Highlights – the overview
France! Croissants and baguettes and a huge Carrefour supermarket in Cherbourg! We take advantage of all of these, and are ready to leave the marina after one night, for a more peaceful setting… a few miles west to Omonville La Roque, where they have visitor moorings. We will wait there for a good weather window to sail around the cape and into the Channel Islands. Rounding the cape “de la Hague” is a bit of a challenge. The huge tidal streams push around this cape and between the island of Alderney, so we need to proceed at the change of tides (slack) and with very little wind.
The small bay is lovely… we have a beautiful view to the lush green hills on shore. We enjoy our dinner in the cockpit and a have great sunset.
The next morning, Wim mounts our new dinghy wheels and we try them out for a beach landing. They’re terrific! We explore the tiny village (not really even a village) and enjoy the view back out to the bay and our girl!
Finally the conditions are great for passing the Race. We will have slack tide around noon and there’s only 5 knots of breeze from the west.
We have some choppy seas at the point, but once we round the cape the sea gets calm. Onward to our destination – Jersey.
Around 7 o’clock, we arrive at the port of St. Helier. We tie up at next to a Dutch boat at the waiting pontoon in front of the marina. With 10-12m tides here, entrance to the marina is limited to 2 hours either side of high water, so many boats are waiting to get in. We’ll stay on the pontoon, rather than going into the marina.
The next morning, we do some shopping at a nice market hall in the center of St.Helier. They have great fresh local vegetables.
In the afternoon, the wind drops down to 5 knots and the forecast is it will reduce to a few knots. This is the moment we’ve been waiting for, to try our new gennaker! The sailmaker said: try it out the first time at no more than 5 knots which is not increasing. So, we carefully attach all lines, hoist it and unwrap it. All goes smooth and the sail looks gorgeous! Woohoo!!
After a while, the wind drops down to almost nothing and we take down the sail. This was a good practice and we’re happy to see that everything fits and goes smoothly. Next time we can try it with more wind. To make some progress to the islands we start the engine. But, right after it starts, the engine alarm sounds. We have a voltage problem and decide to turn around and go back to Jersey to sort it out. By the end of the afternoon we moor at the same place as where we left this morning.
Captain’s Log (T+32, 33,…36) – the complete story
August 1 – Cherbourg
In Cherbourg, we do shopping at the big shopping mall. There’s a marine store that has a great selection at reasonable prices. Much better than the marine stores near the marina! Sher buys new deck shoes and we both buy some really nice clothing.
After that, we buy a bunch of provisions at the huge Carrefour supermarket and on our way back we buy delicious fresh croissants, a fresh baguette, and home-made flan at a bakery. Back on board, we enjoy the croissants!
After that, at noon, we depart, sailing to a little bay about 10 miles from here. There, we will have to wait a few days for good weather to pass the Alderney Race. Rounding the cape “de la Hague” is a bit of a challenge. The huge tidal streams push around this cape and between the island of Alderney. And because at this moment it is close to spring tide, the currents are stronger… more than 9 knots! With our engine at full throttle we’ll do 9 knots so, it’s impossible to go against this current. And even with this current on our stern the sea will be crazy with huge steep waves… very dangerous. So, we’ll have to wait for a very light breeze and the exact right timing to do this passage at the change of tides (slack).
At 3 o’clock, we arrive in the little bay called Omonville La Roque. It’s a lovely small place with some free moorings for guests and so much better than the crowded marina of Cherbourg! There is some swell from the north rolling in, but not uncomfortable. In fact, we like the gentle rocking of our girl 🙂
We have a gorgeous view looking at the green hills on shore.
That evening, we enjoy a lovely dinner at the cockpit table!
…and a beautiful sunset!
August 2 – New Dinghy Wheels!
In the morning, Wim mounts the dinghy wheels. We ordered these from New Zealand when we were still in the Netherlands. In the afternoon, we dinghy to the beach. The wheels are great!
We wander through the village and enjoy the view of our beautiful girl in the bay.
After that, we make a small dinghy tour along the coast and land on a little beach.
August 3 – Indoor Projects
A rainy day. We spend the day doing small things. Sher is sewing the first cockpit cushion cover and Wim installs a switch for the oven. The anchorage is pretty swelly and sometimes Dione IV rolls heavily.
August 4 – Around the Cape
Today looks great for passing the Race. We will have the change of tides (slack) around noon and there’s only 5 knots of breeze from the west. We depart at 11 o’clock.
When we get near to Cap de la Hague we get a very choppy sea. Even though there’s hardly any wind, we get water on deck!
But once we round the cape, the sea gets calm and we have a breeze from the south-west. Close-hauled sailing angle, we sail south, destination Jersey.
By the end of the afternoon, the wind drops down to zero and we motor along the west coast of Jersey. Here, we pass the lighthouse on the SW corner.
Around 7 o’clock, we arrive at the port of St. Helier. We tie up at next to a Dutch boat at the waiting pontoon in front of the marina. With 10-12m tides here, entrance to the marina is limited to 2 hours either side of high water, so many boats are waiting to get in. We’ll stay on the pontoon, rather than going into the marina.
August 5 – St. Helier, Jersey
In the early morning, we do some shopping at a nice market hall in the center of St.Helier. They have great fresh local vegetables.
When we’ve stored everything on board, we depart. First thing is: fill up our diesel tanks. The quality of diesel is perfect here. Pure mineral, no bio stuff. That’s Mighty Mitsu’s favorite drink! 🙂
Then, we set sail for Les Iles Chausey. There’s a light breeze (8 knots from the west so we have a broad-reach sailing angle) and we will have the current against us for the next few hours so, we are slow. But no problem, we have all day for these 20 miles.
In the afternoon, the wind drops down to 5 knots and the forecast is it will reduce to a few knots. This is the moment we’ve been waiting for, to try our new gennaker! The sailmaker said: try it out the first time at no more than 5 knots which is not increasing. So, we carefully attach all lines, hoist it and unwrap it. All goes smooth and the sail looks gorgeous! Woohoo!!
After a while, the wind drops down to almost nothing and we take down the sail. This was a good practice and we’re happy to see that everything fits and goes smooth. Next time we can try it with more wind.
To make some progress to the islands we start the engine. Right after it starts, the engine alarm sounds. We look at the gauges but they’re dead?? The engine is running normally though. It appears the dashboard has no power. Wim checks everything and concludes there must be an electric failure between the engine and the dashboard. He can’t find any disconnected cables or such. Hm. This requires some debugging… We figure out what to do. The engine is running so we could continue 15 nm to the islands and find out what’s wrong when we’re anchored. But, if we need parts it would be better to be at St.Helier. That’s only 6 nm. We decide for that and turn around, retracing our course. By the end of the afternoon we moor at the same place as where we left this morning.
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