June 22: St.Helier - St. Peter Port, Guernsey

Tuesday June 22, 2011: St.Helier to Jersey.

You might be surprised to read our blog today as we announced in the last blog, that we intended to sail direct from Jersey to Plymouth.
The weather however was too bad for a crossing:
Wind force 6 to 7 Beaufort with waves up to 15 feet. (=>5 meter)

We started very optimistic. We left St.Helier at noon after refuelling. We had two reefs in the mainsail and two in the Genua, but as we left the last rocks of the island behind us, the wind was still a moderate 11 to 13 knots.
The moment we decided to reduce the number of reefs and loosened the sail, a wind gust of over 33 knots hit us.
We almost lost complete control over the ship, but luckily we still used the motor at that moment. The batten holder broke loose from the mainsail.
This caused another tear in the mainsail but this time it looks that the tear is beyond repair. So tomorrow we will have to use the new mainsail which we have with us already since three years.

Anyway, at 15:00 hours we saw the fast ferry with Monique on board passing us and at 17:30 we arrived in St. Peter Port on Guernsey for the second time this journey, but this time at low tide.
We were given a nice berth outside the marina, so we can leave any time we wish tomorrow for Plymouth.

Monique found us and Sam used the dinghy and picked her up.
This evening we will have to prepare our crossing for tomorrow again.
Monique will take the 15:30 Ferry to Weymouth U.K. from St.Peter Port and join us later this week in Plymouth.
As we told you before: you can real time follow our progress at sea at:
www.marinetraffic.com . Area: English channel, ship: Boekanier.

We will keep you updated.
Cees, Sam, Monique and Oscar.