The Siege of St Vaast - May 2008

 Moody Owners Association Rally to St Vaast and the French Fishermans Strike

I am sure that over the years many of the Association members have had some interesting adventures sailing but I never expected it to happen on our first MOA cruise, or in the sleepy town of St Vaast of all places.

It all started when I brought home a tin of antifoul paint. Suddenly the kids made excuses such as extra French homework and wouldn’t be available for a spot of bank holiday painting. Viv and I resigned ourselves to the task and April Lass was booked in for a lift and scrub at Gosport Boatyard for a reasonable £220 bank holiday special.

A week before the holiday I browsed the MOA website and saw the St Vaast Rally. Weather looked promising so gave Viv the option, painting or dinner Saturday night in the Fuchsias. She thought about it for a nano second and before looking through her wardrobe for stripey French tops etc. A quick e mail to Joseph and Kim the organisers asking if we could come along resulted in a yes, the more the merrier reply.

We slipped our lines at 7am on the Friday and headed out into a calm English channel with a pleasant NE 3. A phone call to Joseph at lunchtime confirmed we were on our way and gave our position 15 miles south of the IOW. However by tea time the wind had increased and we now had 23 knots across the deck as we approached the French Coast. The last transmission from Solent Coastguard gave a worsening weather report and a warning that French fishermen had blockaded ports along the North Coast. To late we were nearly across. However about 8pm it all went pear shaped. April Lass fell off one particularly nasty wave and Viv fell badly. We now had a lee shore 5 miles away and rather short handed. Thankfully April Lass has both furling genoa and in mast roller mainsail which are all handled from the cockpit. Angus our 9 month old labradoodle kept watch from the leeward rail with nose and paws under the dodger fascinated by the white waves as we charged along. At 9.30 pm we finally rounded Isle de Tatihou and could see St Vaast in the distance, but not before running into a mine field of French lobster pot markers with small black flags just as darkness approached. We did at least one 360’ before finding a route through. As we motored though the lock gates French fishermen could be seen with banners and a rope across the lock entrance. A stranger in the darkness warned us that they would let us in but we wouldn’t be allowed to leave. After 14 hours at sea and exhausted, we had no choice but to go in. A mixture of MOA and Seaview YC yachties on the pontoons assisted us along side and for that we are really grateful, thank you. After quick introductions to the other members we collapsed in a heap in the cabin with a cup of hot tea.

Saturday morning revealed trawlers with banners protesting about the price of diesel, pickets on the entrance and a rope with anchors attached across the lock barring all vessels from leaving harbour. Ignoring the antics of the fishermen, after all we were on holiday; we set about exploring the quaint harbour and shops of St Vaast and its Saturday morning market.

Joseph and Kim organised a table at the Fuchsias and we had fabulous evening getting to know them and Steve and Annemarie. Great company, superb food and the food presentation was breath taking. Mathew, Elizabeth and Victoria stayed on board to dine on mussels, Mathew cooking for the ladies, clearly he will go far.

On Sunday morning to our surprise and relief the fishermen disappeared and boats were allowed to come and go as normal, hurray. Viv wondered if we should go but then pointed out that we had only just arrived and it would be a shame to spoil our holiday by departing early. However as the lock closed in the afternoon the rope was strung back up. Now trapped, we resigned ourselves to a long siege of the harbour by the French fishermen.

By Sunday evening strict rationing was introduced forcing members to scavenge the foreshore for oysters and mussels for supper. A BBQ on the harbour slipway raised a few eye brows amongst the Seaview YC Rally also in harbour and the local French seemed most bemused that with so many good restaurants in the town we would choose to burn food on lumps of hot charcoal. Whilst I was quenching the tin tray afterwards Steve noticed that it floated quite well and continued to burn, suggesting we could use them as fire ships against the trawler blockade.

Monday was a pleasant day until lunchtime when one English yacht tried to force there way out. There timing couldn’t have been worse. 2 dozen pickets on the lock and in broad daylight meant they couldn’t be seen to loose face by allowing a vessel out of harbour. The events turned quite nasty when a French trawler passed through the blockade and the English yacht tried to follow before the rope was lifted again. Unfortunately the trawler stopped in the lock to block the way as started to drift backwards with the flood tide as the yacht moved forward. Needless to say the yacht fared worse in the crunch. The rope was cut but only to be replaced by heavy trawler chain and two trawlers moved into the lock to reduce the gap. Steve had a quiet word with one of the yachts crew "Mr Angry" as he became known amongst the English yachts and things settled down.

An earlier pontoon rumour of being allowed out at midnight now seemed to be in doubt. However that night we prepared for a possible departure on the tide only for all hopes to be dashed as the chain could be heard being dragged across the lock entrance as the gates opened. There was nothing for it but to turn in for the night. A shame because the weather was now F2 and would have meant a quiet crossing home.

Tuesday brought even stricter rationing but this time with electrical devices as mobile phones started to run down. We settled down for a long week and Viv went shopping to stock up supplies, but not fish. Steve and Annemarie practised there French with the fishermen and came back with news from the Capitanarie. We might be let out during a 40 minute window from 1.20 pm until 2pm that afternoon. Viv arrived back with a weeks shopping and instantly beamed a big smile. Susie our 11 year old had a birthday on the following Saturday with friends planned so Viv desperately wanted to get home. At 1.15pm Ocean Strider the other MOA yacht slipped her mooring. Asked by the motorboat next door what we intended to do we replied were going to follow them. Perhaps if the fishermen could see how many boats needed to leave now they may keep to there promise of dropping the chain in five minutes time. Sure enough at 1.20 pm down came the chain and 14 boats (some French) escaped.

We motored north into a F2 against 3 hours of flood tide until clear of the Cherbourg peninsula before raising the sails. But within an hour the NE wind had picked up giving 23-24 knots occasionally gusting to 27 knots. Now ten miles north of France with the wind just 30’ off the bow and Viv not feeling to good some decisions had to be taken. I asked Viv if she wanted to divert to Cherbourg but risk being trapped again or carry on. To her credit although she knew how long a rough trip would take to cross she said keep going. In rolled the sails and on went the engine. By 6pm the sea had calmed down to 14-15 knots hard on the nose so although bumpy we could motor at 5.5 knots on our chosen course so settled down to a long night. Angus feeling cold was sent below and laid on a duvet on the cabin sole nodding off to sleep. At sunset low cloud and mist followed by driving rain arrived cutting visibility to nothing in the bitterly cold dark and stormy night. The wind rose back to 23 knots making the lashing rain all the more unpleasant. A shipping forecast as midnight approached gave even worse news. NE F6, later F7 locally, possible F8 cyclonic to SW really spooked me. 18.5 miles and 3 hours south of St Catharine’s I cracked open the throttle and motored at 6.5 knots into the gale desperate to reach shelter in the Solent. Only easing back when we reached Bembridge and finally making Haslar as dawn broke. Home just in time for Viv to cook a full English breakfast including sausages for Angus, a shower and off to work were I was asked if I had done anything interesting over the bank holiday!

A big thank you to Kim and Joseph for organising an interesting weekend in St Vaast. Steve and Annemarie have asked us along to the next Bembridge Rally but Viv and I are at a loss as to what to take to cover all eventualities. Oxyacetylene cutting gear? A parachute perhaps? It’s going to be an interesting first year with the MOA.