Hendrix under reef, storm brewing to the SW
We cast off at 07.00h for our channel crossing on Mr Blue Sky, along with Bob and Lisa on Hendrix. Bill on Black Pearl was to meet us later in the week, as was waiting for essential supplies and crew to arrive.
Our first destination was to be St Peter Port, Guernsey approximately a passage of 70 miles. The approach to St Peter Port was through the Little Russel, a channel where the tide can run up to 6 knots, so arriving at the right time was crucial. The tidal stream ran in our favour at 19.30, we duly arrived at 20.00! So far so good, but this is the first of many, plenty of time for that to go wrong.
Entrance to St Peter Port
In hind sight we would have left an hour or so later, as both yachts had to reef down to reduce SOG, with wind SW BFT 4-5 we could have concluded the passage in 10 hrs or less if we had unleashed the full power. But an average of 5 knots was planned so we stuck to it, as last time we made the same voyage we arrived early and were forced to circumnavigate Guernsey via the west coast to avoid the race, a memory we shall not forget!
Mr Blue Sky & Hendrix moored in Harbour
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