Round Guernsey – the voyage I’ll never forget
Just sailing round the island, dear” is no joke when you live on a teeny one, as I do. The beauty of Guernsey is that it’s so small I can get back in time for supper. Though I’ve sailed round it many times in all conditions, I’ll always remember a voyage in 2004 that taught me never to underestimate the sea.
The urge to go around the island creeps up on me when shore-bound for too long. Whatever the time of year, it makes a fine and often more challenging alternative to a run down to Jersey, four or five hours south, or to France for mussels and a glass of hair restorer.
It takes about a tide to sail round Guernsey. Sometimes it’s challenging, but it’s always spectacular.
Clearing out a bookcase I came across a crumpled, salt-stained Admiralty chart which bore the pencil outline of a long-ago Guernsey circumnavigation. With it was a battered logbook, dated 18 April 2004. Whilst – my 33ft Westerly Discus at the time – lay quietly at anchor in
