I don't quite know why we'd never been to Dunkirk (or Dunkerque, if you prefer) before. It was just about the last port within cruising range that we'd never visited in our 20-plus years of exploration afloat, home and abroad. Perhaps it's because its industrial skyline isn't exactly welcoming - and it's half way between Calais and Nieuwpoort, which always somehow seemed more enticing options.
Anyway, last week we decided to make good the omission. We were lucky enough to be enjoying a late season cruising break in settled high pressure - something there's been precious little of this windy summer!
Our target was to get to Calais and buy some wine for Christmas. We had a great sail over, enjoyed a couple of days in Calais, did the shopping, visited two favourite restaurants - and then what? There seemed little point in motoring vast distances in little wind. But we could achieve the short hop up the coast to Dunkirk almost drifting on the tide. So that is where we went.
And we found a very warm welcome at the YC de la Mer du Nord, where the visitors' pontoon, apparently quite hectic in high season, had plenty of room to spare.
It has to be said that Dunkirk isn't particularly pretty. Virtually flattened during the war, the town was rebuilt with more eye on function than form. But a few older buildings survive here and there to give a taste of what it must have been like - a thriving port since medieval times.
The place is in the throes of another metamorphosis at the moment as the giant ship building operation, which occupied a huge area alongside the entrance channel, has been closed down and the site is being cleared, ready for redevelopment for housing.
Artists' impressions show the area imaginatively laid out with plenty of open spaces. And one of the vast gable ends of the old shipyard has been preserved (standing in glorious isolation at the moment, encased in scaffolding) to be incorporated in the design of a new school.
Of course the thing everybody associates Dunkirk with is Operation Dynamo, the epic-scale evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force in 1940 which made it possible for Britain to continue fighting the war, after defeat seemed inevitable.
Walking along the promenade at Malo Les Bains, looking out across the glorious wide sandy beaches, familiar from so much old newsreel footage, it was hard to imagine the terrible carnage and fantastic acts of heroism that had taken place there - but the number of wrecks marked on the chart is a sobering reminder.
We felt compelled to visit the Memorial du Souvenir, a surprisingly low-key museum commemorating those extraordinary days. It was a moving and thought-provoking experience, well worth the 3.5 euro admission fee. We felt we'd paid our respects.
And we'll certainly go back to Dunkirk. There are light signals and ship movements to contend with, but nothing like the hectic ferry traffic at Calais. And Dunkirk has the advantage of all states access, a big bonus compared with the gate and bridge restrictions of its neighbour.
Dunkirk also has an enticing maritime museum - unfortunately shut while we were there - with a range of historic craft: a three-masted tall ship, an old light vessel, a steam tug and so on, moored outside in one of the endless docks that are the heart of the town.
Already Dunkirk boasts four marinas - three municipal operations, one with direct access to the sea, two others locked in (a big advantage in strong northerly winds, when the scend in the entrance channel is said to be quite uncomfortable) as well as the independent YCMN. There is scope for almost unlimited expansion if boat ownership continues to gain in popularity.
And, like everywhere else along the Flemish coastline, (you are repeatedly reminded that Dunkirk sees itself first and foremost as part of Flanders) the town boasts numerous restaurants, and fresh fish shops for those who prefer to create the perfect plateau de fruits de mer to eat on board.
We can't think why it took us so long to find it!
