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.
It's been some time since I updated the blog and this is due to a lack of focus and plenty of diversions to deal with.
Just like being at school when I was too late to complete my homework, the backlog has become a beast that needs taming!
So Seascape is now in Brittany in a town called Redon living through the winter on board and being surprised by the rapid approach of Christmas so time to catch up and describe how I got here and perhaps why - so here goes...
Chapter 1 Departure from the Hamble August 6th 2016
The Autumn was approaching fast and I had spent a summer learning to teach both Shorebased and Practical yachting by way of a number of Day Skipper and Competent Crew courses in the Solent. Its fair to say that I learned as much as I had taught and it was a rewarding if tiring exercise intellectually and physically, teaching up to 9 days solid on a combined course of 4 days theory and 5 days practical.
When I say solid we are talking at least 18 hours a day but that is a whole story in itself. So lets stick with the great people I met throughout the summer and the laughter we shared that will last for a long while.
So having finished my last contracted course in August I finally got to focus on departure and with the plan to head south to Cherbourg as the first leg of the voyage I contacted a few mates and erstwhile students who had expressed an interest in joining me at some point.
It was Charlie a dinghy instructor and now qualified Day Skipper, who answered the siren call, luckily for me.
Charlie was able to extricate himself from a myriad of other exciting commitments to offer me a week of his time and drove down from Sheffield via a number of other towns where he had compelling reasons to pop in.
Charlie arrived in the Hamble on Sunday night just before midnight and loaded Seascape for an early start the next morning.
Seascape sailing under Genoa, Staysail and Main
Tides were well timed for an "east about" the island departure with a South Westerly wind (naturally) so with newly scrubbed bottom and victuals stowed, at 06:00 we sailed up the Eastern Solent on a Monday morning early with all our white canvas aloft - that is Main, Genoa and Staysail. We certainly looked the part and romped up to Ryde in double quick time. After fiddling around with the log impeller for a few minutes off Wootton.
The speed was registering well in excess of 7 Knots and the tide was giving us an extra tow so we made Bembridge without delay and decided to tack up the Eastern shores of the Island to clear southwards for Cherbourg. The wind over the island cliffs was playing interference though making the wind direction more southerly than we would have liked so we had to motor sail to get clear of the island.
East via Bembridge
We quickly left the shores of the Island behind and enjoyed a close hauled sail towards Cherbourg working hard to use every opportunity to squeeze up on Starboard tack as the wind veered back to South Westerly. This is where the Autopilot earns its passage. Using the wind pilot mode we set a course to stay at 35 to 40 degrees to the wind and as the wind frees we squeeze up. We started at 200 degrees and managed to eke out another 20deg. to 180M which kept us near enough to Cherbourg with a contingency to St Vaast if all went the wrong way.
The wind remained in this quarter for the remainder of the voyage but weakened when about 15 miles North of the French coast and so we had to motor the last couple of hours into the marina allowing for the tide to change and keeping us up on the right side of it.
We arrived at 20:00 BST and the log read 28604 (94 miles logged) and enjoyable sail for most of the way despite the wind direction and the drop at the end. Engine hours 5.
A boat is for using and I would not wish you to think that I do nothing but renovate, renovate and renovate.
As you may remember launch was in July which had delayed the big plan to head south for this year, so the revised plan was to shakedown by sailing locally and then increasing the distances as we resolved teething issues that might need some additional support.
An early trip to Poole provided a very nice challenge with weather as we raced to get in before a summer gale and monsoon, we wanted to visit the Royal Motor Yacht Club at Poole and visit friends and so we did victualling and refuelling at the yacht haven at the RAFYC.
Looking down from the PPYH
We almost missed the heavy winds and rain but not quite as you can see Seascape performed admirably in conditions where the wind gusted over 30 knots she was forgiving and graceful just as we had hoped.
We made it into the RMYC and enjoyed a lovely weekend of hospitality.
On to the Channel
Immediately following the first trip we took some holiday and headed towards (Never "TO" which would be presumptive for the superstitious) The Channel Islands and Brittany. For those that think the travelling across the channel is an anxious trip take a look at the video where you can see we sailed across from Poole to Cherbourg in perfect sailing conditions. Seascape romped along in the conditions easily making in excess of 7 knots and providing an exceptionally comfortable and fast trip to France arriving relaxed and very rested which was very satisfying indeed.
Frances took the opportunity of hoisting the courtesy flags, first upside down (International sign of distress) and then the correct way up!
From Cherbourg we replenished our wine stocks at Normandy Wine warehouse and Carrefour and headed off to Braye Harbour on Alderney.
Rainbow over Braye
Storm coming
Sunset
On Southwards
After a lovely stay in Alderney where we walked around the port and had an early beer in the Divers pub (us still on French time - whoops!) they were relaxed so I doubt we were the earliest drinkers at just before 11am. Next morning we had an early start to catch the tide down the Swinge towards Lezardrieux in Brittany.
It was a truly spectacular trip leaving in the early morning before sunrise and catching the most beautiful of sunrises off the coast of Alderney was very special indeed.
Almost
Morning
The Big Russell off Guernsey
Our voyage down to Lezardieux was productive, if not too exciting with quite a lot of motoring, but we arrived and decided to take a look at La Corderie a location which we had seen and would dearly have loved to anchor in.
La Corderie
Unfortunately many there had already blessed their presence and the last thing I felt comfortable doing was anchoring in a confined space with the risk of grounding on our first foreign trip so we headed off up the river to Lezardrieux and took a berth in the marina.
Lezardrieux berth
After a restful evening we went up to see the market and take advantage of a lovely restaurant for lunch. The market had some lovely Breton musicians playing their pipes and trad music which entertained the crowds and we enjoyed as ever perusing the various stalls selling fish and seafood and beautiful fresh veg not forgetting of course the bread and patisserie.
At the first opportunity we headed off to sit outside the restaurant on a lovely warm day and had a lunch that was truly divine. Lunch was extraordinary, starting with amuse bouche of tuna that was coated with a mix of salt and sugar followed by oysters and a fish stockpot to die for.
The oysters were immaculately shucked and after the meal I went to ask the proprietor and chef what the secret was as well as to thank him for a truly memorable lunch. The secret to opening oysters , well now I am inducted I am not allowed to say !
Lessons
The following day we decided to head for St Quai de Portrieux , as we were preparing to leave there was the sound of heavy footsteps on the pontoon and we observed almost a dozen douaniers Approaching with intent. We casually carried on shortening lines and the. I casually asked them if they wished us to stay. Luckily they were more interested in the Jersey bound yacht alongside us and bade us Bon voyages.
Without hesitation we left and motored out of the beautiful river towards the east.
Once offshore we enjoyed a sail which continued to exceed our expectations, on a broad reach the wind increased from a gentle force 2 towards a high end 5 and Seascape just picked up her skirts and flew faster and faster, without fuss or drama we were tramping along at speeds that we had not experienced on a yacht previously. In fact we kept checking the log against the GPS in case the instruments were cheating. From 7 knots we soon achieved 8.5 and then topped 9 with a whoop. It was like surfing a jumbo jet, soon we were topping 10 and unbelievably at some points we hit 13knots AMAZING
If you don't believe me see the video below to experience what she feels like at speed.
