Up to date info on entry procedure to france

[lumphammer]

Hi all,
Having waited for the winds to die down so we can get across to France from Portland, I find that Cherbourg is going to be full of Fastnet boats from 17th to 31st with no guarantees of space available. So I'm wondering what my alternatives are? We want to spend some time in France and go round to S Brittany so we won't likely be returning from the same port we checked in at.
So what are the alternatives that can be used as ports of entry and what are the procedures for checking in? Any up to date info would be gratefully received.

 

[guernseyman]

Hi all,
Having waited for the winds to die down so we can get across to France from Portland, I find that Cherbourg is going to be full of Fastnet boats from 17th to 31st with no guarantees of space available. So I'm wondering what my alternatives are? We want to spend some time in France and go round to S Brittany so we won't likely be returning from the same port we checked in at.
So what are the alternatives that can be used as ports of entry and what are the procedures for checking in? Any up to date info would be gratefully received.

I append my reply to a similar question:
If you do move on to Normandy or Brittany you should be aware of the new requirements for a Form variously called Preavis Police aux Frontieres or Preavis Douane - Immigration to be emailed to your port of arrival before you depart.
It requires details of your boat and crew for entry into the Schengen area, and you should also file one before leaving the area.

 

[John_Silver]

Hi all,
Having waited for the winds to die down so we can get across to France from Portland, I find that Cherbourg is going to be full of Fastnet boats from 17th to 31st with no guarantees of space available. So I'm wondering what my alternatives are? We want to spend some time in France and go round to S Brittany so we won't likely be returning from the same port we checked in at.
So what are the alternatives that can be used as ports of entry and what are the procedures for checking in? Any up to date info would be gratefully received.

If you’re heading south: maybe Portland to Guernsey. Then Guernsey to Roscoff, which is a port of entry? Stamp in at the ferry terminal.
Good tidal assistance available for both passages. And sets you up for Roscoff to L’Aberwrac’h, L’Aberwrac’h to Camaret. Followed by a further tidally assisted day sail: Camaret into Benodet Bay (Loctudy, Benodet, Concarneau - according to preference). And you’ve arrived in Southern Brittany.

 

[Lightwave395]

If you’re heading south: maybe Portland to Guernsey. Then Guernsey to Roscoff, which is a port of entry? Stamp in at the ferry terminal.
Good tidal assistance available for both passages. And sets you up for Roscoff to L’Aberwrac’h, L’Aberwrac’h to Camaret. Followed by a further tidally assisted day sail: Camaret into Benodet Bay (Loctudy, Benodet, Concarneau - according to preference). And you’ve arrived in Southern Brittany.

+1 to that
Also, depending on your boat of course, it's less than 24 hurs from Portland direct to Roscoff where check in to France is very simple and next door to the marina, as mentioned above you're then ideally placed to get around the corner into Southern Brittany

 

[lumphammer]

Thanks for the input, Roscoff is looking like the first port of call

 

[[3889]]

I thought you could enter at any port now, not just Ports of Entry. e.g. the pre-avis form for l'Aber 'Wrach is here:
Port de L'Aberwrac'h | Plaisance Haut Finistère
Reglementation - Declaration de douanes

 

[doug748]

I think you always did have options on landing place
,, the difficulty is getting your passport inspected and stamped.

There have been reports on here of expensive long distance taxi rides as well as examples of officers being willing to travel smaller distances to visit the boat. In the case of the 'Aber's' transport to Brest is fairly easy and, if I really was keen on landing there direct, I might just send the form, arrive and see what happened.

.

 

[lumphammer]

As an update we made the crossing direct from Portland to Roscoff. Before leaving I emailed the form from

Here

to the two email addresses on the form.
As far as I could see the copy to the marina was unnecessary as they never mentioned it when we checked in. (in fact I didn't get any response from emails previously sent to the marina)
I received an email back from the Douanes suggesting we meet them at 3pm of the day we were arriving, but in the end we were later than expected and the office in the Gare Maritime was closed when we got there. We went back just after the ferry had departed at 3pm the next day. The office is in the departure lounge and there is a buzzer on the door to attract attention. A very nice lady who spoke good English recognised our name from the Preavis form we had emailed and stamped our passports with no problem.
It makes sense to time your arrival at the Douanes to just after the ferry has departed and before they all head home after a hard days work stamping passports.
Hope this helps anyone heading the same way. I assume departing would be just a reversal of the same procedure.

 

[Bathdave]

It makes sense to time your arrival at the Douanes to just after the ferry has departed and before they all head home after a hard days work stamping passports.

Indeed

we tagged on the end of a queue of foot passengers getting on ferry to Plymouth (at the behest of a senior officer) and it was only when we checked out a month later at st Brieuc customs office (not convenient to get to!) that our passports had been stamped with the entry symbol not the exit one.

 

[Allan]

Just to add a little more information to this thread.
We sailed from Falmouth directly to Brest (marina Chateau). The customs building is s few minutes walk. We first went at 4pm and they apologised that nobody was available to stamp the passports. The next morning it was simple to go in, they took the passports and 5 minutes later brought them back stamped.
The return, again from Brest was just as simple. We had them stamped about 3pm and left the next day for Dartmouth.
The skipper had sent the emails but nothing was said about them.
Allan