French ports open to Guernsey pleasure boaters
LOCAL pleasure boaters have welcomed the extension of who can now dock at unofficial border ports in France.
Previously, Brexit regulations meant pleasure boats could not dock at these marinas such as Dielette as they are not official border customs ports.
But now, La Manche and Le Calvados Customs have decided to make the Brexit procedure more flexible for boats arriving and departing from outside the Schengen area.
Guernsey Boat Owners' Association president Nick Guillemette, pictured, welcomed the news.
‘Dielette is a very, very popular port with Guernsey people and anything that makes it easier is a good thing,’ he said.
‘Everything is moving in the right direction.’
Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq, lead politician for external relations and constitutional affairs, said: ‘I am pleased that La Manche Customs have put in place a streamlined procedure to facilitate the use of Dielette by visiting boats from Guernsey.
‘This helps mitigate some of the new restrictions that are now in place following Brexit.
‘We have a good relationship with Normandy and La Manche underpinned by a regional cooperation agreement, and have been discussing this particular issue as part of our ongoing relationship following the UK exit from the EU.’
Mr Guillemette said the Boat Owners’ Association had been hoping for such a move for a while.
Boaters had been using Carteret to travel to France since the Brexit regulations came into place.
‘I think it put people off going, and it made it much more dependent on weather,’ he said.
‘Dielette is a more accessible port than Carteret and has really good facilities.’
Islanders looking to travel to any of these ports must send an editable form to the relevant Harbour office (portdielette@lecotentin.fr) 24 hours before arriving.
If the stay is less than 24 hours, a form must also be sent just before departure.
In case of longer stays, the form must be sent at least 24 hours before departure.
The form will then be transmitted by the harbour office to Port Authorities and Customs.
The form can be found at https://www.digimap.gg/marine/marinas/dielette/formulaire-entree-et-sortie-dielette/
