able to get local forecasts.

My french is no better than school boy standard. How do you get on?

regards

Mark J

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[tcm]

Re: don\'t worry

"this is boat Elsie" = "Ici le bateau Elsie"

"this is boat Elsie, asking for a place for tonight please" = "ici le bateau Else demandant une plass pour ce soir, s'il vous plait"

they often respond very quickly, with some stuff that ends
"....dimensions du bateau?" and they are asking how big the boat is.

You could practise beforhand with the dimensions and type of boat
"Elsie est un voilier (if sail, or "bateau a moteur" if power) longeur douze metres, largeur trois metres, Tirant d'eau (=draught) deux metres"

Then, they might tell you to go to a particularplace, in which case you are now a bit knackered cos you have to know where the numbers are in the harbour.

Or they might witter and say "...quay d'acceuil..." which sounds like "..kay dakuiee..." and that usually means they want you to go the the reception quay " acceuil = reception"

Sometimes sometimes (tho not often) you mightneed to moor with an anchor, But worryingly, you might not need an anchor. Not that sometimes it loks as though other boats are using their anchors cos they have chain off the bow but they are actually using a rope to haul a chain in the water on to their boat - v confusing. Not much of this in N france tho. And v imprtant not to put your anchor down with all those chains cos it'll get tangles and divers = 50 euros or mebber 100 euros. ask on vhf "est-ce qu'il faut l'ancre ici?" and you shold get a "oui" or a "non" or something about "...pendule" which again means there is ground tackle to pick up pendule =lazy line, for stern-to moorings.

Note loads of boats just pitch up at the reception quay with no call beforehand. You could do that too. Very successful ruse is to turn up at Lunchtime, with capital letter cos the whole of france revolves around Lunchtime strictly 1-2 in high season or about 12.15 to 3 ish out of season. You can park anywhere at Lunchtime, go and get your own lunch, and then sort it out later. Do not try and call the vhf at lunch time cos everyone is at lunch usually. Even big companies stop dead and all rush off home for lunch.

I would buy the Livre de Bord (for the northern area) as soon as poss, in france, Far cheaper and more up to date with lots in english that uk alamanacs(and anyway you can read foreigns charts and so on even in french)

If unsure, you can book ahead, but often not necessary. Smiling and excuse moi, and monsieur and madame all the time goes down well. Pitching in with own language at speed wouldn't work in the uk, doesn't work too well in france either.

Forecasts are easy to read often with nice piccies for us foreigners. Sometimes rubbish, sometimes not, like ours.







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[jhr]

These are key words and phrases I'd be listening out for in weather reports(apologies if you're familiar with these already)

Vent (fort/tres fort) - Strong/very strong winds

Mer tranquille/agitee - calm/rough seas

Maree basse/haut - low/high tides

Pluie - rain

Brouillard - fog

Ces merdes d'Anglaises - our esteemed visitors from across the Channel.

Try tuning into a couple of French long wave radio stations and listening to them for a while; even if you have schoolboy French, it will re-acclimatise your ears to the language and should help your comprehension.

Finally, if you're on the lookout for a hose to use in a French Marina, don't ask "Voulez vous faire le pipe"? It hasn't got anything to do with the water supply......

<hr width=100% size=1>Je suis Marxiste - tendance Groucho

 

[cameronke]

Hello Mark

Its easy, you just speak slowly and clearly in English and if they still dont understand you say it the same only much louder

(Jesting of course ;-)

regards
Cameron

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[qsiv]

The Meteo France forecasts are invariably posted on either the yacht club, or capitainerie (Harbourmaster). The numbers are easy to read,as are compass directions for wind. Sea state descriptions (Calm, peu agite, agite) will soon become clear. Once you've seen the printed forecasts try matching them to the VHF forecast. These you will either miss completely or hear repeated from every coast radio station in range until you are sick to death.

As for VHF for a berth I've never once called up (boat isnt quite on the scale of tcm, and West coast seldom full to the point of exclusion, even for a 50' boat).

Once your ashore life becomes easy as Iain's universal law of languauges states that 'Fluency is inversely proportional to the level of wine in the bottle' You will of course need a smattering to order that first bouteille du vin ou peut-etre un grand pression.

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[Twister_Ken]

Tides

Are not expressed the way that Brits are used to, with low and high water heights, but as a coefficient - a percentage of the 'standard' tide. It only takes a few minutes to get your head around it.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>

 

[Gunfleet]

Re: don\'t worry

bit of a steep learning curve, going from schoolboy French to the vhf. Most of us struggle with English over the vhf. The mobile phone is a good way of contacting marinas in a more relaxed mode. And don't forget there are plenty of circumstances where it's a good idea to have no French at all! (You can't park there! What's he say? I dunno.)

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[Oldhand]

Suggest if your Navtex is dual frequency you receive 490kHz local forecasts in French. This does mean you need to learn the French meteorological terms. We have found that the Microsoft Encarta dictionary is rarely at a loss, so if you don't have a PC onboard, get Encarta (if you don't allready have it), or a source of your choice and search for the French for everything you can think of and make your own translation list before you go. Marina posted forecasts don't always have an English version (as Cherbourg does) so your list will still be handy if you rely on these.

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[Birdseye]

Dont worry about marinas. No need to radio in. The general pattern is that you wander in and tie up at the ponton d'acceuil (welcome pontoon). You then amble up to the capitainerie and ask for a berth. Usually in mid summer theoffice is staffed by kids on summer jobs, and they are relaxed, helpful and speak English. When you get your berth allocation you move to it. Occasionally, you will be greated by the same kids driving a rubber duck and telling you which berth to go to.

Facilities are usually less than those in the UK and the lower fees are reflected in lower services and overheads. French marinas have direct computer links to the customs/ gendamerie so you can expect a visit from officialdom unless it is a public holiday. Be civil, friendly, offer coffee/beer and get the wife / girlfriend to smile at them. they are helpful and constructive a great deal more often than the immigration service / hmcg here - not that thats saying much.

It being France, you get free electricity to cook with but you pay for showers.

<hr width=100% size=1>this post is a personal opinion, and you should not base your actions on it.

 

[Sybarite]

.<<..but you pay for showers. >> They are free at my marina.

John

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[Sybarite]

Don't worry about French. I think you will find that everybody knows a minimum of English. Just be friendly. If you want to brush up :-

Here is a glossary of terms www.cs.stir.ac.uk/~kjt/sailing/eng-fr-af.html

If you are listening to Weather forecasts on Channel 16 (then normally to 9, 13 or 80 depending on instructions) they aways start them with the important bit :
"avis de coup de vent" (Gale warning) or "avis de tempête" (storm warning) followed by either the details or more usually by the word "Néant" = nil .

All the harbour offices post bulletins from about 8am. These are normally accompanied by synoptic charts and are easy to understand.

Don't worry, it's "fastoche"

John



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[Roberto]

and also

**"avis de coup de vent" (Gale warning) or "avis de tempête" (storm warning)**

there is also a more modest "Avis de grand frais", funnily meaning temperatures are likely to stay where they are but winds are forecast to reach force 7 bft

enjoy





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[tcm]

Re: hose pipe

they don't supply them in france so best take yer own with a selection of hozelock/gardenen fittings, including a double male gender bender.

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[MarkJohnson]

Vat Invoice

Many thanks to all for advice.

I have a 1980 boat boufgt last year. I understand that the French like to see the VAT payment invoice.

As its 2nd hand, I assume the invoice that I have is what they might like to see.

Regards

Mark Johnson

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[John_Walker]

To get use to the weather forecasts, its a good idea to practice by reading some before you go. The script of the forecast broadcast by CROSS on the VHF is available from Meteo France on www.meteo.fr. Click on MER and then the sea area you are interested in. You can then take your time to translate it and get familiar with the terms used.

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