The Wind Blew

We got our night at anchor in Grande Greve Bay on the west side of Sark; very pleasant and settled. However, with a Force 8 gale and rain forecast to arrive from Friday lunchtime, St Peter Port’s Victoria Marina seemed to be the prudent option. We had a lovely morning sail across to St Peter Port and wondered if the weather forecasters had got their timings completely wrong. After refuelling and exchanging an empty gas bottle we moored up in Victoria Marina and wandered over to the Guernsey Yacht Club to meet up with Nicky’s father and his partner for lunch. As we arrived at the door, the heavens opened with very heavy rain and squalls. Nothing for it but to hibernate in the yacht club until the weather improved whilst making the most of the good company, nice wine and some excellent lobster salad to keep our energy levels up.

Snugly moored in Victoria Marina

Amazingly the rain stopped mid afternoon so we were able to leave the yacht club dry and explore the shops in St Peter Port. The ship's cocktail cabinet was restocked with gin (G&Ts are important for medicinal purposes after a stressful day of sailing) plus we purchased the necessary blocks to make a hoist to lift up the new, heavier outboard motor.

The social diary kept us busy with a very pleasant evening and dinner with Nicky's Mum and afterwards we retired to our bunk on BV replete but with the wind still blowing strongly.

Sadly, Saturday brought no respite from the wind and rain so instead of sailing we paid for our gastronomic indulgences with a morning run along the coastal path; probably good for body and soul, but far too many steps! Fortunately the weather forecast is predicting the wind to drop on Sunday but to come from a westerly direction. Not so good as that is where where we want to go and sailing yachts don't go too well directly into wind. However Monday may bring a more southerly wind for a time which would be very useful. We have therefore plotted a passage to North Brittany for Sunday afternoon (when there is enough tidal height to get out of the marina) and will either anchor on the French coast or, if the wind backs to the south, stay sailing throughout the night to get as far west as we can before the next depression rolls in from the Atlantic and impedes our progress.

Castle Cornet with Guernsey Yacht Club in front

Alderney

Braye Harbour Looking East

 Moule Mariniere and Muscadet

Alderney is an island we have often wanted to visit but generally bypassed in the rush to get on to Guernsey or France. We have therefore only visited properly once and promised ourselves that we would visit again when we had more time. Pinching ourselves and grinning we realised that we now have the time so, after a short 3½ hour passage from Cherbourg, we dropped anchor in Braye Harbour. Once we had gone ashore by dinghy to clear Customs and to book in with the Harbourmaster, we settled back in onboard for a seafood feast with our shopping trophies from Cherbourg.

Having eaten far too much we turned in with big plans for an early start to explore the island. Unfortunately the early start came a little earlier than expected with an unexpected increase in wind that swung BV close to some Clipper Venture round the world racing yachts moored nearby.  All would be fine provide the anchor held but, just in case it dragged, from midnight we took it in turns to stay awake in the cockpit on anchor watch. At 5 am it was dawn and we moved the anchor, checked it was solidly dug in and crashed out.

Braye Harbour Looking West from Fort Albert

Have folding bike, will travel

Somewhat later than expected, we transported our folding bikes ashore and explored the island. It is only 3½ x 1½ miles in size with a normal population of about 2000. Strategically significant, it is covered in forts and castles dating from Roman times right up to WWII. Unspoilt, it was a delight to explore. St Anne’s town has real character with cobbled streets and small shops. Sadly most were closed on Wednesday afternoon; our loss with the late start. We cycled around the whole island stopping at numerous beautiful beaches, Mannez Lighthouse at the far NE of the island and headlands at the opposite end, where we had fantastic views for Fort Clonque and the Gannet colony on Les Etacs.

Corblets Bay, Fort Corblets and Mannez Lighthouse    

Saye Bay

The main (and only) town of St Anne’s

Les Etacs reported to have around 7000 nesting pairs of Gannets

Thursday 23 August morning was glorious with clear blue skies. We went for a run along the beach and up to Fort Albert; fantastic views. Once back onboard we stowed the dingy and outboard motor ready to set off in the afternoon. We had to do some careful checking of the tides to decide on our departure time because the tides run extremely strongly around Alderney. They run faster than BV can sail or motor so timing the tide and very careful navigation would be needed to make sure we didn’t get into trouble.

After an indulgent lunch, which included the garlic snails, French bread and cheese, we made the most of the clear blue skies and sunshine by lazing in the cockpit and reading. Mid afternoon we raised the anchor and departed Braye Harbour looking suspiciously at the halo around the sun caused by high level cloud because it normally heralds the arrival of a frontal weather system. Our immediate minor frustration was the lack of wind as we motored through the infamous Swinge with double our normal speed due to the fast running tide as we headed the short distance towards Guernsey. The weather update in a few hours would confirm whether or not we could sneak in a night at anchor off one of the beaches of Sark before moving to the security of St Peter Port.