Normandy Passage Planning

stu9000

stu9000

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Hi

I would appreciate any feedback on my passage planning for the upcoming summer cruise.

I am based on the Medway and want to take my 35 foot Westerly to Normandy.
Passage durations are based on a 5 knot speed over land.

My rough plan is to get the wife and kids to ferry across to Dieppe or Le Harvre.
I will take the boat over and meet them off the family.

Draft Plan - outward journey, without kids and with "the lads".

  1. Medway to Ramsgate ( 6h ) or to Dover (9h30) or to Dieppe (24 hr)
    • Ramsgate to St Martin is 7h30 or Dvr to St Martin (5h) or to Dieppe (17h30)
    • St Martin to Dieppe is 10h.
  2. If we have gone direct to Dieppe from this would be a rest day

  3. Dieppe to St Valery en Caux 3h (or to Fecamp 6h or to Honfleur 13h). St Valery has a shallow entrance but a 3h journey time should allow us to time it right.
  4. St Valery to Honfleur 10h

The exact plan depends on how much holiday time my friends and I can carve out and what the weather does on the day.
I went to Scheveningen last season which was great but a lack of wind made it a bit rolly and there was a lot of listening to the engine.
If the weather is sympathetic the long hop from the Medway to Dieppe is tempting as it means we use one day less getting to where we want to be.
It may be some crew get the ferry and train back to the London area from here.
Accounts on YBW suggest St Valery is nice so my current thinking is to take a bit of time to enjoy this rather than do another long leg from Dieppe to Honfluer.

Any remaining crew would disembark from here and I would meet the family off the ferry at Le Havre.

Draft Plan - return journey, with wife and kids

My kids are in their young teens.
I'm keen for them to experience being at sea but not to do too many very long hops.

  1. Honfleur to Fecamp 7h
  2. Fecamp to St Valery 3h30
  3. St Valery to Dieppe 3h
  4. Dieppe to St Martin 6h
  5. St Martin to Ramsgate 7h30
  6. Ramsgate to Medway 6h
My wife is in two minds about spending too long on the boat in one go and I want her to enjoy it.
I could write off going to Honfleur and meet the family in Dieppe and then head to St Martin.

Im keen to get a better sense of how nice these destinations are so I can make a more informed decision.
Facilities are good to have when I have the family on board but electrical hook up etc isn't a must for every stop.
Id like to be able to explore some classic old towns with the odd castle, nice cafe and a bit of history.

Any feedback welcome and Id appreciate any suggestions regarding books or websites.

Thank you all.

Stuart
 
I always go from Bradwell
Dover, ( I miss Ramsgate as tide going south gets me to Dover but go on way back)
Boulogne
Dieppe
Le Havre
Cherbourg
St Peter Port
I sail a day rest a day & I go to those harbours as easy to get in any state of tides any weather. Distances OK for day sails
this year, as I have more time, I will fit in Fecamp & St Vaast La Hague. The last one may be missed if tides do not play ball.
All the places are OK to visit, except Le Havre. If you do not like Le Havre - then you could stop there & use it as a jumping off place to get tide right.to go to Honfleur
Coming back you will find the tides more sympathetic.
 
Little Grebe said:
While the general forum consensus is to cross to the French side at the first opportunity when I have done a similar cruise I have sailed from my east coast creek of choice to Dover, Eastbourne, cross to Fecamp or Le Havre and then as your itinerary
Click to expand...
I looked at this and would like to do it one day. A round trip, perhaps crossing to the Exe from the channel islands and then heading homeward along the English coast. Time constraints prevent me from doing that next season.
 
Someone I know does Ramsgate to Cherbourg in one hit single-handed. I have gone from Dover down to Dungeness then TSS buoy as departure point crosses at rt angles to Dieppe. You might consider Ouistreham as a stop off or St Vaste.
As to appeal; most of the French ports have more going for them than the English side. The town in Dieppe curls around the marina. Fecamp has the distillery thing as well as working port versus high brow Parisian bolt hole. Boulogne is worth a visit.
Best plan is if you get a fair wind, crack on, especially with strong crew
 
Spuddy said:
Someone I know does Ramsgate to Cherbourg in one hit single-handed. I have gone from Dover down to Dungeness then TSS buoy as departure point crosses at rt angles to Dieppe. You might consider Ouistreham as a stop off or St Vaste.
As to appeal; most of the French ports have more going for them than the English side. The town in Dieppe curls around the marina. Fecamp has the distillery thing as well as working port versus high brow Parisian bolt hole. Boulogne is worth a visit.
Best plan is if you get a fair wind, crack on, especially with strong crew
Click to expand...

Thanks. I discounted Fecamp due to shallow entrance but it isnt too bad.
Ouistreham is a bit far for this trip but Im keen to get down to the Channel Islands.
Im hoping as the kids get older and more experienced longer hops will be possible with them on board.
Nice to read that Bologne is worth the visit as that is close by.
 
If heading to Channel Islands on the French side I think that one needs to stop at Le Havre, so that one can plan the trip to Cherbourg, to catch the tide right at Barfleur.
Then stop at Cherbourg, as the tide goes adverse by the time one gets to that part of the Cotin Peninsular.
Then rest a day or two & select a departure time for the Alderney race.
 
The OP only appears to want to go as far as Honfleur, which is what we did on our first trip with the children. In general, I would always choose to go quickly and return slowly, though on that first occasion the weather held us up in Boulogne for nearly a week and it was a rush.

Our original trip, which is roughly what I would do now, was
Blackwater to Ramsgate
Ramsgate to Calais
Calais to Boulogne (better Ramsgate to Boulogne)
Boulogne to Dieppe
Dieppe to Fecamp
Fecamp to Honfleur, arranging to arrive before HW
Honfleur to Le Havre
Le Havre to Fecamp/St Valery en Caux, again, before HW
St Valery to Dieppe (St V to Boulogne doesn't work well for tides)
Dieppe to Boulogne
Boulogne to Ramsgate.

St Valery is easier to enter on a rising tide and interesting enough in itself to make a major port of call. If you leave Dieppe on a falling tide, you should get into Fecamp easily enough an hour or two after low.
Le Tréport is a bit like Ramsgate on a bad day, though the cliff is the highest in Normandy and a nice walk.
St Valery sur Somme is interesting, but a bit of an expedition in itself.
Beyond Honfleur, Deauville, Dives, Corseullles and so on are lovely, but there is plenty to do in the proposed trip.
 
If you want to go from St-Valery to Honfleur check your tides carefully, because you will have to deal with them at both ends. You don't want to arrive at Honfleur against the ebb on the Seine, especially as the gate at Honfleur closes sometime half-tide. I do not have my almanac here, but I seem to remember that it was a close-run thing coming from Fecamp. The timing for Honfleur is easier if you depart from Le Havre, which has no tidal restrictions.
Fecamp is ok unless you have a very deep draught, but if there is a swell running, I would avoid going in or out near LW.
 
Never sailed into Honfleur but have visited the town with several young french families we know, fair bit to do and see it is very pretty with some lovely old buildings. The inner yacht basin was very full when we visited, you step off the boat and there are lots of bars cafes or creperies, port accessed through lifting bridge. Definitely on my list of ports to visit on that side
 
We were stuck in Le Havre for some days by strong winds a few years back. Contrary to our expectations, we had a really good time: it is much more interesting than it first appears.

Among other delights were
- Fort Saint Adresse/Les Jardins Suspendus, an old hilltop fort (a fair but doable walk to/from the marina) relatively recently given up by the military and converted to gardens (including glasshouses full of exotic plants) and parkland, with a cafe etc. inside the fort; and
- (in the city centre) various permanent exhibitions/preserved show flat/cathedral and other buildings etc. related to the ambitious and imaginative post-war rebuilding of the city, which had been pretty comprehensively flattened during the war.
 
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stu9000 said:
Thanks to all. This is pure gold. Working out the tidal gates is my next job.
I still want to buy a good pilot guide for the Normandy area if anyone has a recommendation.

Thanks again

S
Click to expand...
We first did it with Delmar Morgan, complete with B&W fuzzy photos. Reeds now does everything you actually need without spoiling the fun of discovery.

We had a superb meal in the YC at le Havre last time. The city is sadly bland, but this is the result of early post-war rebuilding after being flattened by the British who were under the mistaken impression that the German forces were in the town. It's a handy stop though.
 
Cunliffe Channel Pilot expands a bit on Reeds.
Forgot to mention the big aquarium in Boulogne, also the castle walls up in the Haute Ville - helps to keep kids entertained. Also Saturday market next to cathedral - used to have live hens and rabbits; prob not any more
 
Also have a rethink about Fecamp. Shoals at entrance not been a hindrance with modest planning, especially if coming east on rising tide
 
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