Farewells in Guernsey

Victoria Marina, St Peter Port

Guernsey has once again proved to be a great stopping-off point. With the Victoria Marina right next to town it is very easy to get about. The shops are extremely close and family and friends are within easy walking distance. We have had some super dinners and, of course, great company. The wind has also changed direction and so it is now noticeably warmer; warm enough even for the butane to work properly! St Peter Port looked fantastic against some lovely clear blue skies but we also had a couple of very grey rainy days.

The new style wind instrument

Knowing we were stopping in Guernsey for a few days allowed us some time to resolve a problem with our cockpit wind indicator. We found that the light on it had failed when we sailed over which is a little inconvenient for night sailing. Inconvenient perhaps but at least Guernsey is an easy place for us to get advice about it with no language barriers. We knew it was an old model but sadly we found that spare parts for it are no longer available so it has had to be retired. The newer model looks almost identical and would have matched the other instruments very well but, just before ordering one, we discovered that that model too is in the process of being phased out. Buying obsolescence seems crazy so we have gone for a replacement instrument from the very latest series. It doesn't match the other instruments but probably will in the future as they will eventually fail and also need replacing.

Maintenance seems to be never ending so between seeing family and friends we found ourselves tinkering with the fridge. Gosport was being dredged just before we left so the fridge would have sucked in water filled with fine silt. Therefore we took the opportunity to flush through the fridge pipework to get rid of any potentially blocking debris. That should keep it running efficiently and allow us to keep a steady supply of ice and cool drinks for our sundowners; definitely a priority! The watermaker is also now connected up and ready for commissioning.

Nicky also got out her brushes and touched up a few areas of varnish that were starting to show signs of wear. It made stepping around the saloon a bit of a dance for a few days as the various coats of varnish dried. In the high traffic areas, such as the companionway steps, I suspect that this will become a regular chore/dance but it will keep the wood protected and looking good.

Herm, Jethou and a little of Sark on the right

Castle Cornet at low water

It was also very nice just to take time to enjoy the fantastic views of the other Channel Islands. The sandy beaches on Herm were not glowing as much as they do on a fine summer's day but it was a great vista none the less.

The tidal range in Guernsey is quite extreme and is currently over 8 metres with the associated radical change in shore-side scenery that much water movement brings. Amusingly, once we are in the Mediterranean we'll only be expecting about 8 centimetres of tidal range. 






As well as the movement of the tides, there was also the general hubbub of yacht movements in the harbour to keep us entertained. The beautiful lines of the van de Hoek yacht pictured above caught my eye; perhaps one for the 'post lottery win dream shopping list'.

Before we left, my sister asked how we would cope with the two of us in the yacht, "won't you just get in each other's way in such a small space?" she asked. I took it as a good sign that Nicky chose not to check me into the 'Husband Crèche' in the Swan pub. Then again... the crèche doesn't sound so bad... maybe I've been getting things wrong?

What I did get wrong was not checking all of my bank cards before we left. All but one was fine but that card was due to expire in just a few weeks. Therefore, despite BV being refuelled and ready to go plus the arrival of a much more favourable wind, our departure from Guernsey has been delayed by a few days whilst we wait for a new card to be delivered to the local branch of my bank. If that is all we have overlooked in our preparations we will have done very well indeed. We are also pleased that we have spotted the oversight now rather than in a few week's time as getting a new card couriered out to Spain would have been a real headache.

So, we get to enjoy the delights of Guernsey for a few days more.

St Peter Port

Last sight of the Needles for long while

Newtown River

 
Having spent several days in Newtown River whilst the wind blew strongly, there was finally a window of opportunity on Saturday 6 April to cross the Channel. The tides through the Needles Channel and the Alderney Race governed our departure time which ended up being a very civilised 0930 for raising the anchor.

The Needles, Isle of Wight

 
Bizarrely after days of gales there was now barely 5 knots of wind so we motorsailed out through the Needles Channel at the western end of the Solent, hoping for some more wind when we were clear of the Isle of Wight. The Solent has been our main weekend sailing location for the last 11 years so it was quite strange sailing past the Needles knowing that we weren't going to see them again for potentially several years. A very different feeling to when we have escaped from the Solent in the past for our summer holiday cruises knowing that we'd have to be back after a few weeks for work.

Despite the forecast of force 4-5 winds and our best hopes, even when we were clear of the Isle of Wight the wind never got above 8 knots so the trip across to Guernsey was more of a motor than a sail. It was cold but with clear skies so with a good view of the sun and a clear horizon we practised our sun sights with the sextant and spent several hours working out where we were the old fashioned way. On 'marking our homework' using the GPS's Lat and Long, we found we had calculated where we were to within 2.5 miles using just the sun and a few sums. I need more practice to speed up the whole process and hopefully improve the accuracy but that should keep us occupied when we come to cross the Bay of Biscay.

The other game that kept us entertained was dodging the steady stream of ships in the shipping lanes.

At just gone midnight we were tied up in St Peter Port, Guernsey. We have left the UK and are finally on our way!

Hunkered Down

With gales blowing in the English Channel every day this week we hunkered down in Newtown River for a few days. There were just a few other yachts so it was delightfully uncrowded. Crisp and clear, it was cold enough on deck for winter hats and gloves, but also bright enough to need sunglasses. Sheltered in the cockpit behind the sprayhood it felt warm.

We tackled a few admin jobs and some minor maintenance. Nicky even braved the biting wind to start the post winter scrub-up of our very grubby deck. It’s a great start but the whole deck still needs a bit more of a clean and polish after the work on the windows; maybe a job for when it gets warmer!

To keep our brain cells ticking over we dusted off our notes on astro-navigation and started to work through them; without practice it’s easy to forget the detail and get very slow at working out your position. Mostly, however, we just enjoyed the new luxury of time. Ultimately this whole game has been about engineering our lives to make more quality of life time; something we felt we had precious little of in the ‘rat race’. Time will tell if our gamble has paid off but so far it feels good!
  

For clothes washing, internet access, shopping for some supplies and a change of scene we also spent a night in Lymington.

Lymington Town Quay