Alderney

Karinya
Tim And Vicki Schofield, Captain Cal 7 and Jess 4
Sun 23 May 2010 08:00

49.44n 02.11w
We now anchored in Alderney, as with most sailing we had an interesting crossing. The wind was brilliant which enabled a fast passage. It started off sunny as most in the uk had, then as we hit the shipping lanes a bank of thick fog hit us! This lasted exactly till we were out of the shipping lanes on the French side! I was really glad I installed AIS, this little device let's me know what ships are out there how big how fast they going and how close we will pass with a countdown clock to when that will occur. Our closest yesterday was 482ft ship that at one stage was going to pass us by 300 feet!! That's extremely close when you can't see it and all you can hear are the engines and fog horn. I did contact them on the radio and although they did not respond, they changed course and we passed half a mile from each other. In land terms that's quite a distance but on sea its close. I believe some of these ships can only stop in a 2 mile distance and their steering is not that sensitive.
So after all the fog excitement we pulled into Aderney at about 6PM, nice and sunny but the anchorage is exposed to the Easterly winds, so its a little bumpy and fresh.
We launched the dingy and went to shore, had a drink at the local yacht club which was really friendly. Then went for burgers at a pub. I caught up on the super 14 rugby scores and was happy to see both SA teams won and are in the final. I will have to find a pub on one of the bigger islands next Saturday to watch.
So this morning its foggy and windy, hope it clears later so we can explore the island and play on the beach with the kids.
We will probably leave here Monday/Tuesday for the other islands. 
All our love
Tim, Vic, Cal, Jess