Alderney 7th July 2017

I hate it when the correct tides are in the late afternoon, you end up not being able to settle doing anything. But we were due to leave at three o'clock so after a last wander round Guernsey we did the jobs we needed to do and got ready to leave. Steve, who was on the boat in front of us was ready to leave about twenty to three so we helped him turn his boat around. Like us he was going to Alderney, we had decided to go through the Swinge and he was going round the island first.

Although we tried it was another day when we couldn't sail. Thank goodness for the iron sail. The Swinge is a well known piece of water where the tides run strongly and there are rocks, lots of rocks. I think we were both nervous about what would happen. I kept telling the Captain to trust the navigator and not deviate from the course. The water is amazing as you approach it, the only way I can describe it is the water bubbles and boils. Even if we hadn't have known we were there, we would have known as the boat shot along at 10 knots. This was pure water speed and not engine speed.

As well as keeping an eye on all the rocks around us we had time to look at the gannet colony where there are over 11,000 gannets. The rock looks like it is white but the white is really the birds nesting.

I took these pictures from the land on one of our walks.

Whilst we were whizzing down the side of Alderney we saw the breakwater of Braye harbour and the masts of many yachts peeping over the top. Although we were pleased to see our destination  I was worried it might be full, then what we would do. As we rounded the corner we then played hunt the mooring buoy. Fortunately there were some spare, unfortunately near the harbour entrance so we knew that might be a bit bumpier. Anyhow we picked up the buoy on first attempt, I must say the mooring buoys were well maintained and had a brilliant pick up rope.

Within less than thirty minutes after arriving we had our dinner (steak and rice) on the table. So we were feeling pleased and well organised.

We were right about it being a bit of a bumpy night so ended up sleeping later and were woken to the sound of the harbour master knocking on the boat. They must have had a shock as I appeared in my jim jams. The cost here is £15 a night. As we had come from Guernsey we did not have to fill in more custom forms.  So we would have a better nights sleep as soon as we saw a spare buoy  we moved to it, again we picked it up first go, so feeling a bit smug.

As the intention was only going to be there for one more night we decided to get the water taxi to get ashore. This is very efficient and costs £2 a person each way. We wandered round Braye and worked out where the shops were and headed up the hill to St Annes, which is the town. It really was like stepping back in time.

The taxi coming to pick us up.

The High Street at St Annes.

It didn't take too long to walk round we came out the other side and found the zig zag path so we had a coastal walk back to Braye. We also walked along the breakwater. Then we found the local supermarket, we had a choice of two, the one that was a Waitrose supplier and the one that sold normal food! Guess which one I chose.

Once we got back to the boat, it was passage planning for our journey back to the mainland. We decided that we would go to Weymouth.