Sailing Ireland -> UK -> France

[WSW]

Hello folks,
I'm looking at a summer sailing trip from Cork in Ireland across to Brittany in France. The usual route would involve breaking up the leg with a few days stay on the wonderful Scilly Isles.
However, since this now means leaving and re-entering the EU, would this just make for a world of bureaucratic pain?
Would we be better to just jump to France in one go?
Thanks in advance!

 

[LittleSister]

I don't think the arrangements for entering and departing the UK are so onerous that it should deter you from enjoying a visit to the Scillies, though I can't advise on the details. I am sure the Scillies are well used to post-Brexit visits from EU yachts and crews.

Even if the arrangements were something of a deterrent, you would want to balance that with the suitability of the boat and crew for the longer direct route.

 

[rotrax]

I you are coming from Ireland AFAIK it is part of the Common Travel Area. This was set up after 1922 and allows passport free travel between the UK and Ireland.

NI, as part of the UK should be fine too.

 

[Sandy]

As long as you are an Irish Citizen then no problems. If you are a UK Citizen then you will need to find a Port of Entry in France to get your passport stamped on entry and again when you exit.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

If you stop off in the UK Scillies or not then won't customs clearance be required when arriving in France even if you can benefit from the common travel area Ireland to UK and reverse.

 

[dunedin]

If you stop off in the UK Scillies or not then won't customs clearance be required when arriving in France even if you can benefit from the common travel area Ireland to UK and reverse.

Not if an Irish (EU) resident goes direct from Ireland to France.

But the Isles of Scilly are definitely worth a stop to visit, even if there is a small bit of extra admin (mostly able to be done online for the IoS bit).

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Not if an Irish (EU) resident goes direct from Ireland to France.

But the Isles of Scilly are definitely worth a stop to visit, even if there is a small bit of extra admin (mostly able to be done online for the IoS bit).

Which doesn't address the point that travelling from the UK will require customs clearance when arriving in France.

 

[dunedin]

Which doesn't address the point that travelling from the UK will require customs clearance when arriving in France.

Your post #5 said “if you stop off in the UK Scillies or not then won't customs clearance be required when arriving in France”. I was pointing out that under your “or not” scenario no check in is needed direct from Ireland to France. But worth stopping anyway..

 

[awol]

I'm confused - not an unusual state, I must admit. Before the UK lost its marbles (we have "loaned" them back, haven't we?) and exited the Union, coming from a non-Schengen state we had to go through the passport game when entering mainland Europe. I had assumed the Irish, also non-Schengen, had to perform the same hoop jumping exercise. The posts above suggest otherwise. I also understand that leaving and returning to GB from Europe via the island of Ireland requires no paperwork (C1331) for our men-in-black. I'm sure someone must know how it all works.

 

[dunedin]

I'm confused - not an unusual state, I must admit. Before the UK lost its marbles (we have "loaned" them back, haven't we?) and exited the Union, coming from a non-Schengen state we had to go through the passport game when entering mainland Europe. I had assumed the Irish, also non-Schengen, had to perform the same hoop jumping exercise. The posts above suggest otherwise. I also understand that leaving and returning to GB from Europe via the island of Ireland requires no paperwork (C1331) for our men-in-black. I'm sure someone must know how it all works.

I am no expert but believe an EU (eg Irish) passport holder doesn’t have to worry about entering the Schengen area directly from another EU Country (eg Ireland). It is just us third world folks that need to.
PS. I very much doubt that anybody knows the rules for what we may appropriately call the “AWOL route” GB -> NI -> Ireland -> France (and vice versa). But post #1 started in Cork so assume not going fully AWOL

 

[Tranona]

I'm confused - not an unusual state, I must admit. Before the UK lost its marbles (we have "loaned" them back, haven't we?) and exited the Union, coming from a non-Schengen state we had to go through the passport game when entering mainland Europe. I had assumed the Irish, also non-Schengen, had to perform the same hoop jumping exercise. The posts above suggest otherwise. I also understand that leaving and returning to GB from Europe via the island of Ireland requires no paperwork (C1331) for our men-in-black. I'm sure someone must know how it all works.

You are confusing (or conflating!) customs areas with travel areas. They are quite separate as far as rules are concerned. If a boat comes from Ireland it is moving from one customs area to another so needs to be declared. Its crew are subject to common travel area rules.

If a boat goes from the UK to the EU it is again moving from one customs area to another and crew are subject to Schengen rules .

 

[awol]

You are confusing (or conflating!) customs areas with travel areas. They are quite separate as far as rules are concerned. If a boat comes from Ireland it is moving from one customs area to another so needs to be declared. Its crew are subject to common travel area rules.

If a boat goes from the UK to the EU it is again moving from one customs area to another and crew are subject to Schengen rules .

I think you mean GB not UK, at least for the present.

 

[ncounties]

Hi WSW,

Delivered a boat from Crosshaven via the Scillies to Newlyn, and then onward to Lorient, "entering" at Brest, a year later.

Whether or not you stop in the Scillies, there will be entrance formalities in France as we Irish are not members of the Schengen area. Regardless of this, IMHO you'd be crazy to miss out on the Scillies as they are beautiful - St Martin and Agnes being my personal favourites.

When I did the crossing to the Scillies, I followed the Excel pre-alert form rule for entering the UK, to which I never received a response, so haven't bothered my ass since in subsequent trips to GB.

When I went on to the Atlantic coast of France, I had to send a form to Brest Douane, advising them I would arrive on Sunday, and they advised me to come visit them on Monday morning when their office would open. In hindsight, I think I could have got away will a night in Quessant beforehand. I have gone into more detail here in this post.

Enjoy the trip!

 

[Sandy]

Hi WSW,

I think I could have got away will a night in Quessant beforehand. I have gone into more detail here in this post.

Enjoy the trip!

Ouessant, Ushant for the hard of hearing, is a fantastic place to stop.

I popped in for a few beers and an almondine on passage from A Coruña to Falmouth. The beer slated my thirst and the almondines were sublime. I am planning a return visit this summer.

 

[WSW]

Thanks a million for the advice folks!
Glad to see it's not entirely black and white and I wasn't missing an obvious answer. Hopefully I can report back what worked for us later in the summer.

 

[pandos]

Hi WSW,

Delivered a boat from Crosshaven via the Scillies to Newlyn, and then onward to Lorient, "entering" at Brest, a year later.

Whether or not you stop in the Scillies, there will be entrance formalities in France as we Irish are not members of the Schengen area. Regardless of this, IMHO you'd be crazy to miss out on the Scillies as they are beautiful - St Martin and Agnes being my personal favourites.

When I did the crossing to the Scillies, I followed the Excel pre-alert form rule for entering the UK, to which I never received a response, so haven't bothered my ass since in subsequent trips to GB.

When I went on to the Atlantic coast of France, I had to send a form to Brest Douane, advising them I would arrive on Sunday, and they advised me to come visit them on Monday morning when their office would open. In hindsight, I think I could have got away will a night in Quessant beforehand. I have gone into more detail here in this post.

Enjoy the trip!

I intend to do this trip in the summer. I saw your other thread, do I understand correctly that your boat is not registered and you relied upon the ISA certificate.?

I would probably come home directly from France to avoid UK customs issues with a boatload of French vino..

 

[Laminar Flow]

Last year, 2023 we sailed from Brittany via the Channel Islands, Plymouth, Scillies and on to Cork.
UK and Ireland are in a common travel zone.
For your trip, I would suggest stopping over in the Scillies, then on to the Channel Islands and from there to St Malo. Checking in on the Channel Islands is simple and unbureaucratic. Upon arrival in St. Malo, France, fly the yellow flag and walk over to French immigration at the Ferry terminal to get your Passport stamped; same on exit to stop your Schengen clock. Easy.
On the Way back, if you are travelling via the UK, file a passage plan with the relevant details with Border Force UK, online on their Yacht line site. No big deal either and call the relevant number published on their site upon arrival.
Don't overthink it and enjoy the trip.

Best, A.

 

[ncounties]

I intend to do this trip in the summer. I saw your other thread, do I understand correctly that your boat is not registered and you relied upon the ISA certificate.?

I would probably come home directly from France to avoid UK customs issues with a boatload of French vino..

I intend to do this trip in the summer. I saw your other thread, do I understand correctly that your boat is not registered and you relied upon the ISA certificate.?

I would probably come home directly from France to avoid UK customs issues with a boatload of French vino..

Just seeing this - yes we weren't registered with the Irish Department of Transport, and didn't bother doing so, as it is a bureaucratic nightmare apparently. Getting a Certificate of Identity from the ISA is much easier. They even issue you with stickers for the hull but we didn't bother affixing them.

As the boat is owned by a club, we don't like leaving original documents onboard incase someone loses them, so all other documentation we had onboard were photocopies of originals. That was more than enough to satisfy the French.

 

[pandos]

Just seeing this - yes we weren't registered with the Irish Department of Transport, and didn't bother doing so, as it is a bureaucratic nightmare apparently. Getting a Certificate of Identity from the ISA is much easier. They even issue you with stickers for the hull but we didn't bother affixing them.

As the boat is owned by a club, we don't like leaving original documents onboard incase someone loses them, so all other documentation we had onboard were photocopies of originals. That was more than enough to satisfy the French.

Good news.. thanks ..