Foggy but fun

Guernsey to Jersey, 25nm

Thursday 17 July

We decided to bring Penny’s friend Andy with us to Jersey as he was keen and we like having enthusiasts. Despite leaving at 7, it didn’t put him off.

The theory was that early fog would burn off for a sunny sail, and that we’d benefit from the morning wind as it was due to die out around 12.

The wind bit was fine as we had about 9 knots, so we were going 6-7; but there was no sun and the fog took a while to clear, and return, and then clear again.

David had another go with the Hydro generator and we got around 120Watts at 7 knots – we hope for more, so we are going to look at the propellor options. 

Penny must have been a bit disappointed by the much flatter seas after what she’s now used to.

Our Guernsey helm did a great job – he even has gloves!

We arrived around 11.30 and Andy said we are going to have to get used to getting places more quickly than we expect to. I think he meant we could have left a bit later.

We motored the last bit as the wind died as we bore away round the South Jersey shore.

We had plenty of room over the marina sill at 5.5m but the sign was a bit daunting.

Once we arrived the sun came out and we headed for the beach.

After the most delicious crab sandwiches we went for a swim (except Penny) – you had to wade out quite far.

When the tide goes down we can’t leave the marina as the sill rises to keep enough water in and the lights go to red with the depth at the sill showing 0.0.

Andy took the ferry back to Guernsey, hopefully we will soon see him and his family again for more local knowledge and sailing.

Penny also sadly leaves us tomorrow morning and has been excellent crew: she is not only relaxed in rough seas but seems to actively enjoy them, she does masses of washing up, buys pastries for breakfast, and wine, and travels extremely light.

Please come again Penny!