An Ecrehous Sunday

For the first Sunday in September the forecast for the Ecrehous was pretty good. SE Force 3-4, 26 degrees and a pretty small tide. A reasonably early start was required and it would have been easy to head to the cafe when we arrived at St Catherines. The south easterly breeze was creating some interesting clapotis off the breakwater but once we cleared the end of the pier the sea state settled down and we were rewarded with another beautiful day on the reef.
A visit to Jersey is worthwhile just for the opportunity to paddle to the Ecrehous.

Chris entering the pool to the south of Marmotiere. Surprisingly there were very few boats anchored today.

Andy heading north along the French side of the reef. A small tidal stream was developing here but the waves were unfortunately not steep enough to surf.

The standard Ecrehous view. Looking north west from the bench, which has to be one of the finest places in the world to eat your sandwiches.

The Bench and today's lucky paddlers.

It was pretty small tide but there was still some movement.

Andy off the Petite Rousse. It is often difficult to approach this close to the reef when the tide is running south.

Catching some air in the tidal race close to the Petite Rousse. I was in my new Nordkapp LV and she surfed like a dream, reaching speeds in excess of 8 knots when surfing against a 4 knot tidal stream. Sea kayaking doesn't get much better than this!