Alderney and back

We had a day in Cherbourg to have a nice meal and show Charlie the sights. Over the meal we discussed what we could do next to make the most of Charlie's holiday. It was proposed that a trip to Alderney would be in order.  8/8  We had a lazy start the next day and I worked out the tides for a trip across the Alderney Race which is ideally approached for a crossing at slack tide. (The Alderney Race is renowned for its fast flowing currents and rough waters so respect is called for). We planned our departure for a couple of hours before HW Dover to give us time to get along the coast using a little back eddy to help us inshore between Cherbourg and Omonville. It was a beautiful morning we decided to ease along and sail as far as possible which turned out to be a mistake as today would prove not to be a day for loitering. The wind was North Westerly today and we had to squeeze along the coast on a tight Starboard tack. On the positive side we were able to see the villages and sights along the way in the light wind. On the negative side this pushed us in towards a couple of headlands and their associated turbulent water not the least of which is Basse Brefort which we travelled through in a damp fashion with the boat pitching up and down into some large chop which ordinarily we would have been to seaward off.  I was most grateful that we were in a well found vessel who could withstand the shaking about. Even so we got a couple of green ones along the deck. We pushed out towards Alderney skirting the Cap de l'Hague and taking some more green ones for our trouble. As we got into the Aderney Race the wind increased and the swell accordingly, as we were about a third of the way across we hardened up the Genoa sheet and something went quite wrong. The drum literally flew off and the O ring headed for the scuppers, these new winches less than a year old had failed. We reassembled the winch after taking the load off the sheet, just as well I always teach my students how to do a rolling hitch! Lo and behold it failed again, this time the O ring bounced in the scuppers and went overboard to howls of disbelief from us both.  

That's blown it

  We managed to jury rig the little spinnaker winch to take the load after a while but it did not bode well for such an expensive failure in a relatively moderate wind. What was worse was that we had spent so long dealing with the sheet winch that we were now no longer squeezing up north of Braye but we're approaching the shore from the East and the tide was starting to ebb southwards sending us to Guernsey if we were not careful. The next hour was not an experience I would want to repeat, ever! We started the engine and throttled it up as far as I dared and sailed the boat as hard and as close to the wind as I dared. As we got nearer to Aldreney and approached .Pt Quenard the tide started to ebb even faster around the headland.     We were less than a quarter of a mile from the North channel but the tide was sucking us South at an incredible rate. At one point we had 9 knots on the log speed and zero knots on the Speed over Ground and what was worse was that directly behind us was opening up a set of whirl pools from hell with standing waves that it looked like we were slowly going to reverse ourselves into.

Keep calm and carry on

 

Sliding down the Race

 So what to do...... If we carried on then surely we would slowly get sucked backwards into the morass. If we turned and fled we would drive straight into it. The other option was to oh so gently manoeuvre a little sideways in an attempt to find slacker water and inch towards the North channel where the tide was starting west rather than South. I took a while and it could have gone either way, but eventually we pulled ourself out of the quick sand and got into the West going channel and relative safety. Heading into Braye harbour we found a mooring buoy close into the harbour wall as the other buoys further out were occupied by a number of boats rocking and rolling in the swell which in my experience is becoming a bit of a thing on my last few visits. So we had a bit of lunch and then of course the swell reached is with more than a little tenacity. Patience is in short supply when being rocked from one gunwale to the other. After 90 minutes of this rigmarole we collectively decided that enough was too much and made plans to head back to Cherbourg as soon as the ebb eased so we tucked in for a snooze until later. Heading out of the washing machine in Braye into the tumble dryer just outside the harbour at dusk was as pleasant as one might expect. Once clear of QuenardPt again we were then just into the wind against tide of the race which was lumpy and on the beam for a while. All in all not going to be the best day's sailing. Sorry Charlie! We made it back to Cherbourg in the dark with an increasing Westerly wind and the tide behind us making 10 knots over ground which at least shortened our purda. Oh how we laughed after a bottle of wine and a hot meal, 55 miles to end up where we woz! That night a gale went through unforeseen , what a pleasure to lie in my bunk and hear the whistle of the rigging and be neatly tied up in shelter rather than bouncing around a mooring buoy.