Today's cruise was planned as the short hop into the mouth of the River Seine to Honfleur, our starting point for the cruise upriver. This gave us plenty of time in the morning to have a look round the twin beach resorts of Trouville and Deauville, known as Paris by the sea. They certainly live up to their reputation with chic beach huts lining the sand and tanned plagistes overseeing activities.

We opted not to take the shortcut across the Banc du Ratier and instead plotted a leisurely course north to the start of the Chenal de Rouen at PHM No.4, and then keeping (mainly) to the yacht track on the north side of the channel. Although not advertised in the almanac, the lock at Honfleur was on freeflow when we arrived at high water but once inside we had to wait at the town jetty for the bridge lift into the Vieux Bassin. This is situated in the centre of town, although the bars and brasseries which line the quayside make it noisy until well into the evening. We made an unconventional mooring next to the old steps where fishing boats used to unload, which is now a popular spot for picnics and for watching the boating antics.

We followed the advice of the harbour mistress to eat in one of the less touristy establishments in Place St Catherine, but on our return were surprised to find a note in the cockpit of the boat from the sailing boat rafted alongside. The note in itself was not that strange, but to deliver it we knew they would have had to set off our boat alarm. The cheer that went up from the neighbouring diners also aroused our suspicions that all was not well! This suspicion was confirmed at 1.30am when we were awoken by the local police knocking on the side of the boat, demanding passports and explanations. On production of various boat documentation we convinced them that it was indeed our boat and we weren't burglars taking the opportunity for a comfortable night's sleep. We concluded that their visit was partly made in concern for our security and partly in retaliation for disturbing the neighbourhood.

Cruising Statistics

Distance: 12 nm

Total to date: 1423 nm

Avg Speed: 8 knots

Duration: 1: 30 hours

Diesel: 54 litres (est)

Mooring: €26/night

Electricity: Free

Waypoints

Trouville harbour
49 21.97N 00 04.65E

Trouville SW WCM
49 22.97N 00 03.72E

Ratelets WCM
49 25.41N 00 01.36E

Chenal de Rouen
No 4 PHM
49 26.93N 00 02.58E

Amfard SW PHM
49 26.56N 00 04.47E

Chenal de Rouen
No 12 PHM
49 26.13N 00 07.78E

Chenal de Rouen
No 20 PHM
49 25.89N 00 13.91E

Honfleur channel
49 25.66N 00 13.96E

Charts

AC1349

AC2146

AC2994