sandalwood Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 News on BBC today warns of migrants being armed with knives hiding near port! Is port safe for us motorhomers? Anyone had experience? Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 These are two recent (GOOGLE-translated) press articles on migrants at Ouistreham https://tinyurl.com/ya7ulbyj https://tinyurl.com/y9kke97k I’ve not seen the BBC report, but it wouldn’t surprise me if some of the migrants in the Caen area carry a knife for protection (After all, people who carry a knife for ‘protection’ in the UK are generally much less vulnerable than the migrants living rough and trying anything to reach this country from France). Is Ouistreham ‘safe’ for motorcaravanners? There’s no doubt that, if migrants think that stowing away in (or on) a particular motorhome might offer a chance of getting on board a ferry, they’ll give it a go. But - to the best of my knowledge - there have been no incidents where migrants (knife-wielding or otherwise) have threatened people at Ouistreham, or used violence against motorhome owners to try to enter their vehicles. You might want to read this April 2018 forum thread http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Caen-Crossing/49120/ I didn’t experience any trouble in April, but I didn’t go into Ouistreham itself and, at around 7am on the day we were returning to the UK, drove directly to the ferry port from the “Riva Bella” campsite using the canal-side road rather than going through the town. We plan to use the Portsmouth-Ouistreham route again in June and - unless something dramatic happens in Ouistreham in the interim - I’m not concerned over any ’safety’ issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonmar Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 We stayed one night on the Riva Bella site without any problems this year - noisy with search helicopter during night last year. A few migrants playing football in evening and saw more walking along path behind site, but no problems with a fairly full site. The change being that not a lot were Brits. Going for the 8.30 boat in the morning there were more Gendarmes than rather miserable looking migrants. Again didn't go through village on way to port. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 An update on this... The French police and the local authorities at Ouistreham now seem to have a tighter grip on the behaviour of the migrants there. A large part of the wooded area adjacent to the roundabout and the road leading to the Riva Bella Seasonova campsite at the edge of the town has now been fenced off, limiting migrant numbers congregating there. In the town itself the traffic-lights now operate with just the amber light blinking (rather than the normal red/amber/green lights illuminating) so that traffic does not have to stop at junctions when migrants had best opportunity to stowaway on vehicles. (This does mean, though, that extra care needs to be taken when driving through the town.) I noted that the campsite’s half-moon-shaped motorhomes-only hardstanding area that can accomodate 20 vehicles only had 6 parked there, with 3 at one end and 3 at the other. The central area was empty, probably due to this facing the unfenced section of woodland where migrants were still staying, playing football etc. As the ACSI rate for an ordinary pitch was not much dearer than the charge for the hardstanding area, we chose to avoid the latter for a quieter night. At 07:00 on the morning of 5 July, when we drove to the ferry-port, there was a police van at the roundabout by the campsite and another van closer to the port. The 08:30 ferry was 45 minutes late leaving and all motorhomes/caravans were inspected rigorously inside and underneath before embarkation. There was also a lot more than usual inside/undeneath checking of motorhomes/caravans at the Portsmouth end, though they did not bother with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooster63 Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 We came back from Cherbourg couple of weeks ago. No sign of migrants or police and very minimal checks at either Cherbourg or Poole. Didn't see any searching going on. Only strange thing at the check in queues there were student aged youngsters taking photos of the cars/vans including close ups of number plates. They seemed to be with some older men so not sure if some sort of project, they didn't look like undercover police men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocs Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 I agree with Derek’s analysis. Yes, migrants were visible in small numbers but were not causing any issues with motorhomes. I used Riva Bella twice in June and found that, after allocating a pitch on entering, they were happy for you to move to any vacant pitch (and tell them) and still receive ACSI discount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 rooster63 - 2018-07-08 3:39 PM they didn't look like undercover police men. What does an under cover copper look like then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 Tracker - 2018-07-08 6:04 PMrooster63 - 2018-07-08 3:39 PMthey didn't look like undercover police men.What does an under cover copper look like then? Don't be daft - they're invisible in camouflage, Tee Hee! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 You must think I am silly - how do I know it's only been used once? When was it last dry cleaned and pressed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 rooster63 - 2018-07-08 3:39 PM We came back from Cherbourg couple of weeks ago. No sign of migrants or police and very minimal checks at either Cherbourg or Poole... In 2016, after the ‘jungle’ camp at Calais was bulldozed, there were reports of large numbers of migrants moving to Cherbourg in the hope of getting out of France. Current French newspaper articles/videos indicate that all ferry ports in northern France - Saint-Malo (Ille-et-Vilaine), Cherbourg (Manche), Le Havre and Dieppe (Seine-Maritime) and Ouistreham (Calvados) continue to be affected to a greater or lesser degree. From Ouistreham there’s a very regular ferry service to the UK (with several crossings daily) and the road to the ferry-port has offered good opportunities to stowaway on vehicles. As Ouistreham is a small town migrant presence there is also very obvious. I don’t know how much this issue should concern motorcaravanners using the Portsmouth-Ouistreham route (It clearly seems to amuse some forum members) but at least you now know the score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean.clarke Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 Ok, just a quick update on this, but not from hearsay or friend of a friend, but first hand - we traveled back from Caen on the early ferry. I followed the advice from some others and arrived around midnight and stopped in the check-in lane. Fun and games began around 05:00, all in all we had two visits from the Gendarmerie and by then we were up and alerted and scared off another two - that's 4 raids by people trying to attach them selves to the underside or open a locker and gain entry. To add to matters on the UK customs side they asked us to check the inside again as they have had occurannce where they move from lorries etc. to caravans/motorhomes on the ferry for a nicer trip into the UK and they had reports of people having them break in on the ferry and walk out when they park up at home. My wife was surprisingly calm, I reassured her they just wanted entry and didn't pose a danger, however I can categorically state she won't be doing this again a and we will just book the late ferry and plan around that. We had our two granddaughters on board and they are (thankfully) unaware of the shananigans - the French police were all over it, however it wasn't an enjoyable experience. It all stopped around 05:45 when it started to get light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 We never get an early ferry , if we have to use Caen. Either the pm one , or on one occasion we did come back over night, getting a cabin for the trip. As we live close to Portsmouth ferry , does not matter that we arrive in the evening . I do understand that if you have a long journey up north, arriving early in UK is a better option.BUT i would stop on the UK side rather that at Caen.. The beauty of Cherbourg is that it is very open in the waiting area, pity the ferries from there only go in the summer, PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 Over the last several years we’ve regularly travelled with Brittany Ferries from Portsmouth to Ouistreham on the afternoon ferry and returned from Ouistreham to Portsmouth on the 08:30 ferry. This means that we have a (normally) easy sub-3-hours journey between home and Portsmouth, arrive at and leave France where we want to be and when, and - as Club Voyage members - obtain a free cabin in both directions (I loathe sea travel). What we’ve not done in the past, and certainly would never do since migrants appeared at Ouistreham, is overnight there except on the campsite at the town’s outskirts. This June 2018 article may be of interest https://uk.motor1.com/news/243631/caen-calais-migrants-hgv-truckers/ Sneaking into Ouistreham port’s embarkation area is easy enough and although checking vehicles before boarding the ferry is quite rigorous nowadays it’s not infallible. A smaller-than-previously group of migrants still congregate by the roundabout adjacent to the Seasonova campsite, but I’m not aware of any incidents between migrants and campers. As there would be no certainty that stowing away on/in a UK-registered motorhome/caravan overnighting on the campsite would be followed by the vehicle heading off to board the ferry, it’s unlikely that migrants would attempt this. It’s also the case that, if migrants were found to be entering the campsite, they’d be booted off the place by the roundabout where they are currently tolerated. So overnighting at the Seasonova campsite prior to ferrying out of Ouistreham should be reasonably ’safe’. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 Derek Uzzell - 2018-08-04 9:01 AM Sneaking into Ouistreham port’s embarkation area is easy enough and although checking vehicles before boarding the ferry is quite rigorous nowadays it’s not infallible. . Have to agree. We got onto the Caen ferry in MH along with another. We were checked outside the gate, then ushered through another gate without showing passports OR getting a boarding card! It was not until Oh asked me for the wifi no. I re[plied we did not have it, so he went to the deak to ask for one. When they discovered that we did not have a boarding pass, all H*** was let loose. He explained what happened, and after returning to our seat, we got a call on the tannoy tp go back to desk. The captain had been informed of the situation. Likewise the othe van got through, we met them later in the restaurant I guess some one got a talking to, . This happened 2 years ago, since then we have been extra careful when using Caen, as the last time we saw immigrants being taken from lorries. Mind you the security had been stepped up since then. As i said before prefer Cherbourg much easier loading on ferry, even if one has to go on backwards! PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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