Anchorage

Arrière-port calais

Shelter: W, E, SW, S, SE
Seabed: mud
Anchoring: Forbidden

Buoy mooring field of 17 berths inside the old inner harbour of Calais, mud bottom, set between the ferry terminal and the Bassin Ouest.

Water
Electricity
Mooring buoys
Visitor buoys
Pontoon
Beach

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Entry through the main Calais pass, deep-water channel used by the cross-Channel ferries. Call Calais Port on VHF 17 before entering, keep south of the entry lane, report when two minutes from the south breakwater and give way to ferry movements. Once inside, keep to the west of the harbour. The tide runs strongly in the outer approaches, plan on the stand. Shelter from W, SW, S, SE and E, exposed to the north.

Practical

17 visitor buoys, large white soft balls with a loop on top that are easy to pick up, though they lie close together and boats over about 9 metres foul their neighbours. Stays are limited to one tidal cycle. Water and electricity are laid on. Berths managed alongside Bassin Ouest marina, 0.4 NM SW for fuel, showers and further services. Gravelines lies 10.2 NM E as the next stop eastbound.

Ashore

Town centre at 10 minutes on foot from the Bassin Ouest, with Rodin's Burghers of Calais in front of the Hôtel de Ville and its 75 m Flemish-style belfry listed by UNESCO since 2005. Calais lace museum, Cité de la dentelle et de la mode, at around 800 m. Beach and Calais lighthouse, in service since 1848, within walking distance.

History

Calais was held by England from 1347, after Edward III's siege that triggered the episode of the Six Burghers, until 1558 when François de Guise retook the town for France. The port was rebuilt after heavy damage in 1940 to 1944 and is now the busiest passenger port in France.