Normandy cruise advice please. Arromanches?

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rex_seadog

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We are hoping to cruise the Normandy coast for about a week starting from Portsmouth on Sat 13th May. It's about ten years since we sailed this area so am looking for advice on ports of call etc. At that time we visited St Vaast, Carentan, Courseulles, Trouville and Honfleur so would like to visit at least some new ports. The boat is a Westerly Fulmar fin keel (1.6m).
The last time (with I believe similar Spring tides at the start) the problem, I seem to remember, was the limited amount of sailing possible, having to lock out of one port and into the next about 2-3 hours either side of HW. With the east going flood during these hours sailing west was virtually impossible. I'm assuming day sailing with a night stopover somewhere with a bar!
According to the pilot books the only place to break this cycle (i.e. with all tide access) seems to be Arromanches. Comments would be appreciated especially with regard to anchoring in the Mulberry harbour and then hopefully dinghying ashore. Maybe Ouistreham is another possibility on the waiting pontoon? Any bars/restaurants nearby? I gather the marina is out in the sticks?
 
Only stopped in Arromanches for lunch so no great amount of time. lots of rubbish on bottom from war. so do use a trip line and maybe a marker buoy for your anchor.
 
Would suggest a settled weather stop over only. Very thought provoking. Entrance is marked by two R and G cans entered from NE. If settled then trip line is always advised and paddle ashore.
Other ports/stop overs U did not mention

Ile de Marcouf ( watch out for kamikaze seagulls protecting nests)
Grand Camp Maisy ( I always find this a bit smelly)
Port Bessin ( nearest to the Tapestry)
Caen ( always worth the trip up the canal). O marina is just across the locks from the town 5 mins walk.
Dives

Le Harve only worth it for bad weather unless an evening visit to the YC for dinner.

B
 
Agree about being very thought provoking. the last time we went was a couple of day before D day and the queen arriving. we were the only one anchored and there was a chap on top of the cliffs playing the bagpipes, it made you think.

The tide sets in well through the harbour. it's well worth a visit.
 
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Maybe Ouistreham is another possibility on the waiting pontoon? Any bars/restaurants nearby? I gather the marina is out in the sticks?

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It is not that far out but it is on the green belt side of the Caen canal so you have a 10 minute walk to get to any shops or bars. The 8 mile convoy trip up to Caen is fun and at Caen the marina is within in the City.

Going west there is a useful low tide anchorage between two islands east of St Vaast according to the new Chanel Havens book that arrived in the post this week.
 
I would really recommend Ouistreham / Caen. The walk from Ouistreham to the shops is not bad, and takes you back over the locks which adds interest!

Lots to see and do in Caen. You can stop at Pegasus Bridge on the way up the canal. The Memorial museum is a must if you have time.
Iles Marcouf is really a lunch stop, and also recommended - v quiet and in a bird reserve.

Mulberry Harbour is still awe inspiring after 60 years.

Deauville Marina is a bit soulless but the town is fun.
 
arromanches is only suitable as a lunchtime stop, Ouistreham is good with an all tide entry to the outer harbour and only a short walk to bars etc, I would be interested if others have been to Port en Bessin: reputation as mainly a fishing port. The tides seem to work ok if you go west to east, leave one place as the lock opens and go east with the tide and enter the nest before it shuts provided you keep up a decent speed.
 
Port en Bessin

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Yes primarily fishing port but there is a dedicated space just inside lock(red blob)For two to three pleasure boats,no facilities except water,but within easy walking distance to local shops,all the usual suspects plus a small supermarket, Shoppi,about a 100 yds away.Fuel from garage 500m,unless you want to take on more than 250l when you can negotiate with tanker for fishing vessels.
Red line indicates area where you can dry against fish market quay,clean hard bottom.
Lock keeper/Capitaine,fairly helpful.
"Vauban" good honest middle of the road restaurant.
Good fishing co-op chandlers.
Not really recommended for long stay,but a good overnight.
 
We have anchored for lunch, fully intending to dinghy ashore but when the time came didn't fancy it, although conditions were good. There is a significant tide through the area, the pilot books all warn of debris on the bottom, although we saw no evidence. It's really no more hazardous than hundreds of other places we have anchored but the atmosphere makes you feel uneasy.

If you do go, don't miss the museum and cinema on top of the cliff, very much worth visiting.
 
We have over-nighted there (prefer holding pontoons at Ouistreham though). The nearest remains of the mulberry harbour as you enter are to starboard, running E-W (really about 260-ish). Follow along till the remains start to swing southerly, and you have reached the limit of the well-cleared area, so turn round and drop your hook wherever depth looks good from whence you have just come. That area is clear with NO obstructions. The holding is clay and exceptional. We thought that we had snagged something, despite being told by a friendly French cruiser that there was nothing there, but it was just that our hook was deep into blue clay. It is really just another anchorage, though, as someone hinted, if you believe in ghosts..... /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
not much shelter and not worth the risk of challenging the junk on the seabed with anchor imho.

Agreed grandcamp maisy a bit smelly. Deauville is hugely under-rated, fab beach just behind the marina and smart town too.

It is worth having bikes, and/or renting a car to visit bayeux. I spose a week is not enough..
 
There is really no shelter at all. There are gaps between the caissons that are at the least as long as the caissons themselves, and many that are much longer. Many caissons were towed to Holland after the war, accounting for the gaps. The beach is straight and offers no shelter. So it's really light, offshore winds only.
 
Agree with other posters (except poss of fouling) - there is very little shelter from anything, it is only worth visiting or staying with little swell and expectations of a quiet night. This is a nice little reference for the whole area... "Seine Bay" but you will need to know how much an Impala draws...
 
Port-en-Bassin eh? Tell me, is it yottie-friendly now? Fishermen very hostile when i visited in the Eighties (but given a bottle of wine by HM in Carentan for being the first foreign boat to get up there after the lock was rebuilt when the pilot books still warned of being neaped inside).
The author of this thread (who, looking at the date, is now on his way) has a fin-keel Fulmar. methinks he isn't yet cool about drying out, for if you are then Grandcamp offers a wider slot by leaning against the wall outside even after the gate has closed. Less smelly too.
What about Deauville, Trouville,and Dives/Cabourg (only done the last in a cat).
Damn you, I'm missing the Calvados.
 
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