A Bonne Nuit Sunday

Bonne Nuit was the venue for today's sea kayaking with Jersey Canoe Club.  It is always an issue which way to head, to the east lies Belle Hougue, with its entertaining tide race whilst the coast to the west has a number of interesting physical features.  Today felt like a day for geography so we headed west in the bright October sunshine.

 One of the convenient aspects of paddling from Bonne Nuit is that even at low tide it is a pretty short carry.

 A rather faded plaque on the habour wall was unveiled by Chay Blyth in 1991 to commemorate the 25th running of the Sark to Jersey rowing race.  This annual fixture in Jersey's sporting calendar finishes at Bonne Nuit.

 Although the cliffs aren't totally vertical the slopes are steep providing a spectacular backdrop to the kayaking.

 There are plenty of small channels to explore but the swell was arriving in sets, at times catching people unaware.

 A quick swim was followed by the emptying out offshore.

 Rock type certainly influences scenery.  The dark rock to the left is part of the St John Rhyolite formation whilst the red of the granite is clearly visible to the right.

 Approaching to workings of Ronez Quarry.  The old pier structures are to the right.  Ships no longer weave their way through the offshore rocks to collect their cargo of stone.

 John paddling close to the rocks off Sorel headland, the most northerly point of Jersey.

 Jim approaching Le Mourier Valley.  An isolated section of the north coast.

 Looking into Devil's Hole.  Although a tourist attraction on the north coast, very few people see it from this perspective.

 Heading back towards Bonne Nuit.  Belle Hougue is in the distance but we will be turning right just past the first headland to return to Bonne Nuit.  With SE Force 7-8 forecast for later it was an opportunity grasped.

The plan had been to load the sea kayaks onto the RIB on Saturday morning, head up to Sark,  be dropped off and then picked up on the Sunday evening, allowing two days of kayaking around our sister isle.  Unfortunately the wind forecast for Sunday afternoon was too high for the boat to operate, so on Saturday morning at 06.30 an alternative plan was quickly hatched.  A visit to the Paternosters, off the north coast of Jersey.

 We headed east from Greve de Lecq, exploring a number of the coastal features, including Devil's Hole. It is not that often that it is possible to paddle as far back into the cave but there was no swell at all.

 Once the tide drops at the Paternosters there is a delightful lagoon which offers sheltered landing, although today sea conditions were such that it would have been possible to land just about anywhere.

 Considering it is the middle of May it was a pretty grey day.  Contrast this with our visit in February.  It is hard to believe so many of the group selected dry suits to paddle in.

 Heading out of the lagoon, about an hour before low water, hoping for some reasonably light tidal streams.

 The tide was already moving from left to right, it is just discernable behind Gary and Pete.  It was nothing that a bit of ferry gliding wouldn't compensate for.

 As there was no swell we took advantage to explore the western margins of the reef.  For some of the kayakers, although they had visited the reef many times before this was the first time that conditions had allowed them to paddle through some of the channels.

 Leaving the reef for the north coast of Jersey,  it doesn't get much flatter than this.

 Approaching Greve de Lecq.

 Nicky checking the distance on her GPS, it was just under 8 nautical miles.  Jersey's beaches shouldn't look this bleak in May.

So we didn't make Sark, that is still to be re-arranged, but we did make the most of our disappointment.