Ep15 | Held back by seaweed & tides: Sailing the English Channel from Calais to Cherbourg, France

September 20-21
49°38’52.5″N 1°37’14.3″W
Night-sail from Calais to Cherbourg, France (Sept.20-21):
170nm
30hrs
Fair winds & strong tides
Clear skies – and yet ANOTHER firey orange sunset!
Our sail through the English Channel started with sunshine and very light winds…so light that we put up our parasailer again! We were a little nervous, but the sailing was so smooth & comfortable with it up! We changed back to the genoa before sunset when the winds picked up and had a smooth overnight sail. However, we got a little caught in some seaweed along the way and found ourselves in 4-5knots of current against us JUST as we were approaching Cherbourg. To our detriment, we were stuck next to a navigation marker motoring at almost 0knots as we got pushed back for at least 3 HOURS…we just couldn’t make it past the marker….VERY FRUSTRATING – and tiring.
Cherbourg is situated at the northern end of the Cotentin Peninsula, on the English Channel coastline, in Normandy, northwestern France. It is the second largest artificial harbour in the world. Cherbourg port has a lot of history. Cherbourg had been a strategic stronghold for several centuries – its castle was first built in the 5th century to protect the whole width of the Cotentin. In 1944 it served as protection from the Germans in the Battle of Cherbourg.

Its central harbour wall can be sited 4 km from the coast harbour-walls, stretching for more than 6 km! As well as Cherbourg Naval Base, it has been used for mercantile shipping and harbours hundreds of pleasure crafts! (Wikepedia)

We experienced first-hand that the harbor is frequently used as a military training base. When we arrived the harbor, we noticed many anchoring symbols on the charts just near one of the major borgs. We thought it looked like a perfect place to anchor. However, immediately after we dropped anchor, we were called on the VHF to move.

We ended up docking at the harbor, one of Europe's busiest harbors and staying there for a little over a week because of strong and gusting winds (Ep16).

Stay tuned! Much more to come.