Position: 49:27:40N 02:31:48W

Guernsey, Channel Islands

The winds were in the low teens and ‘just’ a close reach (ie. getting near the point you can’t comfortably sail for longer distances for the non-sailors!) – we made great progress but not ‘quite in the right direction. Those few degrees ‘off’ course that kept our speed up then all add-up and by the time we reached the French coast we were a few more miles east of the Alderney Race than we’d have liked.

Note to self for future reference.
Weather forecasts, whilst pretty good cannot be relied upon – be ready for anything.

The winds had built substantially into the low 20’s and changed direction to south westerly (ie. from the south west) – This was 40 degrees different to the morning’s weather forecast for this time of day and was pretty well where we wanted to go –  sail boats don’t sail into the wind.
The current was with us but the wind was against the current.
This is all such a huge learning experience. Turning theory into practice can be quite traumatic! Basically, water doesn’t like being driven in one direction by a tidal current and then the wind blowing against the current. It’s anger for this offence is expressed by huge confused seas!

Hmmm.. sailing very close to the wind in very rough seas near the rocky French coastline.
We decided to motor rather than be the purist yachtsman and tough it out!

WHIRL!!  GRRR!!! WHIRL!!!  ..now what!
We had just set the boat up to motor west and to the centre of the entrance to the Alderney Race when the engine started straining and vibrating with a WHIRL!!  GRRR!!! WHIRL!!!  .. the boat slowing down all the time.
Oh SH ..ugar!

What now! .. as we looked at each other and each of us really knowing that we had probably caught a left over fishing rope or net or something but didn’t want to be the first to mention it.  Peter and Jean probably thinking it was Lifeguard time and John quietly thinking, “that English Channel water looks to be a little too cold to go swimming just now!”

Then.
Another whirl, a bang and then brrrrrrrrrm!
The engine started to pick up speed revving away as if nothing had ever happened!

Phew!
A quick check of the dials confirmed that everything was now fine and an unscheduled cold dip in that nice cool Atlantic Ocean was not now on the agenda – Damb! and I was so looking forward to quick few laps of the boat too!

It seems that what had happened is that we did indeed catch a rope or a net but the rope cutter we had had fitted to the prop shaft had done it’s job and cut that nasty rope wrapped around the prop into tiny little pieces! Actually, just as the tests that Yachting Monthly had conducted had it shown that it probably would do.
I love rope cutters. Money well spent!

Beeping Lazarettes
Motoring through the Alderney Race this time was, well bumpy?
Water, water everywhere.

Over the bow, along the side decking, through the holes of the canopy, over the spray dodger (haha, that’s a laugh “a spray dodger!” I’m thinking “river dam diverter” would be a more accurate name!) Gallons, gallons and more gallons flowed everywhere. Just as Jean received her first sea water cold shower through the canopy though..

BEEP!  BEEP! Gosh, how many warning beeps does this boat have! This time it clearly wasn’t the AIS pfd’s, nor a ‘ship getting too close’ warning, nor ‘reaching a waypoint’ warning, nor the ‘autohelm lost course’ warning, nor the ship’s ‘bilge pump’ warning, (We are learning!). This time the warning, the very loud screeching, whining, high pitched, break your eardrums, ‘won’t turn off’ warning was for the port aft lazerette locker saying it had taken in water and “..just so you know crew, I’m pumping it out so don’t worry about me”. Well, it’s fine to be warned that the lazerette bilge pump had turned ON during this tempest of angry waves but, “just shut up for one minute, please!”  Over the next 2 hours it faithfully kept us abreast that it was continuing to clean every last drop of water out of the locker – Every last little drop. I’m sure it would even suck out early morning dew from the side walls it was so insistent. There is no switch to turn either the pump or that faithful warning buzzer ‘OFF’ – it’s a safety feature. It’s best to be safe even if it drives the crew to insanity.
That warning buzzer is an excellent piece of engineering too.
No matter how many rags, tissues, towels, neoprene mugs holders could dampen it! Ear plugs were broken out of their sealed wrappers and handed out to all crew members. Have you ever noticed how a screechy, whining, rasping, ear-piercing noise gets ever louder over 2 hours?

Still, Jean forgot how wet her clothing had got in all the noise.

We arrived safely in St Peter Port. People must like our boat because as we passed them on the way in they all came out from the depths of their boats.
Then we turned the electrics ‘off’ and the boat was silent   …aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh  

John looked for that wall insulation foam that expands in every crevasse to seal the b#####r up!

As always we had a great time in Guernsey – did I ever mention I love this Bailiwick?
If we lived in England this would surely become a regular haunt of ours.

Peter and Jean flew back to sunny England and left Les and I to enjoy “Timeless” further afield. Oh, by now the rain had eased over England (I suppose because of the Olympics) and it had stopped raining everyday – just every few days.