We were glad this didn't raft up to us in Cherbourg. Imagine the crew stomping all over your boat when they went off for a quick pillage.
While at the supermarket we bought a bag of cooked large prawns for lunch, about ½ kilo for €4, which we ate with a mayonnaise and tomato dip. When we were in Jersey we had bought in the fish market several very large scallops ( some about the size of coffee cup saucers), 2 king size prawns and a huge handful of calamari, all for less than £10. We ate these for dinner with rice and a creamy lemon sauce. In England we’re surrounded by water but have great difficulty buying high quality seafood at a reasonable price, even by the coast. Why? I suspect that most of what is caught in the UK goes to France or Spain.
We said our farewells to John and Mary, and crew, in Irish Odyssey who were setting of the Chichester in the morning. They were returning the boat to the UK after keeping it in Brittany for several years.
We left Cherbourg early in the morning to catch the west going tide to Braye, Alderney. There was absolutely no wind so we were forced to motor all the way, but the tide was with us and gradually increased as the journey progressed. Two hours after leaving the pontoon we were again at Cap de la Hague with a 5 ½ knot tide pushing us along. Some care is needed here to make sure the SW stream doesn’t carry you down the coast and South of Alderney, again the vectors on the chart plotter proved useful. We were a little concerned that if the strong tide continued there would be a risk of overshooting Braye harbour , but when we reached the north coast of Alderney the tide slackened to a mere two knots and we entered the harbour without a problem.
In the past it was very difficult to pick out the leading marks and lights for entry into Braye but these have obviously been replaced and are now very visible even in bright daylight.
We use the chart plotter a lot. It’s a very useful tool and makes navigating easy, but like to use it to get us to a point where leading lines or lights can be used for pilotage.
Shortly after we arrived a sea fog descended and we couldn’t see the end of the breakwater from our mooring.
Alderney is not our favourite Channel Island although many people love it. Last year the whole island appeared shut because the daughter of the fish & chip shop owner was getting married. We got the impression everyone in Braye and St. Anne was attending.
This trip Jill had missed a meal at one of her favourite restaurants in Cherbourg because it was shut Monday and we were leaving Tuesday, so I promised to treat her at the above chippy in Braye. We took the water taxi ashore to find it only opened Wed/Thurs/Fri/Sat. By that time most of the shops had shut so it was back to the boat for a healthy meal of sausage with onion gravy and mash.
Next day we were up before dawn for the crossing to Dartmouth, and as soon as there was enough light to see a pot buoy we set off, “following” the very bright leading lights out of the harbour. The distance across was 65 miles, a 13 hour trip and we had worked out that the effect of cross tides over that distance would be less than a mile, in our favour. So after clearing the harbour we set course on a direct bearing to Dartmouth. The forecast was for SW F 3-4 but as we set off in the rain with no wind we were anticipating a miserable crossing. Soon though the rain stopped and as the Sun rose above the horizon we had a late breakfast.
The course set took us at an angle across the Casquets shipping lanes. These have to be crossed at right angles so we changed course and motor sailed at maximum speed to clear them as quickly as we could, keeping a good look out visually and on radar, visibility was very good. In the eastbound lane 7-8 ships passed us a good distance away, as predicted by radar and confirmed visually. Another ship was more of a problem, one minute the radar showed it passing a few hundred feet ahead, the next a few hundred behind and the next straight through us. When viewed through binoculars neither its bearing nor aspect was changing, so we decided to play safe and sailed a reciprocal course for about a mile. When we resumed the original course it passed ahead of us about a mile away so we were probably wise to take evasive action. In the westbound lane 9-10 ships passed us, all at a safe distance. I later estimated the diversion needed to cross the shipping lanes added about 4 miles to the straight line distance, the best part of an hour extra sailing time.
While we were crossing the shipping lanes the wind increased to the forecast force 3 and as soon as we left the lanes we started to sail and stopped the engine. For the next 8 hours we sailed on the same tack, either close hauled or on a close reach, on the same heading all the way to the entrance of the River Dart. This was the longest and best sail of the whole trip.
We had one diversion when the clip on backrest bought in Guernsey popped off into the water. We did a quick about turn and in spite of the choppy seas managed to find it again, but couldn’t fish it out again because there was nothing to hook on to.
About 20 miles from Dartmouth the wind increased to force 4 and above and the autohelm began struggling to keep a course so we reverted to hand steering. Eventually we put a single reef in the sails, from the safety of the cockpit without losing much time. Having reefed the boat sailed much better without any reduction in speed and the autohelm was able to cope again, making the rest of the remainder of the journey easier; it holds a much better course than we can.
This sail was the longest without engine since leaving Falmouth. In previous years when sailing the voltage on the fully charged battery would drop the after about 4 hours, the first indication being the autohelm starting to sail in circles, then even with the Raymarine chartplotter turned off the voltage would drop below 11 volts and the Furuno GPS would switch off, forcing us either to sail without some instruments or run the engine to put some charge in the battery. I fitted a Rutland wind generator last year which helped but didn’t cure the problem. I suspected the battery even though it was checked out and declared healthy. This year I fitted a slightly larger capacity, deep cycle battery. This year with the wind charger and new battery the voltage was still around 12.5 after 8 hours sailing with autohelm, chartplotter and occasional use of the radar.
Much to our surprise when we entered Dartmouth, 13 hours after we left Braye, there was a vacant berth on the inside of the town quay. We were helped to raft up to another boat by two sailors from a beautiful Oyster 82 yacht called “Zig Zag” moored on the outside of the quay.
We were able to walk into town and get the fish and chips we had missed in Braye, just in time they were the last two left and the shop was about to shut.
One more consolation; “Zig Zag” had to leave early the next morning to leave the outer side of the
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