Harbour

Saint Valery-en-Caux

4.7Saint Valery en caux, FranceCôte Fleurie and Alabaster Coast

Maximum length: 72 ft
VHF channel: 9
Maximum draught: 9 ft

Lock-gated harbour of 560 berths set in a breach in the chalk cliffs of the Pays de Caux, on the Seine-Maritime coast between Dieppe and Fecamp.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Approach from the N with the chalk cliffs as a visual reference. Entrance channel between two jetties, lit by red and green lights. The gate opens around HW plus or minus two and a half hours depending on coefficient, and the bridge beyond it lifts on the hour and half hour; waiting room in front is limited to a few moorings. In a heavy swell the sea runs in through the gates at high water and the basin becomes choppy, so it is not a foul-weather refuge. Inside, maximum draught 3 m in the wet basin. Strong tidal streams along the coast, up to 3 knots at springs. VHF 9.

Practical

560 berths in the wet basin, water and shore power on pontoons, with visitor berths on both sides of the basin; the west side lies nearest the sanitary block. Expect around 38 euros a night for an 11 m boat, with the third night free. Fuel berth with diesel at the lock entrance. Showers and toilets in the harbour office. All shops in town within 200 m of the pontoons. Nearest refuges are Fecamp 14.7 nm SW and its dry port 14.5 nm SW.

Ashore

Maison Henri IV, a timber-framed Renaissance merchant house from 1540, on the quayside 50 m from the pontoons. Pebble beach directly east of the harbour entrance, accessible on foot. GR 21 coastal path along the cliffs towards Veules-les-Roses 7 km east. Saturday morning market on the Place du Marche, 150 m from the harbour.

History

On 12 June 1940 the town was the scene of the surrender of the 51st Highland Division to Rommel's 7th Panzer Division after the collapse of the French lines. The town centre was largely rebuilt after 1945. A Scottish memorial stands on the western cliff above the harbour.