Further afield

wingdiver

wingdiver

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Hi
Do we have anyone on here who knows about moorings and anchorages of the Channel Islands and Western Normandy?
I know it's off the ECF area but thought that someone might have the knowledge or know of someone from another part of the forum who could help (is there another part of the forum?:rolleyes:)
Got this which seemed a good start - Yachting Monthlys Channel Havens
Cheers
D
 
Been to Alderney several times. Loved it apart from the time it blew NE all night (not that strongly) and we rolled and rolled. Every thing clattered and banged all night. Only time I've been sick on a boat but then I did have the seafood moray which was especially rich. Alderney is a nice place ashore via the harbour taxi. If the weather tuns a bit naff it is easy (and it used to be cheap) to do a ten minute flight to Guernsey or Jersey for the day. Great little flights in 16 or is it 18 seater planes.

Apart from a NE the harbour is fine; mind you in a strong SW gale the waves coming over the breakwater are - well - interesting. Mind the underwater extension of the harbour wall which is unmarked. You will in busy times raft up on the mooring buoys and the convention is (or was) that the last on leaves first if the weather turns nasty. Used to be ample anchoring room but whether that still applies I don't know.
 
i would be interested in this thread too , i've never been to the CI , did try a few yrs ago but had engine trouble and didnt make it past brighton .
Mrs M and i have been talking about giving it another go next yr once the boat is up to scratch for a longish cruise .

how long would east coasters allow for a holiday trip to the CI and back ?
i was thinking of 3 wks at least maybe more if i could swing it with work :rolleyes:

we would want minimum night time sailing although a few hrs either way is ok .

would people go from say littlehampton to St Malo first or straight to the islands ?

thoughts ??
 
One of my favourite sailing areas.

A couple of points to remember, though. First, the tidal streams are strong, and don't necessarily follow the atlas exactly. So navigation tends to be pilotage, usually by transits; there are very few buoys or withies. Make sure that you can follow a transit, particularly a stern transit. The RCC Pilot ("The Channel Islands") edited by Nick Heath shows photographs of the transits, but if you can find a copy of Robson's "Channel Island Pilot" then you may find his pen and ink sketches easier to follow.

Second, the tidal range is large. This means that many of the smaller harbours are drying. You'll have a wider range of harbours available if you can take the ground.
 
Guapa said:
Bits of our 2008 blog might be of interest to you as well as some bits of the 2005 Yanita blog.
Click to expand...

Cheers. I'll have a look.

Morgana said:
we're heading that way this summer.... have allowed 4 weeks for journey too and from, plus time to explore upon arrival!
Click to expand...

When are you going Neil? We have three weeks from 24 July.
Plan is:
Day 1 Ipswich-Dover/Boulogne; Day 2 -Fecamp; Day 3 - Cherbourg; Day 4 - Guernsey

then explore as many islands as we can for a week or two before doing the reverse trip.
Hope to anchor a lot more this year but need to be careful as we can't take the ground.
Good news is that Foxs is part of the Trans Europe Marina scheme which means we can get half price berths in at least one marina in Guernsey and Jersey :D
 
wingdiver said:
Day 1 Ipswich-Dover/Boulogne; Day 2 -Fecamp; Day 3 - Cherbourg; Day 4 - Guernsey
Click to expand...


just realised what i put in my earlier post about st malo :o:o

cherbourg is where i meant - :rolleyes: , and st malo being a place i'd like to go if poss .

i like the idea of the drying harbours with sandy bottoms .......

i think Morgana's 4 weeks would be less of a rush to get from place to place especialy with 1 teenager and 2 sub teens on board :eek:
 
Duncan, SWMBO and I know that area pretty well and can give you a few pointers.

We're out of the water at Fox's for final preperations for the big adventure later this month, Our planned first call will be Cherbourg.
 
Not sure at the moment, might be decorating, yuk! I know next weekend we're probably going to the in-laws in Cornwall; double yuk!
 
wingdiver said:
When are you going Neil? We have three weeks from 24 July.
Plan is:
Day 1 Ipswich-Dover/Boulogne; Day 2 -Fecamp; Day 3 - Cherbourg; Day 4 - Guernsey

then explore as many islands as we can for a week or two before doing the reverse trip.
Hope to anchor a lot more this year but need to be careful as we can't take the ground.
Click to expand...
we're off on 31st July... similar plan departurewise, although we may bite the bullet and do Dover straight to Cherbourg..
 
Morgana said:
we're off on 31st July... similar plan departurewise, although we may bite the bullet and do Dover straight to Cherbourg..
Click to expand...
That would be a pretty long leg for us as there will only be the two of us on board. Also, the shorter hops along the Northern French coast should hopefully enable us to use the tide to best effect. Then again.... :rolleyes:
 
Problem with going west along the French coast is the tide's a fair bit stronger, plus most of the harbours are tide limited in some way. So you arrive at LW and have to hang around till the water comes back....

When we head off in late July/early August our plan is to go staight from the Orwell to Cherbourg to stock up with goodies at the Carrefour, St Peter Port for cheap diesel and see some friends. Then Ushant and south till the buttter melts. Can't wait.
 
Plan A is still in place, which is unusual for us. We normally get to a week or less before the off and it blows a hoolie forcing us to delay or even postpone our long awaited summer jaunt.:eek:
We are still planning to head towards Boulogne this Saturday, followed by Fecamp, Cherbourg and Guernsey. Don't know after that. Will probably visit Jersey. May sail to Herm and Sark and anchor or may visit by ferry from Guernsey. Return journey may include Ouistreham/Caen as we have never been in there.
Need to spend tonight considering the charts, tides and waypoints so we get the best use of the tide running south towards the Dover straight.:confused:
Also a note of thanks to Guapa and Michael_W for some Channel Islands tips.
Hope to post some piccies after the event.
Morgana - we are a pretty obvious looking vessel if you end up in a Channel Island port whilst we are still about so say hi if you are nearby.
 
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