Yacht Pipit

      

8th July 2010

Bidet - like non-executive directors, nobody quite knows what they're for, but they add a touch of class...

We left Cherbourg on Tuesday and headed east to Saint Vaast, a small port that is known for its oysters. Whilst oysters were still available, they are in short supply due to an as yet unknown disease which is apparently killing off the oysters in the region. Neither of us are that keen on fresh oysters anyway, but we thought we would add some educational value to your read today...
:-o

Ile de Tatihou, at the approach to Saint Vaast.


I'm sure there was water here when we arrived...


It's a boat...


...no a bus...


...well you decide...


Another Cobb triumph, with Saint Vaast seafood.


Returning to Cherbourg again the next day, having calculated our passage plan to take advantage of the favourable tidal streams, we had an excellent sail in fine weather. We anchored outside the marina at Cherbourg - excellent holding in the mud for anyone planning to visit - thus saving the €25 in marina fees!

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Not every anchorage has a nuclear submarine facility as a backdrop...


Onward to Alderney on Thursday we had a cracking good sail, again working the tidal stream in our favour above the Alderney Race, getting up to 10.8 knots over the ground. Just beyond the Cherbourg outer breakwater, we had an anxious few minutes when we heard the engine note change suddenly. The prop must have fouled something, but with a bit of forward & reverse the Ambassador stripper did its stuff (for those non-boaties reading, that is a rope cutter fitted to the prop, not a disrobing diplomat!) We spent two nights on a mooring in Alderney's Braye Harbour, the second night more rolly than the first, even though there was no weather from the exposed North East, as the harbour is effectively just one breakwater with open sea (the Channel) immediately outside. Beautiful all the same though. Although the visibility was a bit poor on Friday, we went ashore, passing through the village of St Anne's to enjoy a walk along the south and south west coast of the island.

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Braye Harbour, Alderney.


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Poor visibility, so we couldn't see the other islands or France.


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Alderney lighthouse.


Early on Sunday, we set sail again for Dielette on the Normandy coast but, alas, no wind that day, so we had to motor to ensure we arrived in time to get over the sill. Dielette was described to us in Alderney as a "one-horse town but the horse has gone." That seems about right as it was pretty and pleasant enough but there was an excessive surge in the marina until the tide dropped below the sill, no WiFi (contrary to the provider's website), no shops and not exactly cheap to compensate. What the Pilot Guide described as a "colourful market" on the Sunday (which Ann had planned on visiting to stock up on fresh food) consisted of a couple of vans, and although the fruit & veg was ok, the rotiserie van didn't seem to be selling many roast chickens - maybe it was because they were €16.60 each!

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The stream & waterfall feeding into Dielette marina.


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Nice shirt - must be a work day...


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Funny, but not as funny as our French would be...


We left Dielette on Monday and sailed to Sark, again making use of the bottom edge of the Alderney Race and the tidal streams. We picked up a mooring in the anchorage on the North Eastern tip of Sark, a very picturesque spot just under the lighthouse with views to Guernsey, Alderney, the Casquets lighthouse and mainland France. It was a bit rolly as, despite being sheltered from the westerly breeze, the swell rolls around the North of the island.


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Sark anchorage, with the lighthouse behind.


The next morning we sailed to St Helier on Jersey as a convenient midway stopover on our way to St Malo, our next planned destination, where we might just stay put for a few days - see our next update (you'll have to wait a few days Robert :-))