Channel Islands & France 2015
338.2 nautical miles travelled, 70 hours and 48 minutes sailed, 4 boats, 3 islands, 2 countries, 2 locks, 2 rivers and one anchorage.
Trip overview
At the end of May 2015 there was a Starcross Yacht Club "cruise in company" to the Channel Islands and France. Derek H kindly offered me a place on his Sadler 26 yacht. The table below links to GPS tracks and some photos from that trip.
We left SYC on the Exe Estuary on Thursday 21st May for Brixham (in Devon), then to St Peter Port on Guernsey, on to Dixcart Bay on Sark, on to Gorey on the east coast of Jersey, then on to St Malo in France, up to Dinan on the Rance river, back to St Malo, back to St Peter Port and finally back to SYC on the Exe (30th May).
Overall an excellent sailing trip with only one day out of ten lost to strong winds.
Activities from the trip
| Activity | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sail down to Brixham | Thursday 21st May 2015 | A sail from Starcross down to Brixham ready for an early morning channel crossing to St Peter Port - Guernsey. Wind went from near enough becalmed to a F5 in about 15 minutes. Made for an exciting sail across Torbay |
| Brixham to Guernsey | Friday 22nd May 2015 | A sail across from Brixham Marina to St Peter Port in Guernsey. Quite foggy when leaving Brixham, not so foggy crossing the shipping lanes (phew) and very foggy making landfall on the Guernsey side (having more than one chart plotter available amongst the various nav aids made this easier). Note - the photos may be rubbish but they are not that out of focus - it really was that foggy). Stare hard and you'll see things in the photos! |
| St Peter Port to Dixcart Bay | Saturday 23rd May 2015 | A lovely sail across from St Peter Port on Guernsey to Dixcart Bay on Sark. Climbed the path to the village on Sark but the ice cream shop was shut! Had to make do with a pint in the pub. Spent the night at anchor in Dixcart Bay |
| Dixcart on Sark to Gorey on Jersey | Sunday 24th May 2015 | A very foggy sail from the Dixcart Bay anchorage on Sark round to Gorey on Jersey. Stayed close to Simon T's catamaran with its posh radar reflector! Giggled at the rather asthmatic fog horn. Fog cleared nicely for the rounding of the north east corner of Jersey and into Gorey harbour. Visited the rather spectacular Mont Orgueil Castle while the boat dried out in Gorey Harbour. A splendid veggie curry provided by Simon T on his Nelly Nui. Note - there was a lot of fog - the photos aren't blurry - stare hard and you should see stuff! |
| Gorey to St Malo France | Monday 25th May 2015 | From Gorey on Jersey down to St Malo in France. Along the Violet Channel and then straight on through the rocky shallows that extend from the south east corner of Jersey. As soon as the motor was off we were joined by a pod of about 6 to 8 large dolphins who stayed playing with the boat for about half an hour. Then between the Minquiers and Ile Chausey reefs and on to St Malo. Note - the pictures that appear to be blank sea are actually photos of dolphins if you look hard enough! |
| St Malo to Dinan | Tuesday 26th May 2015 | From the Port des Sablons marina at Saint Servan (next to St Malo), a sail up the river Rance to the medieval town of Dinan. The trip took us through the hyrdro-electric barrage lock. Anchored near St. Suliac for a spot of lunch (OK - to wait for the tide to rise) and then up through the lock at Chatelier. After this lock the river becomes a bit more canal like. Moored up at Dinan and explored the well preserved walled medieval town of Dinan. Dinan is twinned with Exmouth! No idea why... |
| Dinan to St Malo | Wednesday 27th May 2015 | Back from Dinan to St Malo. Via the locks at Chatelier and the Rance hydro-electric barrage. Light winds. |
| St Malo to Guernsey | Thursday 28th May 2015 | A sail back from St Malo to Guernsey. Quite a hard sail as there were some short steepish waves that slowed the boat speed considerably for quite a time. The wind was also from the north meaning that we were pinching for quite a lot of the time. As we passed Jersey the wind picked up and freed a little making for an excellent 2nd half of the sail into St Peter Port on Guernsey |
| Stuck in harbour | Friday 29th May 2015 | Some big gusts of wind were predicted for this Friday so we sat the day out in St Peter Port marina. A wise choice as the few boats that did go out came back in fairly quickly. Some chandlery browsing and lunch at Guernsey Yacht Club |
| St Peter Port to SYC | Saturday 30th May 2015 | A stonkingly fast sail back from St Peter Port to Starcross Yacht Club on the Exe. Plans changed late as we were concerned about getting back to SYC before predicted high winds late on the Saturday night (also trying to miss low water on the Exe). So up at the hideously early hour of 02:30 and up through the Little Russell channel in the dark. The Little Russell was just a tad bouncy. After a couple of hours of motor sailing (to keep up the average speed as required), the wind picked up a bit and started to back round to the west. The final third of the sail was with 14 to 20 knots (force 5ish) of wind aft of the port beam and with full sails up. Derek's Sadler averaged over 5.4 knots - way ahead of what we could have hoped for. Back on the mooring by about 18:30 - maybe 3 hours ahead of planned. |