Normandy Marinas: A Guided Tour of Carteret
Brian Ferguson takes us on a guided tour of his local marina in idyllic Normandy. About Carteret, Normandy: 49.3782° N, 1.7802° W For more than 150 years the coastal resort of Carteret has been a magnet to tourists. In its heyday the beau monde of Paris and the discerning members of Edwardian British society flocked […]
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Brian Ferguson takes us on a guided tour of his local marina in idyllic Normandy.
About Carteret, Normandy: 49.3782° N, 1.7802° W
For more than 150 years the coastal resort of Carteret has been a magnet to tourists. In its heyday the beau monde of Paris and the discerning members of Edwardian British society flocked to its endless white sand beaches and clear blue sea warmed by the gulf stream. Today Carteret is popular with visitors from Europe and the UK and an especially favoured stopover for yachtsmen both French and British. Carteret’s position directly opposite the Channel Islands gives it a unique flavour among French ports, decidedly French, but closer to the British Isles even than Dover. The area’s close connection with the Channel Isles spans many centuries, regardless of wars, foreign occupation or dare we say it, more recently Brexit. There is even a common language between the two, the Normandie “Patois”
Carteret’s recent €2.4m marina development has seen the addition of a further 370 pontoon berths, including 60 berths for visiting yachts Some of the annual berths are, at the time of writing, still available. The falling sill, which used to be at the entrance of the old marina, has been repositioned towards the harbour entrance. This has left a large area of the port permanently flooded giving all tide access to dinghy sailors and rowers from the local coastal rowing club. The second phase of the development has begun which will see a new marina office building incorporating extensive new sanitary and laundry facilities.
There are many distractions in Carteret for the visiting yachtsman. The local restaurants cater for all tastes and pockets, from the Michelin stared Marine Hotel to excellent pizzerias, bars and bistros such as L’Abri in the old sailing school building or Le Carteret near the Station of the Train Touristique. The Yacht Club next to the marina is open to visitors with toilets, showers and washing machines, It also has a bar and restaurant with an upstairs terrace with the best view in the town. However local opinion has it that the Kalakiki on the promenade towards the ferry terminal serves the best moules frites in the Manche, a full kilo of mussels per person for 14 euros.
The coastal rowing club of Barneville Carteret hosts each year an open sea race between Jersey and Carteret. This is one of the most famous ocean rowing events in Europe, however the club is open on weekends to anyone who would like to try a spot of less competitive exercise. Dinghies, windsurfers and stand up paddle boards are also available to hire. A restored private railway runs in the summer between Carteret and Portbail using vintage engines and rolling stock. This is particularly popular on Portbail’s market day (Tuesday) There are supermarkets in Barneville and an excellent epicerie and wine cave in Carteret’s main street all of which will deliver to your boat. For something a little different you should try a visit to the Maison de Biscuit a few minutes by taxi, anyone familiar with the famous Gosselin boutique in St Vaast-la-Hougue will be seriously impressed by its bigger and more visually impressive west coast rival.
Comprehensive engineering and repair services along with a large and well stocked chandlery are available at Carteret Marine, two minutes walk from the marina.
Local Berth Holder
The author Brian Ferguson has lived in France since moving from the North of England in 2004: “I arrived in France with a 37 foot long keel Tayana, a yacht practically identical to a Hans Christian, with a draught of two metres and a displacement of eighteen tonnes. The plan was to buy a small house for the winter and cruise all summer. We bought a farm with thirty acres, and the rest as they say is history.
“We downsized to a 24ft Cornish crabber in which we cruised the northern Brittany coast and recently, after forty years under sail succumbed to the dark side and bought an Aquastar 27 motor cruiser which we keep in Carteret. Our new cruising grounds are the extensive inland canal system of central Brittany, which at our present rate will occupy us for several years to come.”
Passage Planning to Carteret
Most UK visitors arrive at Carteret after a stopover in the Channel Islands. This makes it much easier to plan your arrival to coincide with the local tides. The entry, with its falling sill, is open roughly two and a half hours each side of high water, depending on tidal coefficient. The port of Carteret is easily identified from seaward by its lighthouse on the cliffs above the town. Its entry is clearly marked by port and starboard lights, a white stone building at the end of a jetty to port, and a starboard mark at the end of the southerly retaining wall. The passage over the falling sill is clearly marked, the port side entry marker having a tide gauge attached.
There is also a digital depth readout on a large panel beside the footpath to the left of the entrance. This shows the depth of water available at the entrance and is only illuminated when the port is open. Incoming boats have priority and all boats should pass in the centre, between the posts marking the sill.
First time visitors, or those with a small auxiliary engines are advised to delay entry for at least 30 minutes after the initial opening of the sill, until the incoming tide begins to flow over the retaining walls each side of the entrance, thereby reducing the flow over the sill. It is also an idea to plan landfall a mile or so to the south of the port entry as at springs the northward current can run at 3 to 4 knts.
Any obstructions from all directions will be well submerged by the time entry to Carteret is possible, but yachts arriving early will need to stand well off as the tidal range locally can be up to 12 metres.
Cruising grounds and Channel Islands
Carteret is within easy reach of Jersey, with the port of Gorey only 14nm distant, and Guernsey and Alderney a day’s sail away. It is further south that the real jewel in the crown lies.
The Chausey Islands are an archipelago of small islands most of which are submerged at high water but at low tide provide an incredible playground of sandy beaches, shallow warm bathing pools and on the main island, restaurants and bars. Access is only by boat and there are no vehicles allowed on the main island. Bernard Moitessier described the Chausey as paradise, and he wasn’t wrong.
On to the other side of the bay of Mont St Michael is St Malo with its fabulous walled city, faithfully rebuilt after the war. It’s an interesting fact that for its surface area St Malo has more eateries that any other town or city in Brittany. Just around the corner is the entrance to the Rance estuary with its picturesque marina at Plouer-sur-Rance and for those with a small enough draught there is the medieval walled city of Dinan with a newly rebuilt quayside marina with new pontoons and all facilities.
Fact File
Port of Carteret
Lat 49’22’08 Long 1’47’24.
Tel 0033 (0) 233047084.
portcarteret@ports-manche.fr
Electricity and water on all pontoons. Diesel and petrol 24 hrs on pontoon F.
Rates
Visitors from 19.29 euros low season to 27.57 euros for a 30 foot monohull.
2,215 euros per year or 1551 euros for a pontoon with access by tender.
Winter rates 193 euros per month.
The Marina offers free wifi, weather reports, a boat hoist of up to 40t, dry boat storage and electric bicycle hire.
Market days are, Thursday Carteret, Saturday Barneville and Tuesday at Portbail.
Useful contacts
Carteret Marine – 0233 012001.
Yacht club – 0233 526073.
Pole Nautique (Watersports center) – 0233 931207.
Jobourg Coastguard – 0233 521616.
Pompiers (For all fire and medical emergencies) -18
Medical advice helpline – 116117.
Jersey coastguard – 01539 447705.
Comptoir carteret – 0233 538107.
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