Has Anyone Been Into Boulogne Recently?

[MikeBz]

There

…the RYA website says:
'the persons must hand in the specific form*, giving details of the persons on board as well as the technical characteristics of the boat. This information must be given to the Harbour authority 24 hours before arrival when the trip is less than 24 hours long, and at the latest when the boat departs from a port which is outside of Schengen countries.
…

'The form shall be transmitted by the harbour
master’s office :
1/ To enter the territory :
➢ at the latest twenty-four hours before
arriving in the port, coming from outside
of the Schengen area ;
➢ or at the latest at the time the ship leaves
the previous port, outside of the Schengen
area, if the voyage time is less than twenty-
four hours'

Again it may be down to translation (or RYA interpretation) but the 2 statements in bold are somewhat contradictory.

 

[Daydream believer]

deleted

 

[Major_Clanger]

Okay folks, I've heard back from Boulogne marina but it's not good news I'm afraid.....

Boulogne IS a port of entry (PAF) which means that the new email protocol CANNOT be used there. That in itself isn't an issue because the Police aux Frontières should be there to stamp-in and out. Problem is there are no PAF staff based in Boulogne; they're all in Calais with, apparently, no date set for when/if they'll re-open their office.

What a waste. The marina said they're very busy but not necessarily with visiting yachts but hoped the problem would be resolved soon (though they said something similar 12 months ago). The person I spoke to, if I understood her correctly, thought that the PAF office wouldn't re-open unless a large ferry started running there again. Unless one wants to spend a weekend at Calais PAF, it means Boulogne is impractical for a short stay.

 

[Pye_End]

Okay folks, I've heard back from Boulogne marina but it's not good news I'm afraid.....

Boulogne IS a port of entry (PAF) which means that the new email protocol CANNOT be used there. That in itself isn't an issue because the Police aux Frontières should be there to stamp-in and out. Problem is there are no PAF staff based in Boulogne; they're all in Calais with, apparently, no date set for when/if they'll re-open their office.

What a waste. The marina said they're very busy but not necessarily with visiting yachts but hoped the problem would be resolved soon (though they said something similar 12 months ago). The person I spoke to, if I understood her correctly, thought that the PAF office wouldn't re-open unless a large ferry started running there again. Unless one wants to spend a weekend at Calais PAF, it means Boulogne is impractical for a short stay.

It is all as clear as mud.

Dunkerque is also a port of entry (not that I know if I carried the correct procedure!), but the Cruising Association website at Cruising Association welcomes easier check in/out for cruising to France | CA says:

'List of Ports - This list details all the ports which are included in the new protocol (as at 31 May 2024). Some of these are also existing PPFs:'

So, it looks as though a port can come under both protocols.

Perhaps if anyone is a member of the CA they can get some clarification.

 

[Tradewinds]

Doesn't Michael Briant AKA Sea Devil live in Boulogne?

Perhaps he can do some on the ground investigation as to actually what's what.

N.B. Of course he could be in Martinique checking on his boat.

 

[Major_Clanger]

Had an illuminating telephone chat with the PAF at Calais earlier. They confirmed that there are no immediate plans to re-open their office in Boulogne, but that in the coming months it will be possible to use the new email protocol there - but not yet.

Calais marina is 3kms from the PAF office, so easily walkable, but there's a free shuttle bus running back and forth to the marina. He said that people will be seen promptly and the reported delays are no longer an issue. I asked whether it was possible to stamp-in/out the same day if on a weekend trip and he just said "perhaps"! I know that they've done it for others so I assume that it's a non-official policy.

Rex and I are going to extend our trip - go Ramsgate to Calais, stamp-in and spend the night. Head round the corner to Boulogne for a few days and then return to Calais to stamp-out. While we're there I want to go to Mimoyecques - the site of the enormous German V3 guns that were thankfully never completed. I'm told the museum is very good.

Anyway, it looks as if it'll be a happy ending for clearing in/out of Boulogne in the coming months, probably just in time for the end of the season.

 

[Major_Clanger]

Arrived in Calais last night and had a good run ashore. Sat waiting for the free shuttle bus earlier under a sign declaring that it runs "Samedi sans interruption". Waited for an hour until a helpful local told me to ignore the sign, it doesn't run on Sundays at all.

It's not a long walk to the PAF but it would be a slog in bad weather. The PAF saw us promptly, no waiting, but they wouldn't stamp us out as well, so we'll have to come back tomorrow. It's a clumsy system.

They did confirm though that Boulogne will have the new email protocol up and running this summer.

 

[Pye_End]

They did confirm though that Boulogne will have the new email protocol up and running this summer.

Look forward to it.

Did they say if this will include Calais?

 

[Major_Clanger]

Look forward to it.

Did they say if this will include Calais?

I didn't ask, will do tomorrow. It'd make sense if it did as the current system doesn't work well unless one is on a ferry.

 

[Major_Clanger]

Just left the PAF office. Calais will be added to the list of ports at the same time as Boulogne. All good news.

I'm glad we came to Calais. It's actually really interesting with some good museums, the German bunker museum especially so.