Alderney back to Guernsey

We slipped our mooring in Braye Harbour at 1600hrs on Wednesday 20 July.  Disappointingly it had turned quite overcast and grey with visibility down to 3-5 miles and even a little drizzle – what a contrast to the superb weather that morning when we had walked up to St Anne.

The rocky western tip of Alderney

We headed west down the Swinge, picked out the jagged rocks at the western end of Alderney with Les Etacs just off the coast, and then turned southwest to head back to St Peter Port on Guernsey.  Not what we had originally been expecting to do but Nicky’s father was due to have an operation later in the week and so we wanted to be back on Guernsey for that.

Good sailing despite the overcast conditions

Grey and overcast it might have been but there was actually some wind so we sailed instead of motoring which made for a very pleasant change.  We couldn’t quite make the Little Russel channel so debated sailing down the eastern side and then around the south side of Herm but instead elected to tack and work our way down the shorter route through the Little Russel Channel.  That was a mistake with the tide flowing across the top of Guernsey across to the entrance of the Big Russel.  Not shown too clearly on the tidal atlas but, belatedly (Ed:  well after the event!) remembered by Nicky as a caution talked of by her parents sailing in the days pre-GPS. The motor came on again for the last few miles so that we would actually get into St Peter Port at a reasonable time.

We tied up on the local layby pontoon in St Peter Port at 1950hrs which gave us 10 minutes to inflate the dinghy to go and pick up Charlotte and her boyfriend, Matt.  Charlotte had heard on Sunday that she had passed her final accountancy exams, so she and Matt were waiting on the quay at 2000hrs with a bottle of champagne to celebrate.  It would also be Matt’s first time on board BV.  Just as well that we weren’t late!

Patched sprayhood and new dinghy cover

The tide allowed us to move BV back into the QEII marina from 2230hrs and we tied her up safely there at 2300hrs.  Our 3½ day mini cruise around some of the local islands had allowed us to check that everything was working OK on BV but had highlighted that our sprayhood and dinghy cover were a little more worn than we had realised.  Our winter list of jobs already included replacing some of the canvas-work but we didn’t have enough time to have a new sprayhood made before we expected to depart for Scotland in a week or so.  Instead, over the following few days, I made a new dinghy cover and sewed a large patch onto the sprayhood over the thinning fabric on its top.  Not particularly elegant but good enough to tide us through until it can be properly replaced during the winter months.

St Peter Port, Guernsey