Guernsey

10.6. Before nightfall we had some doubts if there was enough water under the keel to overnight so we moved the boat a few hundred meters more away from the shore. The tide was about four meters and it was a close call if there was some swell coming from the Atlantic. Otherwise it wouldn’t have been a problem because the bottom was mud and sand and keel could has just dug itself into that. There was some stronger wind during the night and neither of us slept very well. The morning was rainy with a very small breeze. According to the tide tables we were supposed to leave at 11 am but after 8 am the wind picked up and we saw some French boats sailing north through de Raz so we followed suit against the current. The current was up to 4 knots but only for less than a mile. We set course to Ile Ouesssant to skip the Chenal the Four. Soon the current went down to nothing but before Ouessant the current turned and became stronger all the time reaching 7,2 knots on the strait to the east of Ouessant. The current slowly diminished but came with us for the next 20 plus miles before turning against for 5 hours, maximum speed 2 knots. After Ouessant we hoisted the genaker for 20 miles after which the wind died out and we had to start the engine. During the night the wind slowly got stronger from the southeast but as we were taking turns sleeping we only hoisted the genoa after 7 am mainly to keep us from rolling and to gain a little more speed to get us to Guernsey before they close the entrance over the sill. We arrived in Guernsey at about 10 am and were greeted by a guy from the marina office who came to meet us on a dinghy and showed us a place to attach the boat. The day was party rainy, the previous night it rained almost all the time. The day went in a haze because of the two previous nights with two little sleep. I also sprained my back lifting the anchor the day before.

12.6. Rain, rain rain. We took a local bus with a route around the island. Everything looks so neat. I wonder if there are any poor people on this island. Finally we found good chandlers so we managed to get new windshield wiper arms, the originals were probably originals because I had to cut them away with a Dremel cutter. I got new ones from the chandlery and from another one new reading lights for the front cabin. We also had the fire extinguisher serviced. We had a three course dinner in a very good Italian restaurant for 12 pounds apiece. The plan was to take the Alderney Race tomorrow but the forecast suddenly changed to worse and we have to wait. This is the first harbor where we have a boat on our side so we are between another boat and the pontoon. This is quite common here but as we have been sailing off the season we haven’t encountered this yet.