Giles and Paula's Great Retirement Adventure
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@goosehd asked above how long we would basically be out of sight of land. I used a readily available scientific formula, and guessed at 6 hours.
Todays passage took us on a route that had the longest distance between England and France at 52nm. I could see both coastlines.......So, I was only 6 hours wrong.
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Technically, we should be flying a Q flag*, and not leave the boat until we have had permission to do so by the French immigration guys. At St Vaast, the process is performed by the marina staff who then email all the info needed to the immigration office in Cherbourg. But the marina staff will have knocked off for the night (except the lock keeper) when we arrive. So they have told us where to berth and to pop up to see them sometime tomorrow.
The Marina restaurant closes at 21:00, I will be eating there tonight
- The "Q" flag (also known as the Quebec flag or Yellow Jack) is a plain yellow maritime signal flag. In international sailing and shipping, it means: "My vessel is healthy and I request free pratique [free entry] into port." It signals authorities that a boat has arrived from abroad and is requesting an official inspection.
"OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011
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@Giles Looked like a great day an crossing.
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said in Giles and Paula's Great Retirement Adventure:
Technically, we should be flying a Q flag*, and not leave the boat until we have had permission to do so by the French immigration guys. At St Vaast, the process is performed by the marina staff who then email all the info needed to the immigration office in Cherbourg. But the marina staff will have knocked off for the night (except the lock keeper) when we arrive. So they have told us where to berth and to pop up to see them sometime tomorrow.
The Marina restaurant closes at 21:00, I will be eating there tonight
- The "Q" flag (also known as the Quebec flag or Yellow Jack) is a plain yellow maritime signal flag. In international sailing and shipping, it means: "My vessel is healthy and I request free pratique [free entry] into port." It signals authorities that a boat has arrived from abroad and is requesting an official inspection.
Even better.
The guy in the marina office did not have the foggiest idea on how to process immigrants. So he told us to come back tomorrow, it's great fun being illegal......I actually think we could stay here for the whole 2 weeks and not bother formally entering the country. Needless to say, Paula won't let me do it, she does not want us to be banned from Schengen (one of our good friends has been
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