Night paddling

Thursday evenings during the winter months are the regular pool sessions, apart from one week in March when it is the local Swimmarathon.  A huge community fund raising event so we normally have a week without midweek paddling but last nights forecast raised the possibility of a night paddle out from Belcroute Bay.
Belcroute is a perfect place for a night paddle, sheltered from the prevailing wind and swell and out of the strongest tidal streams, but with plenty to explore including St Aubin's Harbour a few hundred metres to the north.  There are also plenty of navigation markers in the vicinity if you wish to improve the accuracy of your bearings and timings.
We met at Belcroute at just before 7.00 pm and it was clear that the major issue was how we were going to launch.  The 11.8 metre tide meant that the sea was pretty close to the wall and there was the occasional larger swell.  In a plastic sea kayak launching down the slip was a distinct possibility, particularly with assistance.  Launching with a fibre glass kayak was an entirely different proposition, the best option for preserving kit appeared to be to throw the kayak into the sea, jump in after it, hopefully timing your entry into the water so that the retreating swell sucked you away from the slip and then perform a self rescue, all in the dark.  Although there was some initial reluctance regarding the assessment of the situation everybody managed to perform the task without any major drama.
Once afloat we had a delightful paddle around St Aubin's Fort, built during the English Civil War and extended in the 18th and 20th Century it now serves as an outdoor centre for the Education Department.  From there we headed across to St Aubin's Harbour, which thrived as Jersey fishermen returned from the fishing grounds off eastern Canada. The splendid merchants houses along the waterfront known as Cod houses.  A paddle around the harbour is always pleasant, particularly during the hours of darkness.
The return to Belcroute was simple and the landing at Belcroute was easier than anticipated as the tide had dropped slightly but it was still entertaining, having to time your arrival in the steep pebble beach with one of the smaller sets of waves, not always easy to achieve when you can't see what is coming.  A delightful way to spend a couple of hours on a mid-week evening in March.

Listening to Derek's briefing whilst contemplating the upcoming swim.

Plastic kayaks could be launched down the slip although timing was pretty important.

Ruth swimming for it with Alex ready to help.

St Brelade's Parish hall, in a previous life it was part of the railway station.

Heading back to the entrance.

 

On the outside of the harbour, passing the Royal Channel Islands Yacht Club, as we head back towards Belcroute.

Belcroute Kayaking again - Daily Picture 59

It was another Sunday morning with strong westerly winds forecast so the options for our weekly paddle were limited.  It was another visit to Belcroute, which is sheltered from the strong winds from the west.  The winds on the day didn't appear to be quite as strong as forecast so we were able to head across St Aubin's Bay towards Elizabeth Castle, using the wind for quite an entertaining ride.

One advantage of living on an island is that whatever the wind direction it is always possible to find somewhere to paddle and as result of this the Jersey Canoe Club has managed to get on the water, on a Sunday morning pretty much every week since the mid-1970's.

Jason preparing to launch at Belcroute, sheltered from the strong westerly wind which was blowing at the time.

 Looking back up the beach at Belcroute.  With winds like those forecast for this morning the kayaking options were limited.  The Jersey Canoe Club were not the only group paddling from there today.  The faster group who paddle Taran's had also chosen this location to leave from.

Pete just before Noirmont.  The relatively calm seas don't indicate the true wind speed as we were sheltered by Noirmont headland.

Crossing St Aubin's Bay.  The further we moved away from Noirmont the greater the impact of the wind.

 Elizabeth Castle lies ahead.  One of the finest military fortifications of Jesrey.

 You don't see too many of these navigation marks around, an Isolated Danger Mark, just to the south of West Park Pool.

Daily Picture - 11

The coastline around Belcroute, is one of two areas on the Island, where trees approach the shoreline.  With the low angled sunlight of a January morning, the features were highlighted perfectly.  A couple of hours snatched between successive low pressures.

A kayak tour of Belcroute Bay

Belcroute always feels reasonably isolated although after a cliff fall in 1930 evidence was discovered which indicated that the area had been inhabited since the Iron Age.  Today it always feels a bit isolated although it is relatively close to St Aubins whilst the buildings of St Helier are clearly visible across the bay.

It has been used as a deep water anchorage for many hundreds of years, although it is relatively close to St Aubin, which from around 1700 was the main harbour on the Island. The wealth of the village was as a result of the trans Atlantic trade, particularly the cod fishing industry of Newfoundland.  The merchants in the area grew rich and built numerous substantial properties, which are known as cod houses.

Although parking is limited at Belcroute I have never had a problem finding somewhere to leave the car as it doesn't get particularly busy.  As an East facing beach it is well sheltered from the prevailing wind but the steep land behind the beach means that the sun is lost early in the day.  Access to the beach is via a short but relatively steep slipway, at high water the beach is pebbles but as the tide drops sand is exposed.

Belcroute was used as the quarantine anchorage and in 1721 the Esther with her captain Philippe Janvrin, returned to the Island from Nantes, where there was an outbreak of the plague.  On the second of anchoring in the bay Janvrin died, his body was not allowed to be brought ashore and so he was buried, by 3 of his crew, on a small island in Portelet Bay, Ile au Guerdain, whilst the burial service was read out from the coast overlooking the bay.

The tower in the middle of the bay is known as Janvrin's Tomb, although it is i fact a Martello Tower built in 1808.  There whereabouts on Janvrin's body is not known, although it has been said that it was removed to St Brelade's churchyard, there is no evidence of this.

With today's forecast Belcroute was the inevitable choice, and we weren't disappointed.

 Many of the slipways around the island were built in the 19th century, not necessarily for boat access but to allow horse and carts onto the beach to collect the seaweed which was used a fertilizer.  The edges of the granite blocks are offset so that horses hooves got a better grip.

 Steff heading out from Belcroute.  St Aubins Fort is visible behind.

 Into St Aubin's Harbour.  The white building directly above Pete's head is the Old Court House.  Now a pub and restaurant it featured in Bergerac in the 1980's.  It is thought that the building may have been used by the Privateers to divide the goods they had captured from the French.

 St Aubin's Harbour is one of the most photogenic on the Island.  The large building is St Brelade's Parish Hall, although it used to be the Railway Station.

 Tracey heading towards La Haule.  La Neuve Route is the road running along the seafront, which was built on reclaimed land in 1844, before then it was necessary to head up La Haule Hill and the come into St Aubin's Village via the High Street.

 St Aubin's Fort dates from the 1540's but its present appearance is probably from 1840, although the Germans enhanced the fortifications during the Second World War.

 There was some small surf coming into the bay so we had an enjoyable 30 minutes olaing in the waves.

 There was a bit of bright sunshine as we came past the Fort with the view enhanced by the hundreds of wading birds, particularly dunlin, in the area.

St Aubin's Bay Circuit

An early Sunday morning from Belcroute allowed a paddling circuit of St Aubin's Bay.  High tide meant that it was an easy launch of the pebbles, sheltered from the NW wind, which was blowing over the cliffs. After rounding St Aubin's Fort the wind, on our sterns, speeded our journey to Elizabeth Castle, our second major military fortification of the day. The return, into the headwind, wasn't as easy but the sun was out and it was a great morning to be out on the water.

St Aubin's Fort was our first target.  It was completed in the 1540's when St Aubin's was the main harbour on the island.  Additional fortifications were added by the German's during the Second World War.  Today it is operated as an activity centre by Education, Sport and Culture.

 Heading east across St Aubin's Bay we avoided the hobie cats, which were racing around the Bay.  Elizabeth Castle, offshore from St Helier, was built in the late 16th and 17th centuries.  Sir Walter Raleigh, who was Governor of the Island named the castle in honour of his Queen.

 In the 1970's and 80's members of the Jersey Canoe Club used to leave St Helier every Thursday night and usually included a circumnavigation of the castle on their paddle.  It is an area we venture into less frequently nowadays, which is pity is it is a fascinating historic paddle.

 Elizabeth Castle is well worth a visit on foot.

The end of the 19th century breakwater is painted as a navigation mark

 

 Crossing St Aubin's Bay was straight into the north westerly wind.  Offshore a cruise ship, of which there have been many more in Jersey this summer, lies at anchor.

 There was a slight swell having an impact on visibility, at times.

 We finished with a visit to Noirmont, returning to Belcroute along a pleasant section of
coastline.  A great 6.5 nautical miles.

Boxing Day Sea Kayaking

Boxing Day almost offered some respite from the almost continuous storms of the last few weeks but we probably experienced all four seasons during the course of 2 hours.  Belcroute, on the western side of St Aubin's Bay was the chosen venue, mainly because it gave some shelter from the potential squalls.

Heading south we quickly reached Noirmont before turning and heading across the bay towards St Helier, experiencing some lovely rides on the following swell.  Half way across the bay it was clear that we were going to be hit by quite a significant squall.  The hail proved to be pretty painful but within 10 minutes the sunshine returned and we spent a very pleasant 15 minutes paddling around St Aubin's Harbour chatting to the stand up paddleboarders, who had clearly put some effort into their fancy dress.

This was followed by the inevitable visit to the Smugglers for a warming pint, a traditional that has been part of Jersey Canoe Club's history for 30 years.

Heading out from Belcroute.  There were some very dramatic clouds towering over St Helier.  These had already passed but others were on the way.

 The coast to the south of Belcroute is one of the few sections of the islands coast where trees approach the waters edge.

 Noirmont Point is nearly always entertaining, the westerly swell and wind meeting the opposing tidal streams.  From here we turned north east and ran with the wind into St Aubin's Bay

 This was quite an intense squall.  The hail was particularly painful.  The temperature drop as the squall passed through was particularly dramatic.

 Within a few minutes though the wind dropped, the sun came out and we paddled around St Aubin's Harbour in delightful conditions.

We weren't the only group out on the water, members of the Stand up Paddleboard Club were on the water in some quite spectacular fancy dress.

Back in Action

After nearly 5 weeks without sea kayaking or stand up paddleboarding because of my broken arm I finally managed to get back on the water today.  After a positive result from the doctor yesterday I decided to have a gentle re-introduction to paddling this afternoon.  The westerly force 5-6 and a low spring tide reduced the options considerably but I eventually decided upon a short paddle out from Belcroute.

It is east facing, so reasonably sheltered, and relatively steep so the carry isn't too strenuous.  It was just a pleasure to get out on the water after nearly 35 days of land based inactivity.

In the distance could be seen St Aubin's Fort, it was built in the 1540's to protect St Aubin's Harbour, which was the safest harbour on the Island at the time.  Today it is used as an Outdoor Activity Centre by Education, Sport and Culture for the young people of the Island.

It was just great to be out and I am looking forward to an active summer of paddling and hopefully no more broken arms! 

Looking across Belcroute towards St Aubin's Fort at low water this afternoon.

South Africa via St Aubin

Members of the Jersey Canoe Club have a tradition of entering some of the world's more challenging kayaking races such as the Devizes to Westminster, the Yukon Challenge and the Liffey Descent but next year for the first time 4 people are planning to enter the Dusi Canoe Marathon in South Africa.

My role was to spend a few hours paddling with the group and then make a recommendation as to whether I think that are competent to enter the race.  This seems to be a common way of ensuring that paddlers entering these races have the experience to do so.  I had to find somebody who was prepared to sign to say that I had enough experience to enter the Liffey Descent.  This was actually quite strange because I had signed the forms for previous races for a number of other paddlers but I still had to get mine signed.

We went out from St Brelade's heading towards to St Aubin's with the opportunity to play in the tidal race off Noirmont, for Steve it was a real moment of achievement as he performed his first roll in moving water after an accidental capsize.

For the last Saturday in October conditions were ideal, warm, light winds and beautiful sunshine.  They were conditions which were perfect for exploring this unique stretch of Jersey's coastline. Interesting water conditions set against an historical backdrop.

 The stretch of coast between Noirmont and Belcroute is unusual in Jersey because the trees approach the waters edge.  At times it could almost be the west coast of Canada as opposed to the west coast of St Aubin's Bay.

 Belcroute Bay, a delightful east facing bay which unfortunately looses the sun quite early.  This is 10.30 in October.  In the past there was a superb diving platform on the rocks just to the right of the photograph, obviously in the days before Health and Safety took off.

The plan was to circumnavigate St Aubin's Fort before heading back to St Brelade.  The fort is just visible to the right of the rocky point.

 St Aubin's is one the most beautiful villages on the island.  In the 17th and 18th centuries the Jersey fishing fleet, which worked on the cod banks off Newfoundland, over wintered here.  Many of the houses were built by the merchants and ships captains.  For the older readers one of the buildings, the Old Court House, achieved fame as the Royal Barge in the BBC series Bergerac.

 Work was started on St Aubin's Fort in 1542 and wasn't finished until the Second World War, as there are a number of German additions.  Today it is used as an activity centre by Education, Sport and Culture, although despite its great location for kayaking the main emphasis is on sailing.

 The main tower was extended during the English Civil War, it now provides the main accommodation block for visiting groups.

 The entrance to St Aubin's harbour is marked by the white mark on the end of the southern pier, work started on this in 1754 with the north pier added in 1816.  Up until the building of St Helier harbour this was the principal commercial port on the island.