The Travels of Nautilus : To Jersey and Beyond

After our night of torture in Sark, the day dawned fair and we had a pleasant and uneventful sail to Jersey - uneventful until we reached the Harbour, where we joined a melee (queue is too orderly a word) of French yachts who had come for a Bank Holiday regatta. Somehow the Harbour Master managed to maintain control of the 30 plus yachts and we were all allocated berths.

Peace and quiet in Jersey Harbour

Thursday 9th May was Jersey Liberation Day - a holiday to commemorate the day the Germans finally left the Islands after WW II. It seemed to involve marching bands, choirs, Army vehicles, rousing speeches in Liberation Square and lots of old cars.

Young Recruits - exactly what are the Gun Laws on the Islands

Checking out the classics, The Plate, The Pidgeon, The Silver Lady and the Yellow Bird?

How many people can you fit in a 1939 Fiat 500???

After the excitement of the procession, we went in search of more conventional Jersey Sights: No trip to the island would be complete without a visit to the West Coast.

Rose and Abbie, on the tidal causeway to Corbiere Lighthouse

If you can see this Navigation Mark, you're too close!

Steph & Rose, St Ouen's bay in distance

Memorial in thanks for the successful recovery of 307 passengers on the Jersey - Sark ferry that sank off Corbiere in 1995

Finally a use for some of that German Concrete - Faulkners' Fisheries, a lobster hatchery and fishmonger now occupy the old fortification.

Sunday was our chosen departure day, reasonably windy forecast notwithstanding we decided to head for France. We hoped to make the 120 or so miles in 24 hours and get to the Chenal du Four between Ouessant and the North Western tip of France in time for the tidal gate and on towards Biscay.

The wind did not drop below 25kts, it was a beat the whole way, it was a spring tide which seemed to be against us most of the time, it was rough, it rained and Abbie was sick the whole journey. After 30 hours we had had enough - we headed for L'Aber Wrac'h to escape from the elements and for a welcome rest.

A section of our track (shown in black) from the Chartplotter - showing how we managed to turn 105nm into 186nm - we spent a good 4 hours in the grip of the tide, going precisely nowhere!

A dull grey day, still windy, we decided to let the Hydrovane take the strain, and what an excellent job it did!

The entrance to L'Aber Wrac'h - a welcome sight, but not an entrance I'd like to take during the hours of darkness.

We spent a peaceful night in the harbour, then the forecast lived up to its prediction: the maximum gust shown on our instruments was 64kts - the waves were breaking over the pontoon and our warps and fenders were being put through their paces.

Before the Storm: The local school kids get towed out of the harbour for some windsurfing.

Sheltering from the storm. We are in the company of the Pen Duick fleet - as raced by one of the most famous French sailors, Eric Tabarlay. We are next to Pen Duick II, in which Tabarlay was the winner of the 1964 Observer Transat single handed race - Sir Francis Chichester came second in Gypsy Moth III.