THE APPROACH to Dunkerque from the west is like passing by Dante’s Inferno. Weird blue and orange flames flare from blackened orifices in the tangled pipe work while clouds of steam drift round the miles of unlovely sheds. When the wind is in the wrong direction the whole world smells like a school laboratory. This is the awful secret that sustains Peter Mayle’s Provencal idyll.

Still, there is a useful buoyed shipping lane to guide you between the sandbanks all the way from the red and white DKA buoy about 6 miles NE of Calais. And the entrance, when you get there, is well marked by the brown stone former lighthouse with its distinctive three ridges on the upper part. (The Port Ouest, 7 miles to the west, is for commercial traffic only.)

Once inside, keep to the left and follow the long breakwater down towards the centre of town. There are two marina options. The nearer one on the left is the Port du Grand Large, which is the more modern of the two but a long walk from the “bright lights”. The visitors pontoon runs East-West on the North side of the marina and fuel and other facilities are available.

The alternative is the Yacht Club de la Mer du Nord which is a bit further along on the right. Moor up to the waiting pontoon, marked by a yellow sign, and ask at the capitainerie for directions to an inside berth. If you arrive after 6 pm you’ll probably find the capitainerie closed and have to spend the night on the waiting pontoon. There is electricity and water available, but it’s a good deal more exposed than inside. The facilities are slightly antiquated and you have to buy tokens for the showers — one of the more irritating habits of French marinas. But it’s a friendly place with a lively clubhouse (at least on Fridays and Saturdays) and by Dunkerque standards it’s rather attractive. Fuel is available.

If you want to venture out for a meal there are some excellent and good value restaurants around the harbour basin in the centre of town about ten minutes walk away. Our favourite is Le Corsaire (6 quai de la Citadelle, T 03 28 59 03 61). If you come back late (e.g. after 10 pm), check you know the code to the gate before leaving the marina (it should be on your receipt). Don’t forget that pretty well everywhere is closed on Sunday evenings.

Despite everything we admit to a certain fondness for Dunkerque. It gives you France in the raw without any prettiness or sentimentality. The famous beaches (famous to the British at least) are a long hike and hardly worth the effort being now somewhat built up compared with those iconic photographs of 1940. And you’ll see them better from the sea anyway. Altogether Dunkerque is not a place to linger, but with its deep water access and gutsy feel it’s well worth a stopover.

© 2008 Yachtpilot