Lady Emma  . Channel Islands cruise. 17/8/13 to 23/8/13   – report by Bob Buchanan

Skipper. Bob Buchanan  . crew, Becky Goddard  , Colin Evans  and Kevin Lay  and DaveWilks 

We all met up at Haslar marina on the Thursday night, and had the usual meal on board and just a few beers and glass of wine as it was an early start the next morning.

FRIDAY. We slipped our moorings at 0445 to catch the west going tide up to the Needles. The main and No1 genoa were put up and we had a pretty good sail up past Cowes but then decided to put a reef in the genoa as we found ourselves a bit overpowered. (The genoa has a reefing point along the bottom of the sail so we put a reef in rather than change sails)

Out past the Needles we were in a F4 S/SW, a good wind but not quite in the right direction for us. The sun was out and it was not raining, a good day for a sail, unfortunately our track showed that we were heading for Cherbourg. By 1600hrs the wind had dropped and the engine was put on, also it was getting foggy. The genoa was dropped but we kept the main up, just in case the wind picked up, but it didn’t. So at 1900hrs we dropped the main.

Eventually, the fog lifted, but then it got dark. It was a very clear night and we had a very big bright moon in the sky, just what was needed to help us get into Braye harbour. Unfortunately the moon disappeared at about 0130hrs and we were not far from the harbour. We followed the leading lights and entered Braye at 0200hrs. We had to use a couple of flashlights to pick out a mooring buoy. We couldn’t find a visitors’ one so we picked up a private one, at 0230 in the morning we didn’t think the owner would be coming back. After a few glasses of wine we all got into our bunks for a couple of hours sleep.

SATURDAY. We got up and moved the boat to a visitors’ buoy, had a late breakfast, called the water taxi and went ashore. After going to the harbourmasters to pay fees etc., we took a short walk to the Divers inn where we stayed for a couple of hours, then we had a ride on the train that goes along the coast for a few miles, it is an old diesel train and pulls some London underground carriages. The rest of the day was a bit of sightseeing then back on board for drinks and a meal.

SUNDAY. At 1100hrs we slipped our mooring and motored out of Braye going clockwise and headed to Sark. As we got into the Alderney Race we had a bit of wind over tide, it was a light F2/3 from the south, and we were in the south going tide (springs) With engine only we were doing just under 11.5knts over the ground. Not far from Sark Kevin tried fishing but after losing some of his hooks he gave up. We made our way into Gosselin bay, passing the Barclay brothers’ house on the way in. (it’s not really a house it’s a huge castle built on the tiny island of Brecqhou a stone’s throw from Sark) We tied up to one of the mooring buoys in the bay at 1500hrs and just chilled out for the rest of the day, doing a bit of fishing (none caught) having a drink and meal on board. That night was a bit rocking and rolling and we didn’t get a very good night’s sleep.

MONDAY. After breakfast we got the dinghy out and drove over to the landing platform, tying the dinghy up to the highest link on the steps that we could. We were on the bottom of the tide and were on springs. To get to the top of Sark, which is very steep and high is a small path. From the top we walked into the main village, being passed by many people on push bikes, horse drawn carts and tractors with carriages.

The first stop was the pub, obviously after a long hike. It was there that Becky met up with someone who lives on the island; he gave us the name of a fisherman who would do us a good deal on a sea bass. We walked down the other side of the island down to the harbour. We met the fisherman and he sold us a sea bass weighing about 5lbs for £15.00, a very good deal we thought. From there we jumped on the back of a tractor and had a ride back up the hill to the pub again.

We all decided to hire some push bikes except for Becky as she wanted to look around the shops. After a ride to the southern part of the island, the part where there is a narrow bridge, we went on a bit farther then turned around and went back. We met up with Becky back at the pub, had another quick one then walked back to the boat. When we got back to the landing, we found the ring we tied the dinghy to was under water, we were at the top of the tide now. We could not reach the end of the painter so had to cut it as far down as we could, losing only a couple of feet. Colin took Becky and Dave back then was to come back for me and Kevin. I climbed up on the rocks to take some photos of them and saw another yacht very close to ours. The other yacht had someone on the wheel and had its engine on. It was also tied to a mooring buoy. We watched as Colin boarded the other yacht and untied it from its mooring. He then came back and picked us up. Back on board we looked at where all the mooring buoys were and realised that it was us that had dragged our moorings. No damage was done apart from a cut to Colin’s leg.

That night we had a lovely meal of sea bass with ratatouille, (thanks Becks). Again that night the boat was rolling about in the swell and at about 0400 to 0500hrs Becky and I took turns to anchor watch as it was high tide then. We didn’t seem to move anywhere and the swell had died down a lot.

TUESDAY. We slipped our mooring at 0945hrs and motored over to Guernsey. It was a very hot day and Colin & Kevin tried a bit of fishing again. We were not far from Guernsey, and no fish were caught, when suddenly Kevin said that he had a bite and started pulling a mackerel in, and then Colin said he had one. With a line of feathers they started to pull two or three in at once. We slowly turned the boat around in a circle to go back into the shoal. They soon had over twenty mackerel in the bucket before we went into St Peter port. Once we had berthed at 1230hrs, Colin & Kevin were on the pontoon gutting and cleaning the fish. That was enough to make two good meals. At about 1700hrs Colin & I walked down to the ferry terminal to pick up a passenger who was to stay with us for two days. It was Claire Turner. We all met up at the yacht club for a few drinks before going back to the boat.

WEDNESDAY. We slipped our moorings at 12.30hrs and motored back up to Alderney. The wind was almost on the nose so it was pointless pulling up the sails, but getting into the north going race our speed crept up to 8knts. We tied up to a visitors’ buoy at 18.30hrs. That night we went ashore by dinghy, had a beer in the sailing club then got a taxi up the hill to an Indian restaurant. Claire had booked into a bed & breakfast as we had an early start to come home and she had booked a flight back to Guernsey, then ferry to Jersey. The Indian we had that night was one of the worst most of us had, and Kevin said his was the worst ever. After the meal we had a taxi back to the harbour, dropping Claire off on the way. Back on the boat we put the dinghy away ready for a quick getaway in the morning.

THURSDAY. We slipped our mooring at 05.15hrs and motored out of Alderney. Shortly after we pulled the main up and no2 jib. It was an easterly wind F3/4, just right for a sail back home. As we got into the north going race our speed got up to just over 9knts. Throughout the day the wind gradually decreased, and about 15miles from the Needles it died & we had to put the engine on. We reached Bridge buoy at about 17.30hrs a crossing of about 12hrs. Our first stop was at Yarmouth but they were full, so we took advantage of the east going tide to carry on to Cowes. We moored in Cowes Yacht Haven, and then went ashore for an evening meal.

FRIDAY. We slipped our moorings at 12.30hrs had a steady motor back to Haslar and got in at 15.30hrs.