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The journey home
  • Cruising donkeys

The journey home

It’s going to take a while but we are now heading slowly north and back to beautiful Guernsey Read more
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  • Cruising donkeysThe journey homeCruising donkeys
    St Pierre Cathedral opposite chateau
    Inside cathedral very ornateAbbey aux hommesRuins opposite AbbeySt Marks? Gate at ChateauDecorative timbered house

    Ouistreham and Caen

    August 23, 2020 in France ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    The trip from Honfleur to Ouistreham went well it was calmer than I expected and we made up for lost time spent pushing against the tide as we headed for the open sea. The journey took us 4hours we waited 25mins on the pontoon before we were locked in, the marina is very quiet and peaceful except on the first morning when a numpty with what I hope was his first boat, a little yacht, managed to bump us as he tried to fight the winds and leave. He ran aground and a local then got on board and helped him back to the visitors pontoon but this time facing the right way to be able to leave safely.
    We took an overnight trip up to Caen for a look at some of the many restored churches and the ruins of the Chateau. It’s a nice town and had a huge market this morning, with luckily not that many shoppers so it felt safe to wander around, almost everyone was wearing a mask. Tomorrow we are hoping to get to St Vaast but it’s an 8hour trip and I am nervous about my sea legs not yet being ready, fingers crossed and bags at hand just in case.    Read more

  • Cruising donkeysThe journey homeCruising donkeys
    Ouistreham lighthousePegasus BridgeTafe Fives very own shop

    Bugger it

    August 24, 2020 in France ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We missed the 6:15 lock, my fault, I used John’s phone to set an alarm but didn’t check that it was set to local time. It wasn’t it was still on Guernsey time! We did wonder at it being so light but it wasn’t until we were out on the canal waiting, I had radioed, but they didnt answer, that I realised what I had done I glanced at my watch to see how much longer to wait and it read 7:07.
    We returned to the pontoon to wait until the next ‘Lock’ out at 12:15, we did a rough calculation to see what our options were and thought we might be able to get to Port en Bassin if we could achieve 6knots on the cruise. We did a little more shopping, more milk and bread and waited. The lock opened on time but there were loads of boats and we didn’t get out until 12:45 and we were then fighting tide, after 2hours we realised we weren’t going to make the high tide plus 2 gate closure on Port en Bassin and had to either head to Courseilles Sur Mer close by or go to St Vaast and anchor off until the next high tide. The wind was picking up already and there would be nowhere to anchor that would be sheltered so Courseilles was the choice. It’s the site of the Canadian D day landings on Juno beach. They had a good market today for a look around and tomorrow we plan to walk towards Arromanche and the Mulberry harbour to get a bit of exercise as, all being well, we will try for Cherbourg on Thursday.    Read more

  • Cruising donkeysThe journey homeCruising donkeys
    Mulberry harbour section
    Picture of the mulberry bridgesMulberry harbour remains

    Courseilles sur mer to Arromanches

    August 26, 2020 in France ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Well the forecast looks good for a long sail tomorrow so we decided that as we would be static tomorrow we should exercise today. We decided to walk to Arromanches, the site of the Allied Mulberry harbour. The tourist office said it was about 15km so 9miles but mostly in sand. It was a great walk and as it was a falling tide we got to see the east arm of the harbour close up. The beaches were interesting with wooden groynes, rock barriers and oyster beds on the horizon. We had planned to take the bus back but the times weren’t great so after a delicious lunch we walked back again sometimes on the beach then as the tide rose in the dunes, loved it. I have seen the Mulberry harbour and Arromanches museum detailing its history and implementation a few times now but each time I am amazed at what was achieved.Read more

  • Cruising donkeysThe journey homeCruising donkeys
    Sunrise at Courseilles
    Trinite CathedralNapoleons statueDry dock at CherbourgCite de la mer

    Cherbourg

    August 28, 2020 in France ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    We had a lovely trip from Courseilles across the Bay de Seine and along the coast to Cherbourg it was just spoilt a little bit by rain on the last headland but hey at least it was flat. The sunrise was a stunner but as John said ‘red sky in morning sailors warning’ luckily we were fine, the journey took 8.5hours we had tide with us across the Bay. It was nice to see some impressive lighthouses on the way. Not long after we arrived and were safely tied up the wind picked up again. We haven’t done much while we’ve been here, tidied up the boat a bit more, binning more ‘stuff’ the minions carpet has gone! Yesterday we wandered around town saw the wonderful old dry dock in the picture below and did some last minute shopping. Today the wind was from the north and pretty evil but this afternoon it eased and we walked to the Cherbourg Liberation Museum at Fort Roule for more information on the Normandy landings and logistics in making Cherbourg a working port after the German sabotage done to it before they surrendered. Cherbourg harbour is huge, I believe it was Napoleon’s idea to enhance the natural harbour and make this one of the largest in this area.Read more

  • Cruising donkeysThe journey homeCruising donkeys
    Cherbourg fort
    AlderneyHermOur gardenKitchenLounge

    Guernsey the end of this journey

    August 31, 2020 in Guernsey ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We’ve made it home, I’m glad we delayed as this meant we had wonderful conditions for the journey. The only chop was on Cap de la Hague headland where the two tidal flows split. Our maximum speed through the Race was 11.2 knots and the trip took a total of 6.5 hours. At one point we could see all five Channel Islands Alderney, Jersey, Guernsey, Sark and Herm, I almost got emotional.
    Our arrival was not without a little hassle but things were resolved we were able to temporarily put the boat in Victoria Marina to unload directly into John’s mums car. Then we had to tie it to Swan3, one of the waiting pontoons. On our release on the 14th we plan to do the same to remove the remainder of our gear this time using my Dads van as well so we can offload in one trip. Then we will take one last trip before we get it lifted out for the winter season pending, fingers crossed, getting a local mooring.
    Our house is in incredible condition the only sign that it has been lived in are the slightly sagging sofas. Our tenants have been marvelous even though they were going through an horrendous time.
    We have unpacked all our stored detritus and either found places for it or put it in a box for charity. John is revamping his shed and I am doing some paperwork that’s long overdue as well as updating my CV. The first week of confinement has flown by, the next may start to drag though, we can’t wait to meet everyone properly.
    There is only likely to be one more post, when we lift Take Five and put her too bed.
    Keep safe everyone.    Read more

    Trip end
    September 23, 2020
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