Harbour

Le Crotoy

4.2Le Crotoy, France

Maximum length: 12 m
VHF channel: 9
Maximum draught: 0.8 m

Drying harbour on the north shore of the Somme estuary in Hauts-de-France, 110 berths, only 0.8 m of water available on average.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Entry through the shifting Somme estuary, buoyed channel resurveyed and moved every year by the Syndicat Mixte Baie de Somme. Only accessible around high water by day, with sufficient rise. Call the harbour office on VHF 9 before commitment. Fog and SW swell make the bar dangerous. Local knowledge strongly advised on first visit.

Practical

Harbour dries on soft mud, most yachts take the ground on legs or against the quay. Water on the quay, limited electricity. Showers and WC at the harbour office. All shops in the village 5 minutes on foot, including a fresh-fish stall at the port and a market on Tuesday and Friday.

Ashore

Sandy beach facing the bay 200 m from the harbour, the only north-facing beach in France. Baie de Somme nature reserve with seal colonies on the sandbanks at low water. Steam railway from Le Crotoy to Saint-Valery and Cayeux runs on summer weekends from the station next to the port.

History

Joan of Arc was held prisoner in the castle of Le Crotoy in 1430 before being transferred to Rouen. The harbour was a herring and mackerel fishing port from the Middle Ages until silting reduced it to a pleasure and shrimp-fishing base in the 20th century.