Alderney

[wiggy]

I have a plan that includes Alderney this Saturday for the night. The forecast is for NNW f3-4. Will it be horribly rock and rolley in the harbour?

 

[Keith-i]

The worst wind direction would be NE, so NNW is not so bad. However, there is always some swell that rolls in around the end of the breakwater but if you manage to get a mooring near the Crabby Harbour end you will avoid the worst of it.

 

[Seajet]

Wiggy,

I don't know if you're planning to go further through the Channel Islands,

I was once told re Alderney ' Up the Race, Down the Swinge ' for going north or south - of course the Swinge especially requires a good pilot book so as to dog-leg around the outlying rocks whose name I forget, it's a case of keeping on bearings and transits, I wouldn't trust a plotter to be accurate enough for that one but the advice worked out well the few times I've tried it.

Whether I'd bother going cross-Channel at all with the traditional Bank Holiday forecast is another matter !:nonchalance:

 

[guernseyman]

Keep your eye on the forecasts. I see a much more favourable one. They may not settle down for some time.

 

[john_morris_uk]

We were there a few days ago and the forecast said 4/5 with gusts of 6. We were anchored (where it is more exposed as the moorings are more up behind the shelter of the wall) and it was a tiny bit rolly but not much. The mooring were hardly affected (but paid £20 for the privilege.)

 

[Seajet]

However, Alderney is not a place to take liberties or set off from if doubtful...though maybe do like the US Navy and set off into clear water if a bad NE is forecast and one has time and a strong crew to get mid Channel.

http://news.images.itv.com/image/file/1413807/stream_img.jpg

 

[lw395]

XCweather currently shows a bit of breeze from the South on Sunday morning, peaking at 29mph.
Maybe keep the plan flexible until all the forecasts agree?

 

[guernseyman]

Your most reliable forecast will be the Jersey Met shipping: https://www.gov.je/Weather/Pages/Shipping.aspx

But Sat/Sun night is not yet within range of course.

 

[Bobc]

The wind is almost certain to be in the W-N quadrant, so you'll be fine.

 

[guernseyman]

The wind is almost certain to be in the W-N quadrant, so you'll be fine.

.....until midnight Saturday when there is currently forecast to be an S component. The OP is staying overnight.

 

[Keith-i]

Your most reliable forecast will be the Jersey Met shipping: https://www.gov.je/Weather/Pages/Shipping.aspx

But Sat/Sun night is not yet within range of course.

I find windfinder.com more accurate then JerseyMet for wind speed. For everything else JerseyMet is better.

I was once told re Alderney ' Up the Race, Down the Swinge ' for going north or south - of course the Swinge especially requires a good pilot book so as to dog-leg around the outlying rocks whose name I forget, it's a case of keeping on bearings and transits, I wouldn't trust a plotter to be accurate enough for that one but the advice worked out well the few times I've tried it.

All depends on wind and tide direction. Both can get exciting in the wrong conditions. The swinge is not half as difficult to negotiate as people make out. There is a lot of clear water and very little to worry about unless you are hugging the shoreline. Just one well charted rock en route to Guernsey called Pierre au Vraic to watch out for.

 

[Bobc]

.....until midnight Saturday when there is currently forecast to be an S component. The OP is staying overnight.

Which is still fine. It's only really when it's in the N-E quadrant that you don't want to be there.

 

[wiggy]

Thanks all, Sunday now looks quite blower so I suspect Alderney will have to wait for another day.

 

[Jungle Jim]

We were in there last week and didn't get in early enough to get by the breakwater wall so picked up a mooring on the eastern side of the harbour. Even with the wind WSW the rockin' and rollin' was horrible, I thought I was going to be seasick while moored :disgust: . We three crew spent the night being bounced all over the place with very little sleep (the skipper of course slept like a lamb). At 07:00 we had the engine on waiting for the first person to vacate a visitors mooring so we could move over, as did most of our neighbours. Over by the breakwater was a vast improvement :encouragement:

Also a tip, we picked up an orange buoy not a yellow visitors one. On speaking to the water taxi driver they told us that as we were using our own lines and there were none on the buoy already it was not allocated and therefore usable by visitors.