According to Wikipedia over 400 commercial ships go through the Channel every day, making this one of the most busiest waters in the world. So we were wondering what we will encounter during the crossing. We started in the morning in Yarmouth, passed in the “Needles” and then sailed out into the channel at 10-15 knots of wind, slight swell and a clear sky. Ideal conditions for our crossing. While some of us were driving the boat, others were recovering. Surprisingly we did not meet so many large ships as expected. But it’s amazing how quickly such a small dot on the horizon becomes big and bigger and suddenly passes beside you as a monster.
After dinner Nelly and Allan were the first to sail the boat in the night. At midnight we took over the control. The night was calm and the moon lit our way. Later on Wladimir and Martin took over.
The sun was back early in the morning and we could see Guernsey. However, the wind became weak and weaker and the current turned against us. So after a cozy and extensive breakfast we were still close to Guernsey. Now the time had come to test the almost new gennaker. After we had all threaded correctly, we pulled the thing up and … Ohh so cute this little gennaker :=). In these light conditions we couldn’t measure any gain in speed compared to the genoa. The GPS tracks were overlaying after the gybe. Maybe we have to consider something different for the Atlantic crossing :=)
In the late afternoon we finally reached St Helier Marina in Jersey. It’s open only 3 hours before and after high water. Krzysiek, a Polish employee, assigned us a place in the Marina, namely as a fifth boat attached along side to the others. The Marina is well visited during summer, especially on weekends. He gave us a few tips to Jersey and the Marina. Almost 10% of Jersey’s population is from Poland.
In the evening we celebrated the crossing of the English Channel in a small but excellent fish restaurant. Thank you, crew!
