December Days

The last few months seem to have been mainly occupied with courses so it was a real pleasure at the weekend to just get out on the water for a paddle.  The wind, which had been such a significant feature of the last few weeks had died down to a southerly force 4 so Bonne Nuit on the north of the island was the chosen venue.

We headed east, hoping to find some interesting water off Belle Hougue, but we were a bit late to have any real fun so we carried on to small bay underneath the Club's cottage at Egypt.  A small part of the island with a rich history.  After a paddling a bit further into Bouley Bay it was time to head back. west

 Steff, Janet and Jim underneath the Canoe Club cottage at Egypt.  I wrote about the history of this area in an earlier post.

 Returning west.  The main headland is Belle Hougue, the tallest headland in Jersey.  In the distance is Ronez, the site of a large quarry, where chough's bred in Jersey for the first time in 100 years this summer.

 Rachel and Dean paddling around Belle Hougue.  It was one of those winter days when the light seemed particularly flat.

 Close to Wolf's Caves there was a pretty spectacular blow hole,  Angus was the first to paddle in close but John caught the larger swells.

 My last photo of the day.  There was no cleaning the lens after the soaking it received from this amount of spray.

A few aerial shots

I can never understand people who actually select a non window seat when flying because, without doubt, the best onboard entertainment is found from looking out of the window.  Frequently the flights pass over some of the more classic paddling destinations, so the advice would be to always keep your camera at the ready.  You are unlikely to be disappointed.

 An early morning departure from Heathrow gave superb views of London.   The Isle of Dogs is clearly visible and the more eagle eyed will be able to find the location of Shadwell Basin, where we were paddling last weekend. 

 Lihou is a small island off the west coast of Guernsey, where we have passed many a happy weekend.  This was taken in the aftermath of a February storm, hence the swell breaking on the north and west coasts.  We are there this weekend but the forecast is for much calmer conditions.

 Brecqhou, off the west coast of Sark.  The narrow channel is the Gouliot Passage, where the tidal streams can reach 7 knots on springs.  A very entertaining location.

 Just after take off from Ilulissat in Greenland and before the plane turns to the west and the south.  These waters had been much more ice choked when we had paddled south a couple of days earlier.

 Approaching the Isle of Wight.  The entrance to the River Medina at Cowes is clearly visible.  Calshot is largely obscured by the bank of cloud.  This picture was taken when heading south towards Jersey

 Heading north from Jersey you have a different perspective from the Isle of Wight.  We are just to the east of the island looking down Southampton Water.  Portsmouth Harbour is visible in the middle of the picture, whilst Langstone Harbour is to the right.

 Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands and the closest to France.  The harbour at Braye is clearly visible, whilst the small island is Burhou, a fascinating bird colony.  Between Alderney and Burhou is the Swinge, with tidal streams of 7 knots, whilst on the other side of the island is the famous Alderney Race, where speeds can reach 8-9 knots in places.

 Bonne Nuit bay on the north coast of Jersey, a popular place for the start of kayaking trips.  In the middle of the bay Cheval Rock is clearly visible.

 Departing from Jersey in a westerly direction, the cliffs at L'Etacq are exposed to the Atlantic swell.

Flying out of Milos in Greece, after what would have been another great weeks sea kayaking.  We are looking across to the summit of Mount Profitis Elias 748 metres (2,454 feet) high.  On one particularly windy day we did walk to the summit, from which we were able to see some of the finest sea kayaking destinations anywhere.

Paternosters Again

It has been a while so I posted on the site, the aim of a photograph everyday, went out the window due to changing personal circumstances, but it is probably an opportune time to start to post again.

Today's paddle was to the Paternosters, a reef off the north west coast of Jersey, which is rarely visited by by other boat owners, as landing would be almost impossible.
On today's large spring tide there was a significant amount of exposed rock but Tuesday mornings tide is another 0.6 metre lower, with an 03:27 low water,  I think its true to say though nobody will be on the reef to witness it how much more is exposed.

For us though, it was a great couple of hours on the water.

Nicky arriving at the Paternosters.  Heading west from Bonne Nuit we made full use of the ebbing spring tide, most of the time we were averaging about 6 knots.

 Looking back towards the north west corner of Jersey.  Standing here is probably one of the most isolated locations in the Baliwick of Jersey

 A merry band of paddlers.  For a couple of the group it was their first visit to this reef off the north coast of Jersey.

 Looking north towards Sark, an excellent paddling destination in its own right.

 Leaving the reef towards the north coast of Jersey

This isn't an image to show that industry occurs around the coast of but rather the scene of environmental success.  In the sheds of the quarry a pair of chough's bred, for the first time in Jersey for approximately 100 years.  Sadly we didn't see them today.

December's First Paddle

As the rain hammered down on the conservatory roof the easiest option was to roll over for another hour or so in bed but I was committed to heading towards Bouley Bay for the Canoe Club Sunday morning session.  It was only the really keen members who turned up but despite the rain, wind, low cloud etc we had a pretty good time for a bleak Sunday morning in December.

 The tide was running east with a south westerly wind so we turned back towards Bouley Bay and attempted to surf some of the swells.

 John just slipping off the back of a wave.

 In a few places the water was fairly lumpy, all adding to the fun.

 John just missing another wave, but in a reasonably spectacular fashion

 Belle Hougue really is a great place to play, as well as honing paddling skills

 After playing in the waves off Belle Hougue we headed west to Bonne Nuit, one of the small harbours on the north coast of the Island.

 Ruth near Bonne Nuit.  These buildings look as if there at risk of collapse as the cliffs underneath are crumbling away.

 We turned around Cheval Roc, tradition has it that young maidens from the parish were rowed around the rock on midsummers day in the hope of improving fertility.  We are still waiting to see if it had a similar impact on us.

 Heading back towards Belle Hougue, the tallest headland in Jersey.

 

 Passing just in front of Belle Hougue cave.

Another Bonne Nuit Sunday ( Remembrance Sunday)

It seems as if we have launched from Bonne Nuit fairly regularly over the last couple on months, which is not a problem as it is always enjoyable.  On reflection we have headed west every time, again not an issue as there is plenty of entertaining paddling along that stretch of coast.  Today though as is the tradition on Remembrance Day we headed east to land in front of the Jersey Canoe Club cottage at Egypt.

Although we were there to observe two minutes silence we still experienced a surprisingly varied paddle and only covered a total distance of 4 nautical miles.

 Bonne Nuit harbour was the departure point.  The pier was built in 1872 and today provides shelter to a number of local craft.  It is the finishing point for the annual Sark to Jersey Rowing race.

 From further away the harbour its location under the highest land on the Island is apparent.

Nicky passing just to east of La Crete Fort it was built in 1834 for the magnificent sum of £971.  Today it is available for rent from Jersey Heritage.  It sleeps 4 adults and a child under 11, when it was built it provided accommodation for 1 officer and 30 other ranks.

Belle Hougue is one of my favourite headlands and the waves which form seem just right for sea kayak surfing.  Today we had missed the best of the spring tide but still spent an enjoyable 20 minutes playing in the tidal race.

We landed on the small pebble beach in front of Egypt.  There is an interesting history in this area, which has been described elsewhere but today we were coming to pay our respects on Remembrance Sunday.

The 17 members of Jersey Canoe Club paid their respects in front of the monument which, commemorates Operation Hardtack, an allied landing into occupied Jersey at Christmas in 1943.

This nearby bench is inscribed "In appreciation of past and present members of the Special Boat Service"

 We did take time to explore the cottage at Egypt, which is looked after by the Canoe Club and is available to hire by its members.  It is just a great place to wake up and have breakfast, sitting in the warm summer sunshine.

On the way back to Bonne Nuit we did practice rescues in what was left of the moving water off Belle Hougue.  No photographic evidence though as I was busy swimming.  The water was surprisingly warm, despite it being the second week of November.

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.