Fécamp – Saint Vaast La Hougue 64,6 nm
Early in the morning seems to be exactly our time! Although to be honest, we’re glad to finally get up today. The night was restless, with squeaking jetties and fenders and jolting lines. But at 6:30 a.m. it is already relatively light and it promises to be a fog-free day. We untie our lines and motor out of the beautiful Fécamp. As is so often the case, only light winds await us outside. Even though we let out the genoa a little, today is once again a pure motor trip. The short course takes us along the beautiful cliffs and the rock formations of Etretra, which we can unfortunately only vaguely make out. We overtake Jens on his Marieke and zigzag our way around numerous fishing flags. Then we come across two “small” freighters, which I only avoid sinking today by carefully avoiding them. We decide not to motor all the way to Cherbourg, but to finally try out our anchor. Accordingly, we head for Saint Vaast La Hougue and are able to drop our anchor in the finest sandy bottom at around 6 pm. We save ourselves a visit to the village. Probably a mistake, because it’s supposed to be very nice there. In the evening, we make ourselves a delicious field salad with chicken liver and spend the evening in the cockpit with our increasingly brave cat Lucky.
Saint Vaast La Hougue – Cherbourg 26,9 nm
The night at anchor is quiet. Only a few passing boats sometimes rock us a little. We are correspondingly fit when the alarm clock rings again at 6 am. My tide calculation and the weather forecast show that we absolutely have to set off between 7 and 8 a.m., otherwise it will be an uncomfortable trip. The route today takes us through current-rich waters and the wind is once again against us. For this to work at all, the wind force has to be as low as possible, otherwise the sea can get very rough. Even with a wind force of 2, it is already rocking mightily, as the wind is against the current. And unfortunately, the wind is once again stronger than forecast. So we end up chopping our way around the Gatteville lighthouse and around the corner to Cherbourg. When we enter the harbor there, the wind is now blowing at force 5 from the front and we are glad when we are able to moor in Port Chantereyne again at 11 am. We get a place right at the harbor entrance on jetty H, once again at the very end of the harbor. As a result, it’s a long way to the harbour master and visiting Jens and Marieke at jetty P is almost a round-the-world trip. It’s just as well that there’s a marina restaurant halfway along the route, where we can fortify ourselves with tuna burgers and beef tartare. Back on board, we relax and then get the bikes out in the afternoon. Today is a public holiday in France (Assumption Day) and unfortunately most of the stores are closed. According to our research, only the large Carrefour is supposed to be open. So we cycle off and have a look. And indeed. Even though almost all the other stores in the shopping center are closed, the Carrefour is open. And we have finally arrived in a shopping paradise for gourmets. There is everything your heart desires! More or less haphazardly, things end up in our shopping cart and we look forward to delicious baguettes, cheese and snacks for dinner. Luckily, this time we have tried out hitching our hackney carriage to the bike so that we can bring all our purchases back on board without any problems. After we have successfully finished our baguette meal, Jens stands in front of the ship’s side and comes over for an after-work beer. We are joined by Hildebrand, Maja, Liliana and Matthis from the motor yacht Troll and Dirk and Christoph from our dock neighbor Manus 2. As the drizzle sets in, we sit together in the cockpit and it becomes a nice evening in a large group.
The drizzle intensifies during the night and it’s pattering briskly on the deck. Just as well that we want to stay at least one more day in Cherbourg. day longer in Cherbourg. So we can sleep in late and have an extensive breakfast in the cockpit. Then we get to work. Axel replaces the reefing line of our genoa and also replaces the corresponding clamp, which no longer works properly. The anchor gets a new, much thicker shackle so that it should now hold even better. The cat and I, on the other hand, are lazy and sleep half the day away. In the afternoon, we take a trip to the local ship chandlery and book a few more days in Cherbourg at the marina office. Our friend Jens drops by again for a chat and together we go back to the marina office at 6pm. By chance, I saw that there is always a welcome drink for sailors on Fridays from 6 pm. We gladly take it and get some more tips for our stay in Cherbourg. While Jens then disappears back to the Marieke for a leftover meal, we pay a visit to the restaurant L’Armoire à Délices at the harbor. Over tapas (crouqe with truffled comte, Korean chicken, guacamole and burrata with pesto and pine nuts) and a very tasty beer (St. Idesbald), we enjoy a delicious dinner and once again discuss how the sailing trip should continue. Unfortunately, the weather doesn’t promise any improvement. Although it has become sunnier again in the meantime, the wind is expected to blow strongly from the west over the next few days. Back on board, we let the open-air concert at the harbor fill our ears with music before heading off to bed.
The next morning is sunnier again, although the temperature is still quite cool. We are pleased that it is still quite cozy in the “conservatory” and we can enjoy a nice breakfast. At 10 a.m. we meet Jens at the marina office and head into town together. It’s market day there today and we are once again impressed by the culinary delights on offer. We buy coq aux vin and confit de canard in a jar so that we can quickly heat up something tasty at sea. We continue on to Carrefour, where we stock up on water, orange juice, beer and wine. We also buy fish skewers and salmon fillets for the evening barbecue. Back on board, we once again devote ourselves to looking after the boat. La Ola is cleaned and scrubbed in glorious sunny weather, so that we end up needing sunglasses to avoid being dazzled by the shine. It’s amazing how much dirt still gets off the cat. It definitely didn’t do the boat any good that it was in the water in Falmouth in winter. Verdigris has collected everywhere in the corners and is now difficult to remove. But it gets better with every clean! For sundowners today, we go to our jetty neighbor Dirk and his Garcia Manus 2. We have a glass of rosé and chat about travel plans. Dirk wants to continue tomorrow, while we’ll stay in Cherbourg for a few more days. At some point, the right easterly or light wind period is sure to come again! Back on board, we grill the fish souvenirs from Carrefour and eat them together with a delicious salad. Once again, the evening flies by in the cockpit and we sometimes wonder why we actually have a television on board!
Sunday gets off to a leisurely start. We sleep in late, have a leisurely breakfast in the cockpit – with eggs, of course! – and plan the next few days as usual. Somehow the weather doesn’t really improve. And the numerous weather reports vary greatly. And there are different forecasts every hour. And we have one of the toughest sections ahead of us. The area around the Channel Islands, which lies ahead of us, is characterized by extreme tides and tidal currents. There is currently a full moon, which causes these tides to intensify – a so-called spring tide. This can cause a current of more than 6 knots. The current is particularly strong in the Race of Alderney, a passage between Cap La Hague, Alerney and Guernsey. Departure times and, above all, arrival times must therefore be calculated very precisely and a situation with current against wind must be avoided at all costs. Unfortunately, the latter is currently not the case. The wind is blowing steadily from the west and unfortunately usually with more than 3 wind forces. After we were already shaken up on the trip to Cherbourg with 2 wind forces and less current, we certainly don’t want to try this again with more wind and current. So we have to remain patient! Unfortunately, this is not really our strong point. We discuss back and forth and finally find a small gap in a weather forecast for Monday afternoon. Let’s see!
Once this decision has been made, it’s time to get to work. Axel lines our fenders with new lines. For some reason, the old lines squeaked when they rubbed against the hull, which had already led to many a restless night. I arm myself with cleaning agent and a bucket and clean the superstructure, removing small scratches and abrasions. I also wipe the lower edge of the superstructure, where a lot of dirt has unfortunately collected, nice and clean. A quick wash of the windows and La Ola shines like a bacon side. Finally, the starboard engine compartment hatch is cleaned and then it’s evening again. Today we make our way to jetty P, where Jens is moored with his Marieke. He has invited us on board for pizza and together with his jetty neighbor Jan we enjoy freshly baked pizza from the on-board oven in numerous variations. Super tasty! Thank you very much!!! The evening is crowned by a video call from my great niece Katinka, who proudly presents us with her engagement ring. Congratulations!!! We are already very happy for Katinka and Tom and definitely have a vacation home on the agenda for July 2025. Well-fed, we head back on board La Ola at some point, where we notice that the new fender lines no longer squeak, but make a noticeable clattering noise. Well, we’ll just have to do it again.
Monday starts cloudy and hazy. A look at the weather forecast gives us hope for improvement, so we prepare to leave in the early afternoon. Before that, we dispose of the garbage and buy some cat food at Carrefour. We say goodbye to Jens and I do some office work on board before departure. It’s just a pity that the weather is once again saying fiddlesticks. The wind doesn’t calm down as predicted, but whistles louder and louder through the rig. Suddenly, the forecast is for 5-6 force winds overnight and from the north tomorrow. Should we really set sail? Or is Cherbourg actually quite nice after all? We decide in favor of the latter and postpone our departure once again. How long remains to be seen. We are still on schedule and can skip a few planned stops and make up some time. But it’s kind of annoying when you can’t get anywhere for so long and the weather forecast doesn’t give any hope of improvement. Although, from August 28th there is supposed to be an easterly wind!!! We’ll catch that at the latest.
Now that the day is turning out differently than planned, I’m getting back to office work. After all, it is Monday. Once everything is done, we walk back into the city center and stroll through the pretty alleyways. There are still some really nice little shops here with a colorful selection of products. It’s just a shame that almost all the little stores are closed on Mondays. We’ll probably have to go again tomorrow. Jens comes over for a cold drink in the evening and we enjoy the parade of passing yachts from the front cockpit. Then we fire up the barbecue and grill bratwurst with bruscetta. Afterwards we “have” to chill out in the cockpit and watch Lucky the cat explore. A quiet evening in which we ask ourselves whether we shouldn’t have just gone out after all. Maybe we’re just getting old and overprotective! Or just calmer and wiser? It’s hard to think about this for too long! At some point, the right wind comes up and we continue on our way. With luck, we might even be able to sail. And if it takes another two weeks, we’ll be fine. As our Englishmen (one Irishman!!!) said so aptly on the crossing from Falmouth to Cuxhaven: “The most dangerous tool on board is a calendar! And even more aptly, we read in Bert’s book on returning home: “A patient sailor knows no bad weather. We take both to heart and hope for better weather.
Nevertheless, we remain impatient…
It’s Tuesday and it’s raining cats and dogs. And it’s Tuesday, all the stores are open today! But first things first. First we get to work. I use the time for online interviews and research work. Axel has hired the local engine service for an oil change. Although one oil change is an understatement, as there are actually three: two engines and a generator. But we save the generator for later, so it’s only two oil changes. Only after the work is done can we devote ourselves to the finer things. Fortunately, the weather has improved during the work and the rain has disappeared. But it’s blowing hard and somehow we don’t feel like strolling through the city. So we stick to our daily bike ride to Carrefour, where we buy fresh ingredients for chicken fricassee. We then prepare it straight back on board and enjoy a quiet evening on board.
The next morning brings sunshine again. Unfortunately, the weather forecast still doesn’t allow us to continue our journey. We have to wait a few more days. And our journey has now been extended! Against all hope and expectation, we have managed to secure a winter berth in the Algarve after all!!! Hopefully it is much warmer there in winter than in La Coruña and probably less stormy. However, we now have about 500 nm more to sail, which means we have to hurry a little. We want to leave the Bay of Biscay behind us in September if possible and be in Vilamoura by mid-October if at all possible. That’s feasible, but it means that we’ll probably have to cross the Bay of Biscay directly and leave San Sebastian, Bilbao and Gijon off our route. Let’s see. I haven’t given up hope of visiting the Basque Country yet.
Otherwise, the day starts quietly, with back exercises (Axel) and office work (Brit). It’s not until the afternoon that we set off on our daily bike ride again. This time we head into the city again, where most of the stores are actually open. Axel gets some new sandals and for dinner we buy two fish skewers, prawns (500 g for 5 euros!), avocado and honeydew melon. We probably don’t need to explain any further that the whole thing was deliciously prepared, served and enjoyed in the evening, do we? Lucky is also delighted. Prawns are becoming his new favorite dish. Life as an on-board cat seems to have its advantages after all!
The next day starts stormily. The wind has picked up noticeably and the sky is very cloudy. A good day at the office! Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the next few days has deteriorated again. The easterly situation with light winds that was forecast for the weekend yesterday has simply disappeared and been replaced by strong westerly winds. It only looks a little better at night, but we’re not quite ready to set sail at 2 a.m. yet. The day remains stormy and becomes increasingly rainy towards the evening. We prefer to stay on board. Only Axel gets up briefly and cycles to Carrefour to buy ingredients for a delicious fish soup. For the first time in a long time, we don’t spend the evening in the cockpit, but watch the Mare TV episodes for Lisbon and the Algarve on ARD Medithek. This prepares us well for the next stages of the journey.
It’s still storming and raining! Brrr…. So I spend this morning in the office and get some work done. Meanwhile, Axel starts another tank cleaning campaign to hopefully improve the water quality. A new “neighbor” has also docked next to us overnight. The MSC Virtuosa towers over the already huge Cite de la Mer building like a skyscraper. There’s probably no need to go into town today and mingle with the thousands of cruisers. Lucky feels the same way and spends the day in his Fluffy, only looking into the cockpit from time to time. At least the weather improves a little during the day and the sun even shows up a little. In the evening, just like last Friday, we head to the marina reception, where the sailors are once again invited for a drink. A great service and this time much better attended thanks to a circular mail. We chat with Brits, Luxembourgers and Germans. A wild babble of languages around us and always the question, where are you sailing to, west, east or north? The next topic is almost always the weather. We start to wonder when we will be naturalized in Cherbourg, but there is still no suitable weather window. After drinks, Axel and I have a delicious meal in the marina restaurant (sauerkraut with fish and lamb chops with green beans). Well-fed, we head back on board in the dark and get to bed relatively quickly. Jens asks us if we want to go to the salsa evening at the open-air disco in the harbor, but we decide against it.
The next morning starts like yesterday’s. It’s pouring with rain, pattering on deck and then it starts to blow like crazy. Slippery weather of the first order! Sleeping in is a good idea. Our neighbors in Luxembourg are tougher than us, leaving before 7 a.m. and heading for Nieuwport. After we roll out of our bunks, we have breakfast in the saloon. Then we start the washing machine and get the boat ready. A visitor arrives around midday. Marie, Jens‘ colleague and boat sales consultant, is currently on a ferry trip from La Rochelle to Germany with a Fountaine Pajot Astrea and wants to take a look at our La Ola. Of course, we are happy to oblige and proudly show off our floating home. Fortunately, the weather clears up again in the afternoon and we cycle to Carrefour. Heavily laden with goodies, we head back on board, where we have Jens from the Marieke visiting us again in the evening. We have tasty snacks and the usual discussion about the weather.
Sunday starts sunny and with calm weather. And Sunday breakfast with an egg, again in the cockpit and not inside. The weather forecast is slowly showing a ray of hope on the horizon. With luck, we might finally be able to move on tomorrow or Tuesday. As we’ve wasted a lot of time in Cherbourg in the meantime, we want to sail on as quickly as possible. So we’ll quickly round the corner and head for Brest or Camaret sur Mer. There we will have to decide whether we want to sail out of the Bay of Biscay or cross it directly. But first we have to get going!
Today, however, we don’t have time again, so we dedicate ourselves to the alternative program and take a short bike tour to the western outer pier of Cherbour and the Querqueville lighthouse. Not even halfway along the route, we are surprised by a rain shower and seek shelter behind the La Traversée monument. Unfortunately, it simply whistles and rains through the holes, so we end up fleeing a few hundred meters further into the Brasserie La Saline. As it’s lunchtime anyway, we take the opportunity to have a small lunch and wait out the rain. I can also continue my fish and chips study. After lunch and again in the sunshine, we continue to Querqueville and to the very end of the outer pier. There we can take a look to the west and realize that it’s pretty windy out at sea. Unfortunately, we have to sail all the way back down the pier against the rather strong wind and can then sail back to Cherbourg into the marina with a tailwind. After a little over 15 km, our butts are well done and we are ready for a cold drink in the cockpit. As light and practical as the small folding bikes are, they are rather limited for longer bike tours. In fact, we should probably have taken the eBikes, which can be hired free of charge here in the marina. But it was always a nice trip! The rest of the day passes calmly and with the sudium of the weather forecast. We discuss various options and finally decide to leave Cherbourg tomorrow. Let’s see whether we stick to this decision tomorrow morning or stay after all.
