Chas25
Well-Known Member
So those who have been paying attention will know that last Friday we were planning on our first channel crossing, albeit our second attempt!
So after arriving back at the boat for the second time and at 1am Friday morning we felt we finally had all the bits and pieces and paper that we needed/wanted for the crossing.
I woke up at I guess about 6:30, first thing I did was looked out of the port hole.. blue sky was the first good sign! The second was I couldn’t hear things rattling and flapping about, a quick look out the cabin door revealed little wind.. well no point hanging around, so instructions were given to crew to get up and get ready for departure! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
So 7am and we were gently cruising down the Hamble, 10 minutes later and we opened the throttles leaving Hamble behind us and settled into a comfortable 27kt cruise.
Half an hour later we rounded the Needles and began the bit that we were so keen to do!
At first I was a little concerned as conditions weren’t quite as rosy as I’d hoped for gradually I backed the throttles off from 27 down to 25 then down to 23kts, this made things more comfortable and was still well within our comfort levels for time fuel etc it was also much better than our first attempt as I hadn’t got drenched once /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
After an hour or so we started to see a bit of action in the Shipping lanes but thankfully it wasn’t anything to be worried about, to be honest the wake even from the Condor ferry wasn’t a major problem, just slowed down turned into it and carried on!
Unfortunately we’d lost our clear blue sky and directly in our path were some fairly large black clouds /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif not really wanted to get soaked we adjusted course to starboard a couple of degrees to try and skirt round the edge, this was broadly successful as we only had a small amount of light rain!
By about 9:30 we had spotted land, the sea was smoother allowing us to increase speed by a couple of knots /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif half an hour later we were closing in on Alderney and we were starting to feel like we’d made it!
As it was still early we decided to have a look around Herm before heading in to St Peter Port
And Sark in the distance
We finally arrived into St Peter Port a bit before mid day and boy were we happy! Tired but happy! After a short wait on the holding pontoon the harbour master showed us to a berth, interesting cleats over there! Took a while to figure out the best way to tie on but got there in the end!
So, first afternoon we wondered round the town, shops and picked up some info from the Tourist Information centre, a few random shots below.
For the evening we decided to eat in Christies following recommendations from a few forumites, had a great meal and cheap with it! Even better was some live music, a solo guitarist we thought he was pretty good so we ended up staying and drinking lots while listening to him /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Day 2 as a bit more shopping, a trip to Cornet Castle (which was free!), below are a couple of pics of the view:
We then took a bus up to Beaucette just to see what all the fuss was about with the entrance.. well its certainly an interesting one, not sure I’d fancy it that much
And how on earth they get Grey Bear in and out I don’t know!
Another great meal at another recommended restaurant le Petit Bistro rounded off with a few drinks on board our boat playing cards and listening to music!
Day 3
We had planned a route round the island visiting various things we fancied seeing, however a slight error (i.e. getting on the wrong bus) meant we changed the plan a bit! This turned out for the best as it meant we had the afternoon to head out to explore Herm and Sark.
Having seen the pictures from RickP I was keen to get over to Havre Gosselin, so after a very short closer look at Herm we headed over to Sark, not before taking a few more pics though!
Approching the anchorage on Sark the Goulet passage certainly made an impression!
As of course did the anchorage!
As mentioned on another post we bumped into Bandit (thankfully not literally!) who was out for a play in a rib! We got our tender out and headed on over to the steps, I gave up counting after around 11 so will believe rick when he says there are 300!
From the top our boat didn’t half look tiny!
Seeing another boat going through the Gouliet passage made me feel happier about going through!
We had a stroll into town, came across this little fella, who really wasn’t bothered about us being there!
A building that seemed to have the building equivalent of a bandage on!
And more great views /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Glad when we got back the dingy was still there /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Day 4 was to be the day we returned home, but not before a little bit more shopping and site seeing!
The little chapel was quite remarkable!
So after a late lunch we started getting ready for a departure
The return started a bit on the lumpy side until we passed as we had North through Little Russell and on towards Alderney
The Picture above doesn’t show us in the bumpy bit, but we were still able to maintain around 20knts so not too bad /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
As we left Alderney behind conditions changed…but we weren’t complaining!!
After enduring these conditions for a couple of hours and cruising at 30knts we entered the solent passing the needles, conditions remained perfect
So after a really pleasant 4 hour cruise we were safely tied up back at Hamble Point, very happy at how well the weekend had gone!
Anyway if you’ve made it this far I hope I haven’t bored you!
Now we need to hope the weather is as good for our trip to the West country mid July /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif although as thats for 2 weeks I might have to try and edit the write up a little better /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
Charlie
So after arriving back at the boat for the second time and at 1am Friday morning we felt we finally had all the bits and pieces and paper that we needed/wanted for the crossing.
I woke up at I guess about 6:30, first thing I did was looked out of the port hole.. blue sky was the first good sign! The second was I couldn’t hear things rattling and flapping about, a quick look out the cabin door revealed little wind.. well no point hanging around, so instructions were given to crew to get up and get ready for departure! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
So 7am and we were gently cruising down the Hamble, 10 minutes later and we opened the throttles leaving Hamble behind us and settled into a comfortable 27kt cruise.
Half an hour later we rounded the Needles and began the bit that we were so keen to do!
At first I was a little concerned as conditions weren’t quite as rosy as I’d hoped for gradually I backed the throttles off from 27 down to 25 then down to 23kts, this made things more comfortable and was still well within our comfort levels for time fuel etc it was also much better than our first attempt as I hadn’t got drenched once /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
After an hour or so we started to see a bit of action in the Shipping lanes but thankfully it wasn’t anything to be worried about, to be honest the wake even from the Condor ferry wasn’t a major problem, just slowed down turned into it and carried on!
Unfortunately we’d lost our clear blue sky and directly in our path were some fairly large black clouds /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif not really wanted to get soaked we adjusted course to starboard a couple of degrees to try and skirt round the edge, this was broadly successful as we only had a small amount of light rain!
By about 9:30 we had spotted land, the sea was smoother allowing us to increase speed by a couple of knots /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif half an hour later we were closing in on Alderney and we were starting to feel like we’d made it!
As it was still early we decided to have a look around Herm before heading in to St Peter Port
And Sark in the distance
We finally arrived into St Peter Port a bit before mid day and boy were we happy! Tired but happy! After a short wait on the holding pontoon the harbour master showed us to a berth, interesting cleats over there! Took a while to figure out the best way to tie on but got there in the end!
So, first afternoon we wondered round the town, shops and picked up some info from the Tourist Information centre, a few random shots below.
For the evening we decided to eat in Christies following recommendations from a few forumites, had a great meal and cheap with it! Even better was some live music, a solo guitarist we thought he was pretty good so we ended up staying and drinking lots while listening to him /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Day 2 as a bit more shopping, a trip to Cornet Castle (which was free!), below are a couple of pics of the view:
We then took a bus up to Beaucette just to see what all the fuss was about with the entrance.. well its certainly an interesting one, not sure I’d fancy it that much
And how on earth they get Grey Bear in and out I don’t know!
Another great meal at another recommended restaurant le Petit Bistro rounded off with a few drinks on board our boat playing cards and listening to music!
Day 3
We had planned a route round the island visiting various things we fancied seeing, however a slight error (i.e. getting on the wrong bus) meant we changed the plan a bit! This turned out for the best as it meant we had the afternoon to head out to explore Herm and Sark.
Having seen the pictures from RickP I was keen to get over to Havre Gosselin, so after a very short closer look at Herm we headed over to Sark, not before taking a few more pics though!
Approching the anchorage on Sark the Goulet passage certainly made an impression!
As of course did the anchorage!
As mentioned on another post we bumped into Bandit (thankfully not literally!) who was out for a play in a rib! We got our tender out and headed on over to the steps, I gave up counting after around 11 so will believe rick when he says there are 300!
From the top our boat didn’t half look tiny!
Seeing another boat going through the Gouliet passage made me feel happier about going through!
We had a stroll into town, came across this little fella, who really wasn’t bothered about us being there!
A building that seemed to have the building equivalent of a bandage on!
And more great views /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Glad when we got back the dingy was still there /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Day 4 was to be the day we returned home, but not before a little bit more shopping and site seeing!
The little chapel was quite remarkable!
So after a late lunch we started getting ready for a departure
The return started a bit on the lumpy side until we passed as we had North through Little Russell and on towards Alderney
The Picture above doesn’t show us in the bumpy bit, but we were still able to maintain around 20knts so not too bad /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
As we left Alderney behind conditions changed…but we weren’t complaining!!
After enduring these conditions for a couple of hours and cruising at 30knts we entered the solent passing the needles, conditions remained perfect
So after a really pleasant 4 hour cruise we were safely tied up back at Hamble Point, very happy at how well the weekend had gone!
Anyway if you’ve made it this far I hope I haven’t bored you!
Now we need to hope the weather is as good for our trip to the West country mid July /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif although as thats for 2 weeks I might have to try and edit the write up a little better /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
Charlie
