Delphinus

After an early start from Yarmouth we passed the famous Needles and had a great sail to Cherbourg arriving just before sunset 11 hours later. The following day our great friend Jo came to spend a few weeks with us before heading off an another of the great adventures, it’s always good to welcome her back aboard she has become like family over the last year. Late that evening we were relaxing after a few drinks listening to the wind howling outside when we spotted another boat arrive and head for a space behind us, Paul took their lines and invited them over for drinks. They were two Norwegian guys, Mathias and Knut, heading south for the Med. Like most Norwegians they spoke fluent English and we had a fun night exchanging stories before they left at around 4am! Whilst in Cherbourg Mathias joined us for a visit to the fantastic Cité de la Mer museum. It houses France’s first Nuclear Submarine ‘Redoutable’ and the world’s largest museum submarine open to the public. Also the Museum has a huge Aquarium and attached museum relating to the oceans and sea life and Titanic Exhibition. Cherbourg was one of the stops offs the Titanic made before its fateful journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Next stop after Cherbourg, Guernsey.
The sail from Cherbourg takes you through the ‘Alderney Race’ a strait which runs between Alderney, the northern most Channel Island and the Cap de la Hague, at the NW tip of Normandy. The currents flowing through there can reach an incredible 11 knots as water from the Atlantic flowing through the Channel parts at Alderney and squeezes through the strait. These flows increase in strength at spring tides and typically we were to attempt this not only at spring tides but at one of the highest springs of the year! It certainly made for interesting sailing, the eddies, tidal rips and currents were phenomenal. Our boat speed overground hit 12.7 knots – 7 knots over our actual speed through water, and this was shortly after slack water. An exciting experience never to be forgotten.
We planned to spend a few days in Guernsey, so the following day Lily, Jo and Jayne went for a cycle to the west coast whilst Paul went for a long walk along the cliffs on the south coast. The scenery in the bays on the west coast is stunning, in particular we enjoyed Vazon Bay, with its beautiful sandy beach and clear blue sea. We ate lunch at the shack there before heading further south toward Lihou Island which is only accessible on foot or by tractor at low tide before heading back to port. That morning during a visit to the tourist office we were put in contact with a chap from the local Astronomical Society who kindly offered to pick Jo and Jayne up that evening for a visit to the observatory. It was a beautifully clear night and we had some great views of Venus, Jupiter and the Moon through their 16” Meade. The following day Jayne met a local birder and they went off birding whilst everyone else relaxed for the day. To the east of Guernsey are a couple of Islands known for their nature and in particular Puffins. So we set out the next day to try our luck at spotting them. The sea currents were quite turbulent around Herm the first Island we approached so we anchored in a sheltered area for a while before attempting to spot them. Thanks to Pauls excellent helming skills we managed to dodge rocks and shallows to get close to the cliffs we thought they might be, and there they were around half a dozen Puffins floating around on the waters surface, we managed to get to within a few yards of them – magical. Onwards to Sark and our anchorage for the night. We found a lovely sheltered spot to the NE of the island, rowed ashore and had a wonderful walk around this tiny island. It was like going back a century in time, no cars or tarmac roads, just dirt tracks, bikes and tractors. The little town had a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere, whilst we were visiting the local tourist office a group of local girls asked Lily if she would like to join them in a game of hide and seek - perfect. The following morning we were up early for our next passage to Jersey, no sooner had we left the anchorage, Jayne on the helm spotted a few splashes and a fin – Dolphins! A large pod of at least a dozen, possibly up to 20, Bottlenose dolphins. Lily dashed below to wake Jo and they could both hear their calls underwater. They swam with us for a short while, what a beautiful start to your day.
After a rainy first day in Jersey we woke to sunshine and Jo, Jayne and Lily took a bus to Durrells wildlife park. Set up by Gerald Durrell in the 1960’s to help preserve some of the most endangered animal species in the world. Still 20 years after his death the park is well managed, with a very successful breeding programme and the enclosures are by far the best we have seen anywhere. The following day we set off back to France and the city of St Malo.