Originally Posted by
charliegolf
Trim Stab, all clear. But sticking a knife in those dinghies comes with no redress against the authorities for all the reasons you gave. Every boat I've seen is grossly overloaded. that's a safety reason to not allow departure. The French don't want to keep them there.
Grossly overloaded to make a channel crossing, yes. But not grossly overloaded just to go a few hundred metres offshore. Indeed you can just go swimming completely naked offshore if you want to...
The French police don't have the right to damage people's property without reason. They are allowed to slash the tents of illegal campers if they have been warned. But they can't just go around vandalising boats...
People in France are getting really fed up with the UK blaming them for a problem that is entirely created by UK, and which the French police have few powers to stop,and which is costing French taxpayer a lot of money (UK is not covering all the costs despite what you might read in UK press).