seansea
Well-Known Member
What do sailors think of St Peter Port, Guernsey as a place to visit in terms of facilities and services etc.? Likes and/or dislikes
opinions of St Peter Port
- Thread starter seansea
- Start date
Halcyon Yachts
Well-Known Member
I regularly stop there. A great place to refuel and go for a nice walk... I don't tend to buy many provisions from the island - France is much better on that front!
I've never needed to have any work carried out there, but the staff at the chandlery are very helpful and it is well stocked for charts etc.
I'm sure I'll be back soon!
Pete
Talulah
Well-Known Member
As your from Guernsey is there a motif to the question?
Personally, it's ok for 2/3 days but not that impressed with the harbour staff.
Kurrawong_Kid
Well-Known Member
Was there this Summer. Found harbour staff helpful and competent when berthing a large number of yachts at 0100. Thought Island run down compared with last time I was there in 1994. Missed the covered market which now seems to be a Coop. and Bucktrouts no longer dispenses gin into lemonade bottles! However all over the island for £1.00 on the bus was a bargain!
doris
Well-Known Member
Harbour staff
Didn't get there last year but the previous year's experience of the harbour staff was very offputing. the furore that materialised last spring in all the local media, kicked off by Scuttlebutters, may have improved things. Then again, maybe not.
Have to say the overall tiredness of the island on top of the lack of facilities results in us passing it by now. Bray is lovely then on to the likes of Treguier etc.
The nostalgia in the mention of Bucktrouts gin in a lemonade bottle shows how things have not changed for the better, like many things in the world today.......curmudgeonly comment I know.
Didn't get there last year but the previous year's experience of the harbour staff was very offputing. the furore that materialised last spring in all the local media, kicked off by Scuttlebutters, may have improved things. Then again, maybe not.
Have to say the overall tiredness of the island on top of the lack of facilities results in us passing it by now. Bray is lovely then on to the likes of Treguier etc.
The nostalgia in the mention of Bucktrouts gin in a lemonade bottle shows how things have not changed for the better, like many things in the world today.......curmudgeonly comment I know.
doug748
Well-Known Member
I like the bus trips as well. Superb place for a family holiday. Grand shopping and all you would need for a boat, inc cheap fuel.
The harbour staff were getting a little brusque (they have a lot to put up with) but I think that may be being improved. There is accident damage every busy day on the pontoon finger moorings in Victoria Marina, there should be a limit of 32 feet in there. The showers etc are great. The visitor's marina would be better placed away from the noise of the main road and the adjacent car parks. The standard of care taken by drivers in the car parks is very poor. Why is there no pedestrian crossing at the West end of the main drag by the roundabout?
It is a shame that local air links are being lost, not too late to send a letter to save Plymouth Airport (and down the line avoid a new airport in South Devon):
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Cou...lymouth-City/story-16980314-detail/story.html
Nice to have free anchorage nearby for a quick visit or when you do not need to go ashore
The harbour staff were getting a little brusque (they have a lot to put up with) but I think that may be being improved. There is accident damage every busy day on the pontoon finger moorings in Victoria Marina, there should be a limit of 32 feet in there. The showers etc are great. The visitor's marina would be better placed away from the noise of the main road and the adjacent car parks. The standard of care taken by drivers in the car parks is very poor. Why is there no pedestrian crossing at the West end of the main drag by the roundabout?
It is a shame that local air links are being lost, not too late to send a letter to save Plymouth Airport (and down the line avoid a new airport in South Devon):
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Cou...lymouth-City/story-16980314-detail/story.html
Nice to have free anchorage nearby for a quick visit or when you do not need to go ashore
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Sailfree
Well-Known Member
St Peter Port is a nice stopover 1 day sail from S coast but provisions are more expensive and berths are limited. Average size of boats has increased and outside pontoons are wall to wall with no electricity and only dinghy access (water taxi too unreliable- even when it is running!).
Attractive Island and tour using day pass on buses is an excellent attraction.
Stayed there 4x this year for a few days.
Cheap fuel is an attraction. Inside marina needs dredging and need to reduce accident damage - notice some French boats often only have 2 fenders!!!
Problem is that going S Bray and Jersey are alternatives so Guernsey has to ensure it is more attractive. Going N then Carteret and Dielette are further competition and tide permitting ny crew usually prefers Carteret.
Not sure if this is the feedback you seek. If I was to recommend improvements I would make outside pontoons walk ashore - fairly easily achieved - Priority 1. Pontoon Electricity - Priority 2. To assist Island economy - discount for staying 3rd night - Priority 3.
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johnalison
Well-Known Member
We had a couple of pleasant stays this summer, both for a few days. Life is more comfortable on the fingers, except during hours when swell or wash come in. We saw some poor seamanship with boats coming and going and our own exit was awkward enough, though with the help of a spring to someone on shore we did it tidily.
The staff had a busy time at opening hours and generally coped well and I saw no instances of incivility.
I didn't get around the island much but there was a good art safari while we were there, and a hill-climb was being held at Havelet Bay which was entertaining.
My main complaint was that the papers often came late. Guernsey must have the foggiest airport in Britain.
The staff had a busy time at opening hours and generally coped well and I saw no instances of incivility.
I didn't get around the island much but there was a good art safari while we were there, and a hill-climb was being held at Havelet Bay which was entertaining.
My main complaint was that the papers often came late. Guernsey must have the foggiest airport in Britain.
sailorman
Well-Known Member
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john_morris_uk
Well-Known Member
Plus sides:
Interesting place to sail to
Civil and helpful staff (when I have been there anyway)
Good shelter inside Victoria
Used to be very reasonably priced and good value. (Don't know now?)
Cheap diesel
Chandlers are excellent.
Downsides:
Price is same on the floating pontoons with no facilities as it is inside.
Slightly tatty and rundown feel to it at times.
Victualling is expensive.
Eating out isn't cheap either.
I was fleeced by a local when we booked a holiday flat there once. Total rip-off and they didn't care. They were old members of the island community and their attitude to us and visitors in general was shameful. However its an interesting place...
Interesting place to sail to
Civil and helpful staff (when I have been there anyway)
Good shelter inside Victoria
Used to be very reasonably priced and good value. (Don't know now?)
Cheap diesel
Chandlers are excellent.
Downsides:
Price is same on the floating pontoons with no facilities as it is inside.
Slightly tatty and rundown feel to it at times.
Victualling is expensive.
Eating out isn't cheap either.
I was fleeced by a local when we booked a holiday flat there once. Total rip-off and they didn't care. They were old members of the island community and their attitude to us and visitors in general was shameful. However its an interesting place...
LadyInBed
Well-Known Member
I stop off there to refuel (twice this year) but I don't go for the scramble to go into the marina, I anchor in Havelet Bay.
Windy Tonique
Well-Known Member
We were stormbound there during the Jubilee Bank Holiday week this year and we found it a very pleasant place to be so. It rained the first morning and then the sun came out for the rest of our stay even if it was very windy. As others have mentioned the £1.00 bus ride around the island is great. We got off and back on and had to pay another £1.00 but we didn't complain. I thought the island to be stunning with lots of lovely beaches and walks/bike rides. You can walk to the outdoor swimming pools from the Marina as well as Clarence battery and the Underground War Museum. The walk to the end of the harbour breakwater is a must. What did I enjoy most though - the fact that you can see the Marks and Spencer foodhall from the boat and the shopping in the town! Lots of lovely pubs and restaurants too. The toilets and showers were good. Harbour staff were polite and helpful and we paid for 3 nights and got the fourth free! Our previous port was Braye on Alderney which is very different in terms of the facilities and shopping but absolutely stunning scenery and with a great seafarers pub.
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sailorman
Well-Known Member
That deal finishes 01 July & the staff were unable to count on their fingers back to when we arrived. i did eventually get a credit note ( nobody was "empowered" to give a refund
). we used that on the way back but couldn't have WiFi code as we hadn't paid 
Grumpybear
Well-Known Member
The air service from Exeter is a lot more convenient and frequent than the Plymouth one was. IMO Plymouth airport will not be viable. if it were, the business leaders demanding that the airport reopens would have been prepared to pay a sustainable fare - or are they just after taxpayer subsidies as usual?
Seven Spades
Well-Known Member
I have four problems with Guernsey:-
1. It always rains, and we often get stuck waiting for the weather.
2. The supermarket is rubbish, it is tiny and has limited stock the only alternative is M&S
3. The water taxi is expensive (2 adults and three children) and unreliable.
4. There is no reciprocal agreement to health care.
Apart for that we love it. But now we tend to go straight to Cartaret or St Helier.
1. It always rains, and we often get stuck waiting for the weather.
2. The supermarket is rubbish, it is tiny and has limited stock the only alternative is M&S
3. The water taxi is expensive (2 adults and three children) and unreliable.
4. There is no reciprocal agreement to health care.
Apart for that we love it. But now we tend to go straight to Cartaret or St Helier.
Talulah
Well-Known Member
There is now a Waitrose in Guernsey and they deliver ;-)
Seven Spades
Well-Known Member
Really so how does that work? Do you buy your shopping and deposit it somewhere or do you have to telephone it or hunt for an internet cafe. Do they deliver to the pontoon outside?
snowleopard
Well-Known Member
Good - cheap diesel
Bad - kids on mopeds screaming past the marina till all hours.
Bad - kids on mopeds screaming past the marina till all hours.
sailorman
Well-Known Member
The difference in youth noise between Cherbourg & France in general to St PP was very noticeable, especially at the w/e
doug748
Well-Known Member
Convenience is a function of your starting point. Frequency of flights is an operational issue, no more.
No, the business leaders, backed by a mass of Plymouthians, are interested in the business life of the City, for the future.
The present leaseholders of the airport land said they wanted to run an air link; pretty soon they said they actually wanted to build houses on the land. Many impartial judges might think it bears all the hallmarks of a planning scam.
Having built their houses the developers might well revert to their original plan of builing a new airport in the South Hams.
