Well, someone had to do it

Published 12:14 on 5 Oct 2021

After a long wait, it was something of a relief to be able to cross the Channel again, with a solid NE Force 4-5 guaranteeing a fast passage, arriving in Cherbourg in time to greet Wilfried taking passengers round the rade in Adele as usual; proof that plus a change plus c'est la mme chose. Having said that, the formalities have changed Äì it is necessary to get your passport stamped, which offers the chance to visit the H¥tel Atlantique, a fine Art Deco building just opposite the ferry port building - which was ironically the centre for processing migrants before they boarded liners for America. It now houses a variety of municipal functions, including the Police de la Fronti®re office. This needs to be done on arriving and before leaving as its important to have a stamped passport. As for customs, I have had a yellow flag up for a fortnight, and rang the customs on arrival, without visible result. Including the form sent by second-class mail to the office behind the canteen at Dover lorry park, I have done everything I was supposed to, and with the feeling that no-one is really bothered. There are few British yachts here; one gets the impression that if there were a lot, the administrative arrangements would be severely stretched.After the prospect of empty shelves in the shops at home, to be able to visit the market, and eat French food and drink French wine with friends is a great restorative! As is being able to sail with them; Georges and I have done a couple of races at Saint-Vaast, the first, last weekend, round Gatteville to Cap L©vi and back among the rocks to avoid the tide (40 miles), in which we came second, and a shorter race on Saturday (a mere 15 miles) round the bay down towards Utah Beach and back, which we won!Sailing at Cherbourg has been a series of interesting if inconclusive experiments with the Melges which has replaced the Sigma, which we will continue this week, the light northerlies guaranteeing that even if I wanted to (I dont) it would be impossible to return home for the moment. So I have the time for some serious work in the archives, and for some cycling along the coast in the sunshine, as well as making a trip or two with Wilfried to try out the system we've worked on for identifying the position of the cones in the breakwater (best not to ask!)Jusqu ici, tout va bien! Steve Fraser, Aliya

Last updated 13:28 on 22 March 2025