A very easy drive down to Mylor on Thursday, light traffic, no hold ups. Only 6 hours with stops; at bad times the drive can take up to 10/11 hours.
On arrival everything OK with the boat. Terry has been keeping an eye on it for us whilst we’ve been away.
The forecast for the next week was very settled so we decided to leave Mylor as soon as possible to have good weather crossing the channel.
Friday was spent installing a new battery in the boat, shopping for supplies and loading everything on board.
All had gone well so we were able to set off Saturday morning and had a easy trip to Plymouth Yacht Haven in light winds, with a mixture of motoring and sailing when the wind allowed. A favourable tide helped. Sunshine all the way.
Following day dawned clear and bright. Although the forecast wind did not materialise in either strength or direction we had a very trip up to Dartmouth, our point of departure
for Guernsey. Sailed all the way in light winds with the help of a 2-21/2 knot favourable tide
In Dartmouth, after filling with diesel, we moored up at the town ferry quay ( ferries stop at 5.00pm) behind a large sail training ship, the “Stavros S Niarchos”.
One slight hitch in Dartmouth, a cash machine ate my bank card. Unlike Amex the Natwest cannot rush a card to me, so I will have to rely on Jill, no problem for me.
We left Dartmouth very early Monday morning, at 4.00am, just before dawn, in company with several small fishing boats.
Its not often we see the sun rise these days.
The forecast was for light favourable winds for the crossing to Guernsey, but these never materialised and we had to motor all the way to St Peter Port, 14 hours at 5 knots on flat, sometimes mirror seas.
We passed just to the west of the shipping lanes where ships are lining up to enter the east going lane or still lined up after leaving the west going lane.
In previous years there has been a constant stream of ships in both directions and we’ve been forced to alter course several times to avoid close encounters This trip we saw only two ships in each direction and all four passed 1-2 miles ahead of us as predicted by the radar. Were we just lucky with the timing or was this a sign of the worldwide recession?
Our radar is a real help for collision avoidance. Visibility to the west of us was down to about 10 miles, but we were able to see ships on the radar before they became visible to us. The radar system also shows the target course and speed and predicts how close they will cross ahead or behind.
Hardly a cloud in the very blue sky on the crossing, A have stopped us seeing Guernsey until we were about 7 miles away but 2 or 3 fluffy white clouds were visible over the island 20 miles away so we knew we were heading the right way.
We saw very little in the way of wild life on the way over. I read in the paper about giant jellyfish around the coast of Cornwall, but on the trip to Dartmouth the seas had been too choppy to possibly see any. Two or three dolphins were playing just outside Plymouth breakwater, but kept their distance. Mid channel we did see a couple of black shapes break the water but couldn’t tell what they were. Last year were saw a whale mid channel, clearly identified by its tail fluke. A small shark, about 4ft. long swam quickly past the boat.
Arrived at St Peter Port at 6.00pm, too late to enter the Victoria marina that afternoon, so we decided to stay the whole night on the waiting pontoon and enter on the following afternoon’s high tide. The harbour was busier than we expected with about 30 boats waiting on the pontoons to enter the marina. We were
allocated, by chance, what we consider one of the better berths in the marina, less crowded, near the showers and just opposite M&S, very handy.
Met up with Andy and Carolyn who were in Mylor last year . Their boat “Trio” had been hit by a French boat in the Scillies and they were forced to spend several weeks near us in Mylor awaiting insurance clearance for repairs. They would normally have away cruising now but have been delayed for a few weeks so were at home in Guernsey.
Visited Victor Hugo's house today ( Thursday), Apart from writing he spent most of his time decorating the house using many reclaimed objects. A very odd house somewhat depressing and a testament to a strange mind. Its a good job he could write he'd never have made a living as an interior designer or decorator. Felt I should be asking probing questions about the meaning of many of his artifacts but nome came to mind.
Weather since we set off last Thursday has been sunny and hot and this looks likely to continue into next week. So hot Jill has taken to buying Rose wine and drinking it cooled instead of our normal red.
Spent another day with Andy and Carolyn. Ss part of their guided tour of the island they took us to see the Little Chapel. Started in 1914 by a Christian Brother it is a "replica" of the Basilica at Lourdes. Decorated with shells and fragments of pottery it is well worth a visit and much more cheerful than Victor's house.
Plan to depart for St Helier, Jersey on Saturday ( 26th.)weather permitting.
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