Guernsey - in one?

[iangrant]

I'm sure loads of you have been - is it worth a bash straight there from the Nab tower, or a "rest" in Cherbourg on the way?

 

[ParaHandy]

Well....you can do Cherbourg easily in daylight but will be in a hurry to get going the following day....but.....you can also make it to Alderney (unless NE F4+ when harbour gets a bit rough, allegedly) and then scoot round and down. With Alderney, crew can't abscond (at least, not easily) whereas at Cherbourg, turn your head and they're off for croissants/booze/baccy/the clap.

I'd load up at Cherbourg on the way back - I find it worse doing a longish crossing on the way back.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Cherbourg or Alderney if you want.

Pretty easy to do in one as long as you get your entry into the Alderney race timed right.

I remember once leaving Hamble approx 1800, and via Needles arriving Guernsey 1300 next day, on a one sided beat aboard a 41 footer. Doing 13 kts over the ground coming down the Race makes a big difference!

 

[billmacfarlane]

You obviously can do it in one with the obvious proviso of getting to the Alderney Race at slack to carry the tide to Guernsey . If you miss it or think you are going to you can pop into Alderney and yes in winds above F4 from the NE , it can get unpleasant. My preference is to stop at Cherbourg and load the boat with the necessaries for a good cruise from the hypermarket and a good meal out.

 

[Skyva_2]

As said already, OK when you get the tide right. Consider what your crew may want - if strong, no problem. If inexperienced they may find it too much for the first day out. I assume you have been before and/or would find the Russel channels OK at night. You could always stop off at Braye or Dielette.

Good trip,

Keith

 

[Twister_Ken]

>turn your head and they're off for croissants/booze/baccy/the clap.<

Aah, the romance of the sea!

 

[jimi]

Och aye anything tae get awa' fae the auld yin.

 

[ParaHandy]

Have tae admit......ifter a dizen different cans o' baked beans that ah've fed doon their throats at great expense, ah'm glad tae see the back o' them....in a manner o' speaking, ken...

 

[iangrant]

OK Here is the plot- I've done the Cherbourg run a couple of times - day and night, but not gone round the corner before. There are two of us with our two young daughters sailing over on the Thursday night, wives and youngest(s) following on the ferry to arrive Sat afternoon, St Peter Port. The provisional plan is for a Thurs night crossing arriving in time for the race - and into SPP for Friday in Daylight. If we cock up the timing the Alderney stop looks good for Friday Night - Down to Guernsey Sat Aft to beat the Ferry - or its B&B for the girls and a right B*ll*cking!

Ian

 

[ParaHandy]

From our end of the soilent, I've wondered whether it might be more "comfortable" to sail to Yarmouth at night then leave early in the morning (tides etc permitting) thro' the Needles. The advantage I see is a) it's easier, b) it breaks the journey up for non-hardened sailors and c) the last leg is shorter and (with the ebb) the passage to Yarmouth is v. quick.

 

[jimi]

hoots mon hoots ... its a gey canny way tae hae cheap foghorns!

 

[iangrant]

That may just be a bloody good idea, Ta
Ian

 

[jimi]

I think you're right and you often get a better angle on the wind. The downside is that there is a definite tidal gate & the Bridge can get quite naughty in a decent breeze if there is any sort of tide running

 

[iangrant]

I would like to formally appologize to respondants for the infantile Scottish contingent whom have dragged my otherwise sensible and helpful thread into lavatorial and meaningless drivel - My forefathers are turning in their highland graves! Behave

Grant

 

[ParaHandy]

Wha's he on aboot jimi??? Here we are jist passin' the time o' day in interlecktul conversation.......

 

[jimi]

Ah must confess ah'm black afrontit tae be spoken tae like that. We gie the loon a wee bit o' advice and he chust gangs aff!

 

[ToMo]

Standfast!...while yon hairies batter three shades of....... out-o-ye.
TôMö

 

[ParaHandy]

Agree about the wind......it isn't Bridge (altho' it's bad enough) but the little evil red job (Outer Shingles?) out to sea of Bridge that scares me. From or to the West, the tide's almost at right angles to the NE-SW tide thro' the Needles which had me getting too close to it on the way out.

 

[pkb]

Its tempting to think of Cherbourg as a stop over but often you have to leave at an ungodly hour to catch the back eddy round to the top of the Race. If you time your departure to catch HW Dover at the top of the race then you are literally sluiced down to Guernsey. Sailing out of both Lymington and then Poole for several years now we have always either gone straight to St Peter Port or rested over in Alderney which is "on the way" so to speak. Last year my wife and I left Studland Bay near Poole, motorsailed in virtually windless conditions all the way and made St Peter Port in 11 hours thanks to a big spring tide down the Race!

Peter Baillie

 

[Twister_Ken]

Bridge - what bridge?

You don't need to go nearly as far as the Bridge. Once you can clear the Varvassi wreck (bottom of old CG station visible above top of Needles light), you can turn onto your course. More difficult at night, but if you turn onto course a couple of hundred yards before getting to SW Shingles, you'll be right.