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

Braye Harbour Alderney

We had been thinking of moving to the other side of Sark or perhaps Fermain Bay on Guernsey because the wind had, as forecast, veered around to the west but then we thought that it would be much better to go for a longer sail.  So, at 0915hrs we left Grand Greve Bay and turned north up the Big Russel towards Alderney.

We hoisted the sail and actually started sailing!  Sadly, not for long.  Forty-five minutes later the 8½ knots of wind dropped off to 3 knots and so we switched the engine back on for the rest of the passage.

Motoring northeast through the Swinge on the northwest side of Alderney

The other relevant factor was the tide; we only just had enough time to get to Alderney before it turned strongly against us so we couldn’t drift along under 3 knots of wind.  As it was the tide had turned against us as we finished the passage motoring east through the Swinge on the northwest side of Alderney.  Perhaps we would have been better to have taken the longer route through The Race on the south of Alderney and then come in to Braye Harbour from the northeast?

On the last available mooring buoy in Braye Harbour

Once in Braye Harbour we were lucky to be able to pick up the last available mooring buoy by the breakwater. By 1240hrs the engine off so there was still plenty of time to go ashore and explore.

Left: View over the northeast end of Alderney with Mannez Light and ‘The Odeon’ lookout tower (German WWII observation and ranging post) on the island’s horizon.  Right: Nicky outside the Community Woodland Trail
 Information Centre (refurbished German WWII bunker)

We walked up through the Community Woodland Trail to the east of Newtown.  These woods hide the entrances to the 2 largest WWII German tunnel systems which run hundreds of metres into the hillside.  Most are unsafe and inaccessible, but the lookout bunker just above the old quarry has been restored.

Views of Braye Harbour, including a pretty blue boat close to the Napoleonic Wars era breakwater

Top:  Fort Albert with Mount Hale Battery below.  Bottom:  northeast Alderney

From this high vantage point we enjoyed great views…

Braye Harbour…….again!

… particularly to the north over Braye Harbour.  Continuing down along the Community Woodland Trail we came across large areas with newly planted trees.  Local volunteers have actually planted over 10,000 new trees here making it the largest community woodland in the Channel Islands.

Braye Beach

With the tide out we returned to the dinghy dock along the fabulous Braye Bay beach.

View down over Braye Harbour from the Butes

On Wednesday 20 July we need to move on but the morning’s weather was fabulous so we took another trip ashore walking up to St Anne, the main town on the island.  Our route took us up to the Butes, another point of high ground with great views down over Braye Harbour.  Whilst in St Anne we stopped for lunch sitting out in the garden of The Bump, a lovely bistro tucked away down a small lane off the high street.  It was a nice end to our short stay in Alderney.

Braye Harbour, Alderney

Grand Greve Bay Sark Bailiwick of Guernsey

We finally escaped just before midday on Monday 18^th.  

The island of Brecqhou just to the northwest of Grand Greve Bay

With no wind it was an afternoon spent motoring past the islands of Herm and Brecqhou then on into Grand Greve Bay on the western side of Sark.

Grand Greve Bay on the western side of Sark

The motoring gave us a good opportunity to test the engine after its recent servicing but it would have been preferable to have had a little sail.

There were already several yachts anchored in the bay when we got there and more arrived over the rest of the afternoon and evening.  We’d picked Grand Greve, probably for the same reason as the other yachts had, because the wind was expected to get up strongly overnight and the bay provides good shelter from easterly winds.  That said, the wind was also due to swing rapidly around to the west first thing in the morning.

Fortunately the holding is very good in Grand Greve and so we had no concerns about the wind shifting in the morning.  The only slight issue was a French trimaran which decided to anchor 15 metres away from us which felt too close as the trimaran doesn’t have much of a keel so it sails around at anchor when the wind blows whereas BV would sit more to the tide because of her long fin keel.

In protest we lit a BBQ and send clouds of lovely cooking smells in their direction and then enjoyed our first dinner on board for quite some time bathed in the golden evening sunset.  It was fantastic to be back on-board BV.

Grand Greve Bay, Sark, Bailiwick of Guernsey

Bantry Republic of Ireland

Our first priority on the morning of Thursday 2 September, well our first priority after breakfast, was to complete the formalities for arriving in Ireland.  We left the dinghy on the new-looking and empty visitors’ pontoon just to port of the harbour entrance proper and asked direction to the Harbourmaster’s office.  It turned out that the office is located the Old Courthouse at the far end of the main square (Wolf Tone Square), about a 5min walk from the pontoon.  The chap behind the desk was very welcoming and having ascertained that we had completed the Irish Passenger Locator Form online prior to our arrival, told us that there was no additional paperwork to complete nor any charges for anchoring.

He gave us fairly vague directions to the Customs office and we subsequently ended up on a walking tour of the town, without locating Customs.  In the end, the librarian gave us directions (and a map!) and we found the office was just a 2 minutes’ stroll from the Bantry Bay Port Office!  Like the port office, it was hardly a bustling hive of activity and there was little paperwork for us to complete there either but at least we had now fully and officially arrived.

Wolf Tone Square

By this point we had seen much of the small town already but after a coffee to recover from our exertions so far, we set about quartering the remaining parts of Bantry.

It’s a moderately busy little place in September, clearly something of a regional centre with a surprising array of shops ranging from pretty high end to bargain basement.  And, of course, pubs, bars and eateries to go with that range.

Roth Muilinn Mill wheel outside the library

We found a fish shop and restaurant that looked good and bought a kilo of local mussels to cook for dinner. (It seemd like the right choice after we had just navigated past lots of local mussel farms).  We also noted that the town’s outdoor market takes place on a Friday.  How unusual to turn up somewhere and find that the market is due to happen the next day, rather than to find that it happened the day before your arrival!

Local mussels for dinner

So, the next morning, after an excellent moules frites chez Blue Velvet, we returned to Bantry to try out the market.

Wolf Tone Square on market morning (Friday)

It was a surprisingly large affair with stalls selling everything from what looked to be the contents of the family garage/loft; to stalls with tools, hardware and workmen’s clothes; to ones selling local gifts and crafts; to food stalls of take-away food or selling fruit, veg and some lovely looking breads.  We bought a fruit loaf, which we hoped was like Guernsey gâche but turned out to be a less tasty imitation, plus some pricey, but delicious, organic soft fruit.

Market-fix complete we stopped by the large and very well-stocked SuperValu supermarket, conveniently located in a brand-new building about 50 yards from the visitors’ pontoon.  Here we stocked up on all the essentials for the next week or so.  Our plan for the afternoon was to make the short hope to Glengariff before heading on to more of the small harbours and anchorages around the southwest tip of Ireland.  Quite how far up the coast we would get we had no idea but we were pretty sure that food shopping didn’t get much easier than in Bantry ,so we made sure we’d made the most of it before moving on.

Bantry, Republic of Ireland

Helford River UK to Bantry Co Cork Republic of Ireland

The wind was still in the east and forecast to remain that way for several days, maybe weeks, so we planned to leave the Helford River, heading for Bantry in Co Cork.  Although the Republic of Ireland does not require visiting yachtsmen to make their entry into the country at a Port of Entry, with the ongoing issues relating to Covid we decided that it made sense to do so.  So, we had decided on arriving in Bantry, at the country’s SW tip.  The easterly winds would give us a nice downwind passage there and, if the winds remained in that direction for some time, we would be able to explore up the west coast for a while before heading downwind along the south coast towards Cork/Crosshaven on prevailing winds later in September.

Leaving the Helford River

But before we got that far we needed to complete Ireland’s online Passenger Locator Form, declaring our intended arrival point, Covid vaccination status and address for the first 14 days of our stay in the country.  Duly completed (thanks to the wifi at the Helford River Sailing Club – we had little Vodafone data service at anchor in the river), we completed the final preparations for BV’s passage and set off.

A good sailing breeze, and the weather looks set to cheer up too!

As we left the river, heading to round the Manacles, we had a good sailing breeze and as we set course for the Lizard, with Georgina (our Hydrovane) readied for a full day’s work, the cloud started to lift.  It looked like it was going to be a good passage!

Passing the Lizard

Lizard Point well behind us

The sailing was uneventful as we rounded Lizard Point and headed across Mount Bay.

Lovely sailing using our favourite sailplan

Off Land’s End we needed to cross the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS).  Our direct track to Bantry had us crossing at a rakish angle but this is not permitted by the regulations.  Also, we still had a little favourable tidal flow close into the coast.

Land’s End and the Longships Light

So we sailed up towards the Longstone Lighthouse, off Land’s End itself, and then set a heading of 90degrees to the TSS to cross the 2 lines of (non-existent) traffic, altering heading to make a better course towards Bantry in the zone between the 2 ‘carriageways’.

Land’s End in close-up

I had the first night watch and with no moon and full cloud cover it was very dark.  At the beginning of Nicky’s watch the moon rose, glowing red, but being quite a new moon produced little extra light.  The wind picked up, Nicky reefed, we carried out more watch changes, the sun rose, we adjusted the sails.  It was all very civilised.

Fastnet Rock

We closed the SW tip of Ireland at the end of the afternoon of Wed 1 September, passing through the Off Fastnet TSS in much the same way as we had the one off Land’s End.

Welcome to Ireland!  Nicky watches dolphins playing around BV’s bow (the splash on the
bottom photo is a dolphin beside BV – honest!)

Approaching Mizen Head, shortly before sunset, we were joined by a large pod of dolphins which played around BV’s bow for about half an hour.  But from there we still had a further 6 or so miles to run to the entrance of Bantry Bay and a further 20nm up the bay to Bantry itself, which meant that our entry into Bantry was at night.

As we approached the bay the wind dropped so we reverted once more to engine.  At the top of the bay there’s a large oil collection facility where tankers moor offshore and off-load oil to onshore storage tanks via hoses with floating ends.  We’ve seen similar systems off many islands in the Caribbean.  Beyond that, the channel to Bantry becomes narrower and winds between islands and headlands, off which are moored numerous mussel farms.  The channel and the farms are all well-lit (and well-charted) but we still wouldn’t wish to do it for the first time at night in poor weather.

Morning views of Bantry

We finally dropped anchor off Bantry at 0135hrs, outside the moorings off the sailing club and clear of a marked turning circle (but a turning circle for what we never found out).

We found we had anchored right out in front of Bantry House

In the morning we would need to go ashore to check in with the Harbour Master and Customs to formally arrive to Ireland but for now sleep beckoned.

Morning view across the bay just off Bantry town, looking at the islands, headlands and
mussel farms we had passed in the night

Bantry, Co Cork, Republic of Ireland

Helford River UK to Bantry Republic of Ireland

A brief update:  We left the Helford River in Cornwall at 1230hrs on Tuesday 31 August and set sail towards Ireland.  The wind has been very favourable for that passage so we elected to head towards Bantry rather than Cork.  If the easterly winds stay around for a few more days then we should be able to explore some of the south western inlets of Ireland before using the more normal south-westerly winds to make our way back towards Cork and then return towards Falmouth in the UK.  The 1230hrs departure was timed for making our way around the Lizard and Land’s End which worked and then we blaster off across the Celtic Sea eventually dropping our anchor off Bantry at 0135hrs.  The passage was 253 nautical miles and we completed that in 37 hours with an average speed of 6.8 knots.  Not bad going!  However, after 2 disturbed nights at sea it’s time for a bit of a relax and maybe some Guinness.

Bantry, Republic of Ireland

Helford River Cornwall UK

We had planned to leave the River Fal at 1000hrs with the first of the ebb tide on Monday 30 Aug but the engine alternator had other plans.  When we started the engine the ‘low charge’ alarm came on as normal but failed to go out.  A quick double-check and, no, it wasn’t a false alarm, the alternator really wasn’t charging the batteries.  Happily, the problem wasn’t too hard to spot or to resolve.  The issue was that the (booted) positive lead on the alternator was resting on part of the engine block.  Over the years the vibrations caused when the engine is running have worn a hole in the boot and the positive terminal was now shorting to earth (the engine).  So I reinsulated the terminal and added some extra protection in too and 50min later than planned we set off down river.

Peter Flutter’s Sundowner under sail in Carrick Roads

We motored downriver and then set sail.  With a lovely light breeze and flat water we caught up with Peter Flutter’s Sundowner and managed to get some reasonable pictures of her under sail.

Pendennis Castle again.  This time from the sea

Helford is only a few miles from the entrance to Falmouth Harbour but outside the harbour the light easterly breeze dropped away frustratingly.  We stuck with it for a while but the slatting of the sails as BV rolled on the slight swell began to drive Nicky mad so we rolled away the headsails and switched on the engine again.

Final run-in to the Helford River – just August Rock on the starboard side (well-marked by
a starboard-hand lateral buoy

Top:  Ocean Hobo still persevering under sail approaching the entrance to the Helford River.  Bottom: view as we enter the river

The Helford River is a lovely spot, though very open to wind and waves from the east.  Happily, the forecast light winds were unlikely to cause any problems, other than a little slop and roll, either in the anchorages close to the entrance or on the visitors’ moorings.

The Helford River is busy with moorings.  Visitors’ buoys are green

The beach by Porthnavas Creek

We motored through the moorings enjoying the river views both to the north….

The Helford River Sailing Club on the southern shore, our venue for dinner later in the evening

……and to the south.

Top: view east from our anchorage. Bottom: looking west.  Frenchman’s Creek
(of Daphne du Maurier fame) is just around the wooded headland in the middle of the
picture, to the left of the anchored boats

Having heard that the oyster beds were not in use this year, we decided to anchor to the west of the moorings in an area previously off-limits due to the oyster beds.  There’s a deep (10m) pool here but we anchored just off this with a number of the other OCC boats.

Top: a busy gathering at the Helford River Sailing Club, nearly as busy as at the
Royal Cornwall Yacht Club. Bottom:  West Country Meet organisers
(L-R) Sue Head, Colin Campbell, Becks Campbell, John Head

The evening gathering at the Helford River Sailing Club was another thoroughly enjoyable and convivial affair and, once again, the evening seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.

At the end of the evening The Amazing Professor Buckett-Chuckett hypnotised and
levitated Colin to the astonishment of all in the crowd!

And it was not without its surprises either.  Right at the end John Head’s ‘good friend’ Professor Buckett-Chuckett performed a most daring magic act, hypnotising and levitating Colin to the amazement and awe of all in the crowd.  A spectacular end to a fun weekend of (some) sailing and (lots of) socialising!  Our thanks, again to Colin and Becks Campbell and John and Sue Head who put so much time and effort into pulling the weekend together for the enjoyment of so many OCCers.

Helford River, Cornwall, UK