With the flood tide from west to east on this coast, there is no way of travelling west with the tide whilst still arriving at a port at high water. So after much deliberation we opted to go with tide and wind with us for most of the journey, arriving an hour after low water. Although the recommended window is nearer high water there is a metre of depth in the Fécamp entrance at lowest tide and there would be another metre over that for today's low tide so we had little to worry about. In the end it was an almost windless day and the glass like conditions could not have been better. The rare combination of a clear, still day gave us a good view of the dramatic limestone cliffs which dip from almost 100 metres high down to sea level at intervals to let the isolated villages peep through.

As on our previous visit to Fécamp we were plagued by persistent rain for the whole afternoon so we took the opportunity to catch up on jobs on board before joining the rest of the party for dinner at Restaurant la Marée. The next morning dawned more clement and we could make a long overdue visit to the Benedictine Palais. Built in 1900 by a Fécamp merchant and marketing expert, this gothic edifice is home to an eclectic collection of objets, some or all of which seem to be of dubious authenticity. In the cellars is the now defunct distillery where the highly spiced liquer was apparently produced. A very real sampling is followed by the opportunity to purchase said liquer in a variety of forms. All good fun for a dull Wednesday morning!

Cruising Statistics

Distance: 32 nm

Total to date: 1706 nm

Avg Speed: 8 knots

Duration: 4 hours

Diesel: 55 litres

Wind: NE-SW 1

Mooring: €28/night

Electricity: Included

Water: Included

Charts

AC2451