For home-waters sailors who are considering a holiday cruise to France, Ken Endean looks at the options for making a dash across the English Channel. Credit: Ken Endean. Ile Houat in South Brittany could be a sunny treat on a longer cruise. A lot of the crews that undertake to sail to France are families who are learning the ropes, rather than hardened offshore experts, and their plans may be limited by the duration of their annual summer break.
It is not possible to thoroughly explore the French coast and Channel Islands in two or three weeks, so it pays to make a realistic appraisal of what can be achieved, allowing some slack for bad weather and hold-ups. There are few offshore hazards but also few sheltering headlands; almost all the inlets dry out and most of the minor harbours are inaccessible at low tide. Cruising here means sailing from port to port and the rewards include French culture and history. West of Cotentin, everything changes and lots of islands and rocks are scattered around, so the navigation becomes more intricate but there is also a greater choice of sheltering havens.
First-time visitors may be alarmed by rearing lumps of granite but experienced voyagers relish the dramatic coastal scenery. It is also possible to head deep into the Breton estuaries, to old inland ports such as Pontrieux, Treguier and Morlaix. Within this western area, the Channel Islands offer an intermediate experience: jagged rocks with French names but English language and lifestyle, with a few local tweaks.
The chartlet shows a selection of possible tracks for the initial Channel crossing, with approximate distances. There are several long, narrow banks, aligned roughly parallel with the coasts, and they are shallow in places, but in fair weather it is possible to cross them safely with sufficient rise of tide. In most harbours, moored yachts lie afloat, either in dredged areas or gated basins, where fin keeled craft will be quite happy.
For boats bound for the Med through the canal system, the usual entry points are via Calais or up the River Seine from Le Havre. West of Cherbourg there is a mixture of all-tide ports, gated harbours and sheltered anchorages , while the complicated geography permits various permutations of passage tracks and destinations. Many French yacht owners like to take the ground on drying moorings and sandy beaches, so twin keels , lifting keels or beaching legs are desirable for visitors who wish to blend in with the local sailing scene.
