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.

Force 9

Peace and quiet indoors

As seen through the porthole

So - when this blows over - hopefully soon - we'll set off for Spain ...

Sark - The last Feudal State in Europe

And on to Sark - 0700 departure in order to be able to cross Guernsey Harbour’s tidal cill, but not a breath of wind so we motored the 7 miles to Sark.  We were headed for Havre de Gosselin landing which is bordered on one side by Brecqhou Island, owned by the Barclay Brothers who apparently also own the Telegraph and the Ritz Hotels.  Owning an Island clearly gives you the right to build what ever you want on it, and these two old boys allegedly live in splendour in their very own Disney Castle!  There is rumour they wish to be Feudal Lords themselves.

Disneyland, Sark

Havre de Gosselin landing - our tender cautiously carried up the landing steps as our painter wasn't long enough to cope with the phenomenal tidal range here, and we didn't want to come back and find the dinghy either hanging from it's painter or the alternative of having to swim down to untie it!  It's all in the planning!!

Sark seems to be an undulating rocky plateau surrounded by cliffs on all sides, so it was up the 299 steps as a warm up, then off to investigate ...

There are no tarmac roads on Sark, only dusty paths used by tractors, cyclists and horse drawn carts.  We came across toddlers and octogenarians on bikes that all seemed to date from at least the turn of the century - universally covered with dust!

The Highlights ...

The Prison:  A.D. 1856

Sark Prison - no computer suite, no library, no running water and by the look of it, not an abundance of natural light!  A natural deterrent? Although we didn't actually see any Officers on the Law on the island.

There is one Doctor on the island, and the job comes with its own Company Vehicle - any of our Doctor friends fancy applying for a sabbatical ?

Abbie greets one of the Carriage Horses.

Ian attempts to blend in with the local flora - Guernsey visible in distance, Isle of Jethou on right.

Apparently there is a light house on the East coast, but we never managed to find it!

Despite being an island of 4.5 square miles with a population of about 600, Sark has it's own Golden Postbox, thanks to the Dressage success of Carl Hester in the 2012 Olympics

The absolute highlight of the visit was the isthmus of Little Sark - possibly the only bit of German Concrete that any one on the island will ever be grateful for!

This concrete path links Sark with Little Sark.

The path is actually narrower than it looks in the photos!

Back to the boat, we spent the most uncomfortable night ever - the wind picked up and the swell came into the bay, crashed into the cliffs and bounced back causing a very confused sea.  It was variously described by those on board as feeling as if you were in a cutlery drawer being shaken by a Giant, or being in a tumble drier!

You live and learn ...  (to pay more attention to weather forecasts, if nothing else)

And the next stop will be Jersey, just in time for the 9th May Liberation Day Celebrations

Eastbourne to Alderney and on to Guernsey

We’ve finally left!

The boat is well and truly packed, last minute planning attended to, the wind is from the North East and we are finally on our way.  First stop Alderney, but this time we are actually going to visit the island instead of just waiting for the tide to sail on to Jersey.

Planning

The Team:  Abbie Redman, Ian & Steph on Nautilus

An uneventful start - the wind gradually died and we were under engine by the time we saw our first sunset.  When Abbie recovered from repeatedly feeding the fishes, she was a little disappointed to see how calm it actually was!

Our first Sunset - under engine, mid channel

We arrived in Alderney at about 0300, a fantastically starry night but no moon - it was very dark, and finding a mooring buoy was more of a challenge than usual.

Beautiful day in Alderney, walked round half the island and enjoyed the idyll, time stands still - clearly it was easier to get machinery onto the island than to maintain it!

The water may look good, but not sure that I want to go swimming here  ...

Returned to the boat to face my demons - up the mast ...

Alderney Harbour from on high

We felt we had seen the main sights of Alderney, so it was time to move on to Guernsey to meet our next visitor:  Rose Anne.  This time we decided to put the Crew to work, so in winds of 35 to 40kts, Abbie helmed for 5 hours, without a hint of sickness - clearly a sign that she needs to be kept busy!

Alderney to Guernsey, under sail

We checked out the sights of Guernsey, but it was a Bank Holiday weekend so the place is basically shut - nice fortifications on the coast, and a beautiful harbour

Coronet Castle, Guernsey

Port Breakwater, Guernsey

Coronet Castle

Clarence Battery, Cannons sighted on Herm

Guernsey Harbour - very shallow!

Our lifting keel has been lifted - there really is not much water here at low tide.

We decided to go against our principles and take public transport, in the form of a ferry, to Herm.

Naturally we had to walk round the 1 1/2 miles by 1 mile island, very scenic - nothing there apart from a few hostelries and of course a gift shop but certainly a must see destination.

Leaving Herm  - did we forget to pay the bill for lunch?

Next Stop:  Sark

What we're doing ...

Following on from the fantastic experience of sailing round the UK in a J109 two years ago, we eventually decided that a Blue Water Cruiser was need for our next trip - we certainly miss the light wind performance and speed of the J109, but instead we have gone for the comfort and heavy weather performance of a Blue Water Cruiser.

Etoile, the J109, has become Nautilus the Ovni 395.

We are now the proud owners of 42 feet of aluminium with a lifting keel and loads of space for the cruising accessories (26" folding bikes, inflatable kayak, snorkel equipment, sun cream, solar panels and large water and fuel tanks to name but a few ...)

The Plan:  We are heading for the Med, via the Channel Islands with the aim of staying south for a couple of years - then who knows ...