Having left Grandcamp once again along the leading line, even though this took us slightly out of our way, we turned and made the easterly passage along the Normandy coast passing the sheer cliffs of Pointe du Hoc and keeping well to the north of the remains of the Mulberry harbours off the coast of Arromanches.

Although the Ouistreham ECM marks a wreck it still makes a useful waypoint for the appoach into Ouistreham along the well buoyed channel. This is one of the lesser known of the channel ferry ports but there are regular sailings from Portsmouth for passengers bound mainly for Caen and beyond. We too were planning to continue up the Canal de Caen a le Mer but this depended on locking through the sea lock and joining one of the transit convoys which make the passage at timed intervals with pre-arranged bridge lifts.

The Almanac and pilot guides offer very contradictory advice on the opening times of the lock and transit times, and the only definitive guide is that published by the Departementale de l'Equipement du Calvados in the form of a monthly table, only available on arrival at the port or on their website at www.calvados.equipement.gouv.fr.

You can also phone the Capitainerie for this information but need sufficient French to interpret the information received. In recent times the single daily transit has been replaced by three in each direction, which at the time of our visit were at 1010, 1330 and 1630 for the southbound transit (Ouistreham to Caen). These times seem to be the same each day and apply regardless of high water and lock times. (Times given for start of transit at Pont de Benouville, known colloqually as Pegasus bridge.)

After three false starts we finally got through the Ouistreham sea lock at 1615, having arrived in the port soon after 1400, and so missed the last of the three transits. We had little choice but to stop in the Port de Plaisance at Ouistreham for the night and make the transit the following morning. Ouistreham itself is typical of a ferry port with the usual rash of English speaking brasseries and discount wine warehouses, both of which we managed to take advantage of during our brief stay!

Cruising Statistics

Distance: 39 nm

Total to date: 1380 nm

Avg Speed: 14 knots

Duration: 2: 45 hours

Diesel: 195 litres (est)

Wind: WNW 4

Mooring: €26/night

Electricity: Free

Waypoints
(European Datum)

Grandcamp Entrance
49 23.48N 01 02.76W

Rade de la Chapelle
49 25.54N 01 04.98W

Roseberry ECM
49 23.50N 00 36.25W

Essarts de Langrune NCM
49 23.00N 00 21.05W

Ouistreham ECM
49 20.74N 00 14.30W

Ouistreham Lighthouse
49 17.22N 00 14.72W

Charts

AC2135

AC2136

AC1349