Racing around the Cap de la Hague
After a week in Cherbourg it was time to go out and about again. Well prepared, fully stocked and totally zen (after those two yoga classes), we set off to conquer Europe’s furriest tidal race. The Alderney Race is said to accelerate up to 11 knots in spring tides, and just in comparison our boat has a cruising speed of 5.
We set out at around lunch timing the currents in such a way that we would be able to have the tides all along in our favour. We left with sun and fair winds. Euphoria came up and we set sails right after the harbour entrance, only to realise after an odd hour or so that we hardly covered any ground, and were outpaced by the locals knowing where the tidal current is strongest and weakest.
Hence, we turned back to our good and reliable friend: the Diesel engine.
Similarly, our journey went on: André losing track (again). He called out how nice the long and chilled Atlantic waves were, (and even texted his fellow boat friend Paul from Shiva), only to find himself in what had been the biggest wave so far a few minutes later. A mere breeze of 10kn and the opposing tidal stream from the Alderney race made the waves steep, quirky, and hard to predict.
That must have been the time, when even fury mate Simba didn’t manage to get onto the toilet in time. I am sparing the details, but Lisa had to clean up after him and he was clearly embarrassed, and then: annoyed with us. Sorry Simba, we still love you!!!
Out of the race, we came yet to another strange realisation. When Lisa was cleaning up behind Simba, André found ROCINANTE and himself in gnarly over falls: little whirlpools swirling the boat from one direction into another. We managed well. We came very close to Alderney itself, an island most people miss while experiencing these heavy currents. However, due to Simba and the restrictions in place for pets, we decided not to sail to any of the islands and stick with the French coast instead. That is because we don’t want to have him locked below deck, or at worst taken away by local customs.
The rest of the trip was then rather uneventful until navigating into Barneville-Carteret: our first harbour with a tidal sill, i.e. a barrier that locks the water at low tide in. Hence, we had to time our arrival in a window of 6 hours as this is the only time that we can have a safe passage into the marina. Paired with crossing tidal streams, this was an experience in itself.
The harbour and marina behind it were impressively well protected. Almost no wind, no swell and beautiful peace and calm. This old and noble bathing town had its very own atmosphere to it. Mainly french people, and islanders from Guernsey and Jersey were around. They must have fled all the tourists coming to their islands for the long weekend.
We took a stroll through town and enjoyed the views of the cliff and beach. Equipped with a croissant from the local Boulangerie and artisan cheese, we sat down at the beach for a true camper / sailor’s lunch only to leave for Granville shortly after.
