Sark to Jersey

Awoke to a glorious morning in one of my favourite spots. Our plan was to head to St Helier to fuel up before we jumped off toward Brittany. There was a blip in the weather which suggested staying in Jersey for two nights. I am no fan or marinas, especially on trips like this - my hunch was justified!

But before all of that, a delightful sail down the east coast of Sark. 6 kts of wind, 2kts boat speed. Sailing well, but going nowhere. Just perfect. We knew that the tide would turn at about 1400 to take us south to Jersey, so in the meantime, what do you do? Anchor, have lunch and go swimming!

La Coupee, Sark

We tacked our way carefully through the rocks and put the anchor down in 8 metres in Baleine Bay immediately below the high "bridge" between Sark and Little Sark.

Track of Liquid Asset - Marine Traffic

David, being David announced he was going swimming. Once uttered, there was no turning back. You must be mad I said, the water is freezing. Rather than appearing on deck clad in trunks, a rubber vision appeared. He had donned the wet suit (kept in the bottom of a deep locker for those "rope around the prop" moments. The clue about wet suits is that they get wet, unlike dry suits. And the wet comes from that very icy water. The picture below is David on the way out - looking triumphant; the one I won't show you is on the way in (somewhat less so).

David; Musto Man

We pulled up the anchor and set off for what looked like a very leisurely sail down to St Helier, so 4 hrs away. Whilst we had the tide with us, and the wind on beam what we hadn't reckoned on was a sever bout of wind over tide as the wind picked up to a healthy 18 kts. So we shorted sail and hung on.

Whilst we had organised the tide to work to our benefit on the passage, it worked against us entering the harbour at St Helier. We arrived at low tide, and of course (for those that check) entry is across a sill and this is possible perhaps 2 hrs after low water. And while you wait, you get to raft up - 6 or 7 deep!

What chaos. Fine probably in an English port, but in a Channel Islands port with an even mix of Belgians, French and English, it was not a relaxing time. The Frenchman on the inside in a big gin palace decide he wanted to leave, whether his ropes we untied or not. So suddenly he was taking us all for a trip, with me on the outside. Solution? Put the engine of and offer a counter force. Well it sounds unconventional but it save the day.

One good reason to avoid marinas

And of course, when the water is adequate to cross the sill, everyone bolts for it. I am not going to St Helier ever again!