Channel Islands 10-26 July 2015 - 306 nautical miles
Friday 10 July 2015
Up very early and drove down to Haslar, and unloaded the stuff for the holiday, and then took the train up to London. The car hire people picked up from Haslar office. Very busy day, but got away on time and got to the boat a little ahead of Julia.
We headed for Yarmouth pretty soon after she arrived.
Motored to Yarmouth, and had supper on the way. Then drinks at the yacht club.
Saturday 11 July 2015
Weather still good but wind on the nose so rough ride over St Albans Head. Into Weymouth to see the seafood festival was on – we did not know. Made the bridge lift, got into the marina and had lunch, then went out – great afternoon. Bought Julia a Weird Fish top.
Sunday 12 July 2015
Weather a bit miserable all day. Stayed in and watched Wimbledon.
Monday 13 July 2015
Forecast made the West Country impossible for several days and the forecast for Jersey looked much better, so we cracked off south. Very rough through the Shambles and very windy out at sea, blowing 25 – 33 knots consistently from the West. Great sail, but autohelm working hard. Julia had to lie down. Difficult getting through the shipping, but the boat behaved well. Into Alderney, with the waves still very big after 9 hours ( 57 miles ). Went ashore for a drink at the divers on the water taxi, and also a drink in the Sailing club. Ate on board.
Tuesday 14 July 2015
Motor sailed down to Jersey. Still quite grey until we came to the South of the Island, when the sun came out. Plenty of spaces in St. Helier, but the sun went in though. Ate at the Little Thai and met our neighbours Patrick & Blandine.
Wednesday 15 July 2015
Shopped and bought seafood in the market. Lazy day. I cooked sea bass in the evening.
Thursday 16 July 2015 This was the day it was supposed to be hot and sunny, but it was grey all day. Very disappointing, so we did jobs and had drinks with Patrick & Blandine. Watched the Open Golf and I cooked scallops on black pudding.
Friday 17 July 2015
Set of to ride to Gorey for lunch, but it started raining, so we turned back and bought some lobster and crab from Vicky’s seafood shack. We then took the bus and had lunch at Sumas on the balcony. The weather was miserable all day, but the balcony is covered now. Back and watched golf Saturday 18 July 2015 There was a fete in St. Helier which was fun and in the morning the weather was pleasant, so we wandered around the streets. We then cycled to St. Aubin and back in the rain. Julia watched a movie and I fell asleep early
Sunday 19 July 2015
Cycled to St. Aubin to the Yacht Club for lunch, and Patrick and Blandine joined us by bus. Lovely lunch and we walked out to the castle. Sunny, but after we cycled back it rained and was miserable again.
Monday 20 July 2015
We headed out at 0600 as soon as the gate opened and headed for Carteret, which was fine. It was sunny on the water but grey again on arrival. Cycled out to the point and had a drink at the Bar du Port. Holed up and watched the delayed lastday of golf.
Tuesday 21 July 2015 Headed off up to Dielette and it was a nice day. Had moules frites in the sunshine, and had a walk. Tried to have dinner in the restaurant in the marina but it was closed that evening, so we went to the hotel in the old port. It was ok, but a bit stuffy.
Wednesday 22 July 2015
We took the free bus to Les Pieux, which is sadly a one horse town. We explored, which took no time, and had a drink, and a really lovely lunch. Bus back and we had dinner at the marina restaurant, which wasn’t as good as we had hoped.
Thursday 23 July 2015
Nice weather but the forecast for Friday was horrible, so we decided to go cross channel. We had to wait for the sill, so that meant getting in at 11pm in the dark, but we had a nice sunny and pleasant crossing.
Friday 24 July 2015
Next day it was very wet and miserable and windy as forecast so we were a bit smug. We went to the French restaurant in Southsea to pretend we were till in France, and actually fooled Andy Thomas and others on FB ! We came back in the rib Baby Bacchus and got soaked but saw the Americas Cup fleet coming back in from the official practice race. In the evening we cooked for Lloyd, Gemma and Colin and Taylor. Lovely evening.
Saturday 25 July 2015
We joined the big gang and went over to Southsea for the first races of the Americas Cup series. The weather was nice and we had a great day, and Sir Ben Ainslie won the first race and came second in the next one. We made our own way back and cooked on board.
Sunday 26 July 2015
Sadly the weather was awful – very wet and very windy, so the racing got cancelled. We packed up and went home.