September in Cherbourg

Noit nice, but at least it's getting us across quickly!Sigmatising off St Helier on a glorious September Saturday The season's least likely cruising destination - the Foire de Lessay!View from the beach at Carteret with Jersey in the background

Captain’s log Friday morning 2 Sept - 0430 hrs off the Stone Pier for the first time in a few weeks in ‘Aliya’, sails set in a decent SW breeze which had filled in during the last Thursday evening race; Orion, ‘unerring herald of autumn,’ gleaming bright in partial cloud to the SE, right on the nose – France here we come..

The challenge of sailing fast in a SW wind and a strong spring flood lies in not getting too far east; I noticed that the flood had already set in as I arrived about 1.5 miles east of the E Shambles, which meant the chance of some corresponding help from the ebb off Cherbourg to make the eastern entrance (you never quite know – the tide takes forever to turn off that coast). I still took the precaution of spending some time close-hauled in 12-15 knots and flat water in the middle of the Channel, which then meant that I could bear away a bit into the ebb during the afternoon and use visual transits on the land to shape my final approach to the Passe de l’Est. The nearest I think I’ve come to a navigation-free crossing!

A fortunate accident meant that I put the engine on for a brief period when the wind dropped somewhere in the middle, and the temperature alarm almost immediately signalled a failed impeller, which I had the room and time to replace at my leisure. I was grateful for that later when I arrived off the entrance to Cherbourg, and found myself racing a dense rain squall creeping up from the west and steadily obscuring the coast as it arrived. Precautions included putting the engine and an oily jacket on, and I could just about keep my markers in sight as the wind dropped, the rain started, and I was juggling the current to stay clear enough of the Fort de l’Est, which at low springs is essential. Impeller failure at that moment would not have improved the afternoon!

Arriving was duly followed by the ritual beer in the club bar with dockmaster Thierry Digne and my skipper Thierry Lecuru, in a discussion of Sigma 33s, of which the former is a part-owner; we have been trying to find one for the other Thierry, in England and now, it turns out, Jersey.

Alexis Loison was responsible for first recommending the Sigma to his fellow club members, and it has proved to be excellent advice. As it happened, Alexis and Loulou Dussère were at that moment about to start in the Cowes-Cherbourg race in ‘Raging Bee’, in which they won Class 3 and the RORC double-handed trophy, after their victory in the RORC Ouessant race after Cowes Week.

So no lie-in; Saturday morning - up and showered by 7am local time, with the first RORC boats just arriving in the beginnings of a reluctant daylight, and off to Carteret with Bernard and Sylvia via Thierry’s small farm deep in La Hague for a coffee, then a quick scoot across the Redoute in the ferry to St Helier, where we soon found ourselves outside the harbour again, sailing in a very pleasant morning breeze, in (of course) a Sigma 33. The day passed quickly in inspections, etc. - and a leisurely lunch at the Post Horn pub (strongly recommended) - and we all too soon found ourselves back on the evening ferry, which at speeds of up to 30 knots rather spoils you for ordinary cruising! A congenial dinner at Thierry’s house in the darkness of the Normandy ‘bocage’ rounded off a very busy day.

Having to think about boats in pounds and euros raises the spectre of a ‘Brexit’, which of course people in Jersey don’t have to concern themselves with, but are nevertheless mildly curious about, as they might be about the antics of a mildly demented relative; French friends are pleased that a weaker pound makes boat-buying in the UK a more attractive proposition, though they still find it difficult to understand what increasingly, in the marine industry and elsewhere, has the appearance of a major economic ‘own goal’.

However, I found solace in reading, in a book on the beginnings of weather forecasting, about the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in September 1752, a mere 264 years ago, and the resulting scandalous loss of 11 days of British people’s lives; it is clear to all but the most benighted ‘Remainer’ that the post-Brexit reversal of this hasty and ill-advised move will result in increased productivity and prosperity, as everyone from company directors to zero hours contract workers will immediately benefit from a bonus amounting to two working weeks – one of the more concrete advantages of leaving Europe, and IMHO a literal no-brainer!

Remaining for the moment in that self-same Europe, however, Cherbourg is definitely a place to be in September; Tuesday evening saw the first of the resumed Mardi Soir series in champagne conditions; there is nothing in my helming experience quite like passing on port in front of Pascal Loison, or tacking on Bruno James to secure a windward mark, though we were giving it away downwind in the dying breeze to all those Js with huge assymetrics.

There is a busy programme of weekend events, and we are campaigning the Grand Surprise as usual. This Saturday is the double-handed, but if it’s raining we’re passing up the pleasure, and on Sunday it’s the Coupe McDo aboard Triptyche, the Tripp 36 of Gilles Mesnil. Could be worse…

I include a photo from a visit with friends to the Foire de Lessay, a bit like a boat show but with cows and tractors. The tradition included a lunch of roast mutton and frites in a giant tent, one of many, all packed with people; this after some gruelling wine-tasting on a very hot day made us all glad to end the afternoon on the terrace of the bar on the beach at Carteret, with a fine view over the Redoute and a cooling breeze off the sea.

Steve Fraser and ‘Aliya’

Submitted on 19th September 2016