Guernsey for Christmas

After three days of gales and squalls, on 21 December the weather finally settled down with a few hours of light south easterly winds and blue skies. Later in the day the wind was forecast to come from the west (the direction we would go on leaving Cherbourg) and would then back to the southwest around about the time we would need to turn southwest to reach Guernsey. Itching to get going, we were kept in Cherbourg waiting for the tide to turn. The Alderney Race was the barrier and, to avoid very unpleasant conditions and strong adverse tides there, Nicky had calculated that we should not leave Cherbourg until 1300hrs. We had until midnight to get to Guernsey before the next gale was due to hit the Channel Islands area.

We slipped on time and found the wind to be exactly as forecast; directly on the nose for the whole of our passage. Disappointingly after all of the excess wind in the gales there was now not enough wind to get BV sailing properly either. Reluctantly we accepted that if we tacked backwards and forwards in the light wind we would not make it to Guernsey before the gale hit, so the engine stayed on for the whole passage. We tied up to the waiting pontoon in St Peter Port at 2040hrs and, as we toasted our arrival, the heavens opened. We smiled realising that not only had we made it to Guernsey in time for Christmas but also that we had beaten the bad weather. Next time, hopefully, we'll do it under sail in order to properly earn our arrival tipple.

Fighting for a spare berth in St Peter Port's Victoria Marina

Since it was neaps, high water was at about midday.  We spent the morning refuelling as soon as there was enough water at the fuel berth and then waiting for there to be just enough water over the marina sill to get in there before showering and changing in time for a planned lunch in the Guernsey Yacht Club with Nicky's father and his partner.

Despite the tide constraints we managed to arrive spot on time. As we relaxed in the bar we mused that, on the one hand, we would not need to worry about tides delaying our departures or ruling our timings when we are cruising in the Mediterranean but that, on the other hand, light wind passages under motor would be a very real possibility. The oft stated cruising folklaw is that in the Mediterranean there is either too much wind or what there is is directly on the nose. With our escape plan we have traded the benefits of normal employed life for time. If we have got that right then we hope that we will not feel the same time pressure to get to destinations that prompted the cynical assessment of the sailing weather in the Mediterranean. Roll on next year so that we can find out!

For now though it was time to enjoy time with the family and the normal excesses of Christmas. Nicky's father even ensured that we had enough Christmas decorations to set the scene in BV.