Only On A Pan (Two)

When you have to catch a ferry from a port four hours ride from where you are you need to be sure you have set your alarm clock correctly.

My alarm clock was supposed to wake me so that I had an hour to get ready and then five and a half hours to do the four hour journey to the ferry port at Cherbourg. This would mean I would have got to Cherbourg early, a planned arrival about an hour before the ferry was due to depart.

Unfortunately I didn't set it correctly, as a result I woke up at five past seven and not five o'clock as I had planned. After a panic, I managed to be on the road within twenty minutes. Not bad as I had to tidy and secure the house, turn off the water and electricity, take rubbish to the bin, pack bike etc. Fortunately I had no guests with me this time. This trip was just for my enjoyment.

According to my Garmin Zumo, I was going to arrive at Cherbourg at eleven thirty five. Five minutes after the ferry had gone! It's OK, I can gain a few minutes and the GPS is often a bit pessimistic so I decided to try and get there on time.

I switched off my panic mode and concentrated on the journey. Only glancing at the estimated arrival time when I was stopped at junctions. As the ride progressed the estimated arrival time became more optimistic, settling at twenty past eleven. I could make it!

Then I had a real bonus. The French government had built a new section of road that my Zumo didn't know about, another twenty minutes knocked off the journey.

I arrived at Cherbourg at five past eleven, checked in and rode straight onto the ferry.

It sailed at eleven twenty two, according to my watch. Thank goodness for out of date map data!

I also need to add a correction to my impression of the fast craft sailings. Maybe it was a different crew, maybe they'd had a better night's sleep. This time they were brilliant. Added to the fact that the Channel was like a mill pond it was a great crossing. Thank you Brittany Ferries.