28th to 30th June 2009 - Lymington (UK) to Jersey (CI)
Posted at 2:37 PM, Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sunday mid afternoon saw us slipping our lines from the fuel dock at Lymington Haven as we waved farewell to Rob, Louse and pal Judith who’d all come down for a kiss and a hug, and we then promptly chugged for only four miles over to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight - where we picked up a buoy for the evening / night!
Not a huge first leg on our 2009 summer vacation - but a pre-planned one to get an early start.
The tidal tables showed a strong ebb from the Solent early Monday and we wanted to be well placed to take maximum advantage of that to help us cross to the Channel Islands in speedy fashion. Plus - there’s something nice about just sitting in the late afternoon sun off Yarmouth's pretty little harbour - watching just about everyone else having to head back to home / work and knowing you’re not doing the same thing! Blissful relaxed afternoon.
So this is it.
Our chance to break out one more time heading for the summer sun which we hope to find this year for two months in N Spain and Portugal, with some exploring along the N and S Brittany coasts en-route.
A few years back when we spend a summer in N Brittany all we found was chilly fog weather, whilst only ten miles inland France fried through one of its hottest summers. So no soddin about this time.
If we find that same fog it will be bye-bye Brittany in short order and off we’ll head hotfooting for Spain.
The Monday morning was crisp and clear for our start from Yarmouth and Swagman really shouldered aside the seas as she creamed away at 9 knots leaving the Isle of Wight to fall back over the horizon in the early morning sun. Fortunately the good breeze lasted until midday when we ghosting into fog banks, so it was sails down and motor on as we picked our way across the shipping lanes with radar pinging and fog horn blasting. Lots of big boat traffic in these waters.
With lots of sightings but no dramas we ended up motoring in brilliant sunshine but no wind, into Alderney at 4pm and picking up a buoy in Bray Harbour. Took all of five seconds to then decide it was a definitely G&T time to celebrate the successful crossing. I find the WWII bunkers and fortifications added by the Germans when they occupied this island give the place a concretey grim apperance to it all, but the locals are super friendly and make up any shortfall anytime we've stopped here before.
A short evening run ashore saw us climb the hill up to the city of St Anne’s where ‘The Buffs’ Thai Restaurant exerted a kind of magic pull by 7 pm. Flopped in to enjoy excellent grub, which we partly worked off when caught out by a loud and flashing thunderstorm on the walk / run back down the hill at 9pm. Absolutely soaked by the time the water taxi found us waiting on the dockside and finally dumped us back on board.
Nice snuggling down to the patter of rain on the cabin top – bit like camping on the water really.
Today (Tuesday) saw us slide out of Bray Harbour with zero wind at 0600 - but lots of tide to once again take advantage of. Engine revs for 6 knots saw us doing 12.6 knots (wow) at one stage as we were swept through the Swinge (the channel on the west side of Alderney) and pushed off southward for Jersey - under engine the whole way. Great boat speed kept up for the complete route, compliments of the huge tidal movements one finds around this coastline.
Our oilskins got their first true use since we last wore them crossing the Atlantic in 2007, and we needed them for this leg. Pissed down BIG time.
Made it over the tidal sill into St Helier Marina at 1200. Still raining, but found this freebie unsecured wifi link, so thought I’d update the blog. Another win!
Cheers
JOHN and SUE xx