The first part of the River Seine is tidal and you need to set off from Honfleur at Low Water at Le Havre + 2 hours to gain maximum benefit from the 2-3 knots of tide. This involved leaving at 09:15 so that we could catch the 09:30 Honfleur Bridge and lock. The previous day we had met up with David and Louise, who had travelled from London in their Broom boat called Lady Martina. They have been up the Seine before so they headed out first and led the way for the sixty mile journey to Rouen. It is France’s third largest port and many big ships ply between there and the sea. They were usually moving faster than we were so you had to keep looking over your shoulder to see what was about to overtake you. The wash from passing boats along with the current, river ferries and navigating the many river bends, meant that you needed to concentrate for the whole of the eight hour journey. We were therefore quite tired by the time we moored at the marina in Rouen but we tied up very carefully because, even though we were so far from the sea, there was still a strong current and several metres of tide affecting the mooring.
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