Rally to the Channel Islands June 2011
Zeta had set out ahead of the main rally, being already in the Solent for a Moody rally and on the Tuesday decided to undertake a night run from Yarmouth to Cherbourg, it started off well with a brisk NE breeze giving a fast reach along the Needles Channel, but once clear of IOW the sea state became rather lumpy, and with wind now on the quarter, the ride became uncomfortable until 4 hours out when the wind died and they motored into Cherbourg’s East entrance. With 3 jetties in this big marina given over to visitors, berthing was easy enough. Facilities in the Capitainerie were good, but showers were 2 Euros a go. Zeta and her Crew had planned a 30 day trip, so decided
to ‘eat in ‘ for much of the time.
Moving on after a couple of days, their aim of visiting Alderney first was thwarted by the strong N Easterly that kicked in and which would have made Braye harbour uncomfortable, so they planned a passage to St Peter Port, Guernsey. A very fast inshore eddy takes you along the coast past Cap de la Hague, Zeta reached SOG of over 10 knots on this leg, but disappointingly once in the Alderney Race, the wind died, and they ended up motoring all the way to Guernsey. Following the advised course in the Almanac, they passed safely by all the outlying rocks. St Peter Port has a sill and with later too low to cross they tied up to a holding pontoon overnight, in the morning 130 yachts came out to take part in a race to France, at 8am they were away with spinnakers flying making a splendid sight. The harbour staff run around outside the marina in dory’s, and are very helpful, they guided Zeta to a suitable finger berth. St Peter Port has a quite small marina, and boats have to raft up on the southern side, so we were lucky. After completing our Customs declaration, they were able to take down the Q flag, and get on with the fun of exploring Guernsey, which for them, turned out to be the most interesting and attractive of the 2 main Channel Islands. A bus ride round the island is £1, but that was the only bargain that we found. Everything else is more expensive than the UK mainland. They visited the German Occupation Museum and had a look at Beaucette Marina to the north of the island – this has a very narrow and interesting rocky entrance – and found out about some islanders aims to establish their own green Guernsey flag to break away from the Cross of St George imposed by the English. The flag history was related by a local farmer, passionate about being a Guernsey man, who also invited us to taste his local tomatoes, and gave them a fascinating tour of his tomato growing business. Next day they visited Herm by local ferry. The coastal path walk takes about 3 hours at a steady stroll - no cars, only the odd tractor and bicycle. At Puffin Bay they searched for a hint of puffins, but managed to spot only one. The next day they visited the Castle on the end of the breakwater, and watched the ceremony of the firing of the noon-day gun. In the meantime the rest of the Rally had begun in earnest with Moody Blue and Hunky Dory already in the Solent, Minos unfortunately could not join us due to a change in work plans. ZaZar and Blue Danube set off for Gosport from Brighton on the 3rd July and for once the weather, wind and tides were favourable. The Looe Channel posed no problems and following calculations that suggested we had enough water under us we could cut the corner and head for the gap in the Submarine wall. By now the wind had increased significantly and we were flying - topping 9 kts, we decided to roll some of the jenny away so that we could cross the wall at a more sedate and safe speed and just as we thought it was all going swimmingly it jammed solid, with only 500 yards to go, we were able to drop the sail (recovering most of it from the water) and make a sensible 360 turn to adjust our speed and catch our breath before the passing through the gap. On reaching Gosport we met up with Hunky Dory and planned the crossing to Cherbourg for the following day, Richard from Blue Danube was feeling unwell and decided to delay his crossing for a day or two. Whilst at Guernsey, Alan Cranmer assisted a yacht which was having difficulty berthing, he promptly fell into the water badly bruising his thumb and arm, and destroying his Camcorder, the injuries were serious enough for him to require hospital treatment and resulted in him wandering around with his arm in a sling for a coupe of days. Nigel found a super pasty shop – with Harbour and Herm views, and this became a regular daily meeting place for us. Richard Mitchell had to return to Cherbourg as his crew needed to get back Brighton for a meeting, so on Saturday 11th the 3 remaining boats moved on to St Helier, utilising the tide to push us down to Jersey. On the way we passed “Tenacious” a 3 masted sail training boat and watched with interest as some of the crew started to climb the rigging. Some of the group visited the Castle, walking along the causeway. As with Guernsey, there was a local tradition of firing the noon-day gun. The return was by the Duck ferry after the tide started to rise, and as the duck rolled into the water the James Bond music was played, to everyone’s amusement. Then on to Sark where we picked up the last three mooring buoys, using our dinghies to get ashore onto a rock and boulder strewn beach was an interesting and wet experience, we then faced a long climb up to reach civilisation. Like Herm, tractors and bicycles are the main form of transport, but pony and trap is also available for the tourists. The island, surprisingly, has a population of over 700, and many new built properties were seen, but the impression gained is that the residents are mainly retired, or are involved in farming. Alan became ill overnight, and remained below as we sailed on to Alderney – Braye harbour the following day. We enjoyed a super sail up the Alderney race and picked up buoys in Braye harbour. Using the dinghy to get ashore, umbrellas in hand we found the shops all closed – like the 70’s in England all Shops close on Wednesdays! but we found a quaint pub for lunch, Nigel upset one of the Locals who was sat at the Bar by offering to pay for our drinks with “Funny money” to which the resident replied “that’s our money”. . We moved on and found a very comfortable Cafe to have coffees in before taking an extended walk back to the Harbour. Richard (Blue Danube) was already at Cherbourg awaiting the return of his crew, he kindly arranged for medical assistance to meet Alan upon his arrival. We had a very rough but very fast ride to Cherbourg from Alderney, touching 12 knots SOG at times with the assistance of the top end of the Alderney Race. Being advised that we were to be met by the Fire Service was a bit confusing, but it seems that the “pompiers” provide emergency responses, and after some initial tests, took Alan off to the local hospital. With anti-biotic treatment, Alan started to recover, but felt that it was better to return home by ferry as soon as he felt better. The weather on the UK coast and in the middle of the Channel prevented a crossing so Za-Zar and Blue Danube made the 90 mile trip to Fecamp hugging the coast, ready for the final cross-channel run home on Monday, a day later than expected. Zeta’s crew, having the luxury if an additional week, stayed on in Cherbourg for Alan to recover enjoying the local restaurant food once more before moving on to St Vaast on Tuesday. Using the inshore eddies again, they covered the distance to St Vaast very quickly, arriving just at the top of the tide, and entered the marina via the lock by 1 pm. The end of the holiday for Zeta was now rapidly approaching, and they finally left St Vaast on Friday 24th at 5am. A super SW 4 to 5 gave them a broad reach all the way back to Brighton, arriving back at 7pm – 91 miles having been covered in 14 hours. A very satisfying end to the rally. 
Hunky Dory slipped her ropes at 4.30 am with ZaZar following on later, the crossing was going to be uncomfortable, barely enough wind to fill the sails on the stern, together with a swell on the beam - we would be rolling for most of the way. Sadly the conditions took their toll, Kath on Hunky Dory spent the first 3 hours of the journey violently ill, with no let up in sight Roger decided to turn around and head back for the mainland, that proved to be end of the Rally for Hunky Dory but they spent the rest of the time pleasantly pottering around the Solent.
Meanwhile Moody Blue had started their crossing from Weymouth and unlike ZaZar had found plenty, if not too much wind to deal with, we both arrived in Cherbourg in good time and settled down to a drink or two.
With Della making her first crossing onboard Blue Danube they set off on Sunday and made it without incident, Della proving to be a dab hand at Navigation was at times providing Richard with half hourly updates and course corrections. Following a day of rest on Monday we all set off for Guernsey to join up with Zeta who had been enjoying their own mini Rally.
With a brisk wind and large waves on the nose we only managed 6 kts through the Alderney race all of which was tide, thank God we got the timings right or we could have found ourselves going backwards as a hefty rate!!Spending a night attached to a buoy with a beam on swell is not everybody’s cup of tea, but the beauty of the surrounding cove certainly made up for it, 300 feet of densely vegetated Cliffs populated by all sorts of Seabirds together with a lighthouse precariously perched near to the top refracting it’s light along them like a laser show.
Mike tried his luck at a spot of fishing but caught nothing only to be humiliated by a French Yacht that anchored up alongside and proceeded to land fish after fish.
During our stay we visited possibly the World’s smallest Church made from broken tiles and Crockery, the main Fort at the Entrance to the harbour, took a ferry to Herm – truly beautiful,
St Helier had changed somewhat since Nigel’s last visit (by ferry) and many blocks of flats now surround the marinas. However, the benefits of Duty Free still make this an attractive venue, and they even deliver your selection to your berth (Zeta’s was delivered by crane!). 
We looked over a very well preserved church St. Peter’s built in 1820 and had lunch at one of the Islands many eateries.
Mike Price and Nina in Moody Blue had decided to head straight back from Alderney to the Solent on the Thursday as they needed to prepare for the Round the Island Race.With Alan continuing to suffer from some unknown bug and deteriorating rapidly, Zeta & ZaZar decided to make a dash for Cherbourg where he could receive affordable treatment.
The crossing was good apart from poor visibility in the Lanes and torrential rain just off Brighton.
St Vaast is a lovely small village, with a few shops, an interesting supermarket with lots of small rooms containing racks of local wines, and several restaurants. A causeway leads at low water to the Isle de Tatihou, which is partly a nature reserve. They took the duck ferry out past the oyster beds to Tatihou, and spent a morning walking around the island, visiting the 18th century defences, and watching with interest the young seagulls in the bird sanctuary, some were making their first attempt to fly. The marina is well laid out, and comfortable, but with night time lock opening, the fishing vessels tended to be a bit noisy. 
