Anchorage

Querqueville

Shelter: NW, N, W, SW, S
Seabed: algae, mud
Anchoring: Allowed

Anchorage in the west roadstead of Cherbourg, off Querqueville, mud and kelp bottom.

Pontoon
Beach

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Inside the Grande Rade de Cherbourg sheltered by the 3.6 km Napoleonic breakwater. Enter by the Passe de l'Ouest between Fort de l'Ouest and Fort de Querqueville. Protection from NW, N, W, SW and S; open to E swell that pushes through the Passe de l'Est. Holding is generally good in thick mud, though it can drag in a strong southerly, and the kelp patches hold less well. Watch for the many fishing buoys and nets across the anchorage.

Practical

Small drying harbour at Querqueville 0.1 NM N with a sailing club and slipway; it all but dries at low water, so land by dinghy at the slipway shackles or the wall ladders and mind the tide range. Lidl, Leclerc, a bakery and a hardware store are within a 15 minute walk, and a bus runs into Cherbourg. Port Chantereyne in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is 2.6 NM SE with 1,500 berths, diesel, lock-free access at all tides, and full boatyard services.

Ashore

Chapelle Saint-Germain de Querqueville sits above the harbour, Romanesque chapel with 10th century trefoil plan, one of the oldest religious buildings in western France. Fort de Querqueville on the breakwater spur is visible from the anchorage. Coastal path GR 223 passes through Querqueville village 300 m from the slipway.

History

The Grande Rade was built from 1783 to 1853 under Louis XVI then Napoleon I and III, at the time the largest artificial roadstead in the world at 1,500 hectares.