Así están las cosas de momento.....:
The French authorities have stopped all unorthodox crossings between Dover and Calais when they introduced "rule 28" in 2013. See our information below for the update.
We can possible offer you the alternative of crossing from Ramsgate to Nieuwpoort in Belgium but we would have to take the kayaks out of the water while crossing the French sector of the shipping lanes.
Rule 28:
Information sheet- unorthodox crossings
Unfortunately at the moment the French authorities have stopped all unorthodox Channel crossings in the sea area between the UK side of the Channel at Dover and the French side through to the Belgium border. Only organised Channel swims are allowed and these have restrictions now. Only England to France crossings were permitted up until the overall ban in June 2013.
The French authorities stopped all of the English Channel rowing, Kayaking and the other types of unorthodox crossings between Dover and France using a new law that was put in place by the French authorities as of June 2013 - rule 28 Prefecture Maritime De La Manche Et De La Mer Du Nord -. It is on the internet if you want to look at it however it is only available in French at the moment. just search "rule 28 Prefecture Maritime ".
We are trying to sort out something with the Admiral of Cherbourg's office and get written conformation for future attempts but are not having much joy. You might be able to find more updated information via the internet or on the British Government marine web site -
www.mca.gov.uk - type in "unorthodox crossings" to the search box.
Any Channel crossing attempts between Dover and France that enter French waters without a written permit from the Admiral of Cherbourg's office are under threat of being arrested and escorted to Calais and up to a 17,000 Euro fine under the new law. To date we and teams looking to make a crossing have written to the Admiral of Cherbourg's office for permissions but not had any successful responses from the French authorities
We can offer rows, kayaking, wind surfing etc events within British waters. These options include rows from Dover to the mid Channel mark of the French boarder then back to the UK -- London to Ramsgate -- London to Southend -- London to Brighton (or the reverse routes) etc. There are quite a few possibilities depending on your teams / individual abilities and distance they / you want to row / paddle over.
For a Channel crossing alternative we can give you a crossing starting from Dover and going to the mid Channel mark (the French boarder) then back to the UK shoreline. This is the same distance, about 21 land miles - 19 nautical miles, (actually slightly longer) as a Channel crossing but not quite so spectacular.
We can still row / cross from Ramsgate to Belgium (or the reverse) at the moment. This is however a much longer row of 54 nautical miles (around 100 Kilometres), although we do have to tow the Adventure Gigs or take any kayaks etc out of the water to across the French controlled sector of the Shipping lanes which is about 8 nautical miles. The crossing distance is then about 46 nautical miles - 85 kilometres - 55 land miles - and usually takes about 15 / 16 hours to complete.
The EU have now updated and changed the legal requirements for the commercial certification for small commercial vessel coding entering EU waters which now has a lot of additional crewing amendments added. We have modified our escort boat fleet and updated our certification to comply with the new rules and "MLC 2006" laws so that we are allowed to work in EEC waters but are expecting more changes in the near future. There is also talk of more restrictions with reference to the UK boarder, which is a closed border, using immigration and terrorism laws. Both the British and French boarder patrol cutters are a lot more active afloat stopping and checking paperwork on vessels making Channel transits.
Sigo trabajando en el tema....os tendré informados.....
