“Good morning everyone and I hope you slept well. Dunkirk Little Ships we are a green for go this morning.” The fleet had been preparing yesterday evening and since dawn on Wednesday 21 May, 2025, waiting for the official ‘go, no go’ order which arrived at 0600.

Fleet lists had been circulated showing waypoints, flotilla formation and arrival plans for the locks in Dunkirk. The sun rose slowly casting a warm glow through the light cloud as crowds began to gather along the quays and harbour walls of Ramsgate Royal Harbour. They’d all arrived to see the ‘Dunkirk Little Ships’ off with a mix of flags, cheering, laughter and solemnity. Beverley checked out of the Bedford Inn and took her place for the crossing on board SB ‘Greta’ where she was made most welcome by skipper Steve, the crew and other passengers. Our Steve motored ‘Cachalot’ out from her berth with Mark and Simon towards the outer harbour entrance to join the long line of boats from the inner and outer harbours. They took up position to form four abreast at the back of the ‘Vanguard’ group. The three groups were based on speed capability, with the ‘Vanguard’ fleet for slow cruisers and sailing boats. The weather was fine but sadly, all the yachts and barges had to motor sail for most of the 40 miles to Dunkirk. The flotilla was escorted by seven P2000 Archer Class from the Royal Navy Coastal Forces Squadron, RNLI Ramsgate lifeboat, MVS East Sussex and four members of the Nelson Boat Owners Club.

After crossing the shipping channel and raising the French courtesy and quarantine flags, the wind picked up allowing ‘Moonraker’ and ‘Cachalot’ to have an excellent sail for the last few hours into the lock, finally catching up with Sailing Barges ‘Greta’ and ‘Pudge’. This change in the weather was not as welcome for the smaller motor cruisers ahead of us, especially those without steadying sails, who were buffeted by the waves and bounced about in what must have been quite uncomfortable conditions as they approached Dunkirk. 

After a long but exhilarating day everyone tied up in the two locks to finish the voyage through two lifting bridges before mooring up in the Bassin du Commerce, an historic area of the city once used for shipbuilding. With help from Steve to decipher the key codes, Beverley finally managed to access her rather fine, modern apartment just a few minutes walk from the quayside and everyone settled down for welcome night’s sleep.