Harbour

Saint Valery sur Somme

4.4Saint Valery sur Somme, FranceOpal Coast and Bay of Somme

Maximum length: 65 ft
VHF channel: 9
Maximum draught: 7 ft

Tidal marina of 250 berths in the Somme estuary, Hauts-de-France, on the south bank of the baie de Somme.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Entrance via a buoyed channel across the estuary sandbanks, which shifts with each spring tide, so charts and plotters are unreliable and the first marks can sit well north of the charted safe-water mark. Call the harbour office ahead for the position of the first mark. The office advises entering 1.5 to 2 hours before high water and leaving about 1 hour before, and it may cap the draught at around 2 m depending on how the channel has silted, less than the 2.3 m sometimes quoted. Keep well in the centre at the entrance and do not attempt it at night, as lighting is poor. Call on VHF 9 before entering.

Practical

250 berths with pontoons. Water, electricity, toilets and showers at the capitainerie. Bakery, butcher and small supermarket within 300 m in the medieval upper town, with a larger supermarket about 5 minutes away by bike and bicycle hire in town. Railway halt of the Chemin de fer de la baie de Somme nearby.

Ashore

Walled medieval town above the port with the Porte de Nevers and Porte Guillaume gates. Baie de Somme nature reserve, a Grand Site de France, with common seal colonies visible at low water. Coastal path along the digue towards Le Hourdel, 6 km to the west.

History

William the Conqueror assembled his fleet at Saint-Valery in 1066 before sailing to England. Joan of Arc was held prisoner in the town in December 1430 on her way to her trial at Rouen.