Calais, and the Douane...

The early start the next day  from Fecamp was to try to make sure that we got a push along the coast from the currents.  Our original idea was to head towards some other port before Calais, but there are not very many on this stretch of coast that do not dry out, so after considering options, we decided to push all the way to Calais, which is 94 miles from Fecamp.  It would be a long day, but with a good push in the later stages from the tide, and with the great summertime weather, it was worth it.

As we headed NE, we edged closer and closer to the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) that is used to keep the ships in the Manche (English Channel) moving without congestion or accidents.  We had to stay outside the TSS, because we are so small.  Just about 10 miles from Cap Gris Nez, as we just about kissed the edge of the TSS, we noticed a gray military-looking vessel heading out, probably from Boulogne-sur-mer.  They were privileged, so we edged a bit to the right to let them pass ahead, which caused them to head far to their port, so we returned to our original course to let them pass astern.  No good.  This just caused them to head straight for us.

Ahhh… 

At first we had safety concerns, but then we realized that we were about to be controlled by the Douane (French customs).  Sure enough, they started to call us on the radio, and we had a nice chat for about 10 minutes about our last ports, our next ports, our hailing ports, etc.  They then asked us to slow down to 5 kts and prepare to be boarded for an inspection.

Fiscalite

Just like in Ireland, they dropped a RIB into the water, and 5 guys came aboard while we sailed towards Calais.  Their leader was very polite, spoke impeccable English (at first), and asked all sorts of detailed questions about us and the boat.  We started to talk in French to him, and after the initial introductions, we did the entire interview in French.  He complimented us(!) on our ability to speak French.  The sequence is one we have been though before, and we have all the papers needed to address the issues.  This time, we were asked for the bill-of-sale for the boat, as well, which we have.  We even presented him with the paperwork from the initial boarding at the mouth of the Gironde in 2008.  Two fellows did a search of the boat, opening lockers and drawers until one of them was startled by a large red cat streaking by.  Then they decided they had seen enough inside.

C'est la vie!

The commander of the team complimented us on having all of our papers in order, and following the prescribed procedures (and paying the required taxes).  He explained that they had seen us because of the AIS, and the prospect of controlling an American boat caused them to come out.  They do not see many US-flagged boats up here.  He explained that he had a quota of inspections that had to be done during the summer, and normally he does tax, safety, and licensing inspections, but with a US boat, he can only inspect for tax compliance (liberté, fraternité, egalité, fiscalité!).  This is one big reason we will not document this boat in the EU – we would have to change out a big bunch of hardware and get licenses.

One good thing about this event was that it showed that the AIS we had installed does actually work – other people can see us as well as we can see them.  The downside, of course, is that every douane in Europe can now see the potential American financial target and zero in on it. Luckily, all of our papers are in order…

Once the Douane left, we cranked it up and headed to Calais.  This is a big ferry port, with ships coming and going at all hours.  We had to stop at the entrance and mill-about smartly for 15 minutes while we waiting for a large ferry to leave, and then we got permission to enter, only to have to wait for another 20 minutes for the bridge that guards the marina basin to open.  Once in, we quickly found a spot, a few slips down from a Brit-flagged boat named Philadelphia.  This turned out to be owned by a Brit/US couple who live in the UK, and she is from the eastern PA area.  Very nice people in town as part of a Calais Rally with their yacht club.

Calais and the Kitties

Next day was one for figuring out how to deal with kitties.  We slept in, checked into the marina, and headed out on foot for the enormous ferry terminal across the inlet.  This terminal really looks like a prison camp, with double rows of high (4 meter, probably) fencing, some topped with razor wire.  There seem to be a large number of people in this part of France who really, really, really want to get to the UK, and need to be strongly discouraged from trying to sneak aboard a ship.  Our walk took us to the parking lot entrance, which is the normal way for pietons to enter the ferry terminal, but it was closed because of maintenance work, so we were allowed to enter a side gate by a special guard.  

We then crossed about 15 lanes of traffic(!) to get to the terminal.  We discussed the process with the nice P&O people, and even bought a ticket for jlm and the kitties.  Then the fun started…

Since we didn’t enter via the normal pathway (which was closed), no one in the terminal wanted to let us back out the way that we had come in.  It seems that normally, people like us take either the P&O shuttle from the train station, or else the city bus.  NO ONE WALKS.  Or, at least no one had walked for such a long time that they didn’t know how to get us out, except thru the pathway that the maintenance people had blocked off.  So, of course, the security people in the terminal failed open, and said that we would have to walk “that way” (far NE) for along way to get to the car entrance to the terminal, to leave.  They could not contact the special guard that their own security service had stationed at the normal entrance, to see what could be done.  A typical security issue..

We got tired of this, and just then a taxi showed up to drop off some passengers, so we got in and paid €10.00 to go back to town for some snacks and last minute French shopping.  It was also fortuitous, because it gave us the number of a taxi guy to pick up jlm and the kitties the next day.  We spent the rest of the day getting prepared for the kitty trip and the single-handed Calais-Dover trip, and cleaning the boat.  We also got concerned because the gorgeous summer weather had disappeared as we walked thru town.  A thick layer of fog descended and we wandered thru a cold, grey fog bank, listening to the horns from ships and lighthouses.  None of us slept well, thinking about how one person would take the boat across the most trafficked body of water, in the fog, alone…