Portelet Pizza

For a number of years the old beach cafe at Portelet gradually crumbled through disuse, it's decline seemingly linked to the closure of the holiday camp, which used to dominate the cliff top above and the associated drop in the number of visitors to the beach.

This year has seen the refurbishment of the building and its reopening as a pizza place and the Jersey Canoe Club decided to visit the Portelet Bay Cafe for lunch on the last day of August.  A paddle from Ouaisne allowed us to visit some of the historical sites, which exist along this section of coast.

This was followed by a very pleasant break at Portelet Bay Cafe, the pizzas are highly recommended, and the paddle back assisting with their digestion.  Considering it was a rather grey day with an increasing north westerly wind we think we made pretty good use of the time.

 Leaving from Ouaisne is always fascinating as we pass close to La Cotte de St Brelade, which is one of the most important neanderthal sites in north west Europe.  Within the ice age sediments there are thousands of stone tools in addition to the bones of their prey.

 To the south lies the small stack of La Cotte Island, which has a number of short climbs on its west face.

 The first major headland is Pt Le Fret.  It is fully exposed to the Atlantic swell but today it was all calm and we able to thread our way through the gullies.  Earlier this year the swell so large that we had to keep about 200 metres out, when rounding the point.

 Noirmont Tower was completed in 1814 to help protect the southern coast of the island from potential invasion by the French.  Today the lighthouse marks the western approach to St Helier.

 Nicky passing in front of Batterie Lothringen, part of a World War 2 coastal battery.  The first part was completed in 1941 but this tower was built April and October 1943.

 On the beach at Portelet, after our pizza's.  Today was a particularly large spring tide, when we had landed less than 2 hours before, we left our kayaks at the waters edge.

 Another Jersey round tower, it was completed 6 years earlier than the nearby one at Noirmont, in 1806.  A sergeant and 12 soldiers manned the tower, it must have been rather crowded.

Daily Picture - 39

Paddling around Pt Le Fret this morning.  No swell and the shelter provided by the cliffs, from the north easterly wind meant that we were able paddle through the reefs in a pretty relaxed manner.

Sunday morning is the regular time for the Jersey Canoe Club to be out on the water, normally just a couple of hours but always enjoyable.

Daily Picture - 26

Look east from the cliff path along Fiquet Bay early this afternoon.  The rock formation on the right is the Grosse Tete, where the swell was running yesterday as we paddled along this stretch of coast.

Beyond is Pt Le Fret, possibly the most dramatic headland on the south coast of the island but great paddling.

Some Christmas activity

It has been a tradition for nearly 40 years to go for a swim on Christmas morning. Members of the Jersey Canoe Club have been entering the water at 11.00 on Christmas Day long before swimming increased in popularity.  Although some of the public swims on the Island now attract over 200 people the Club has never sought publicity but with word of mouth our only form of advertising we still manage to attract a good turn out.

This year the conditions were completely benevolent.  Light winds, warm sunshine, an ideal tide height and a water temperature of just above 11 degrees.  After a quick dip it was the traditional mince pies and mulled wine before heading off for a family Christmas.

Preparing for the swim at St Catherine's

A selection of the Canoe Club group just before 11.00

We didn't hang around too long!  It was 11 degrees but still felt pretty chilly.

Boxing Day has always been a paddle out of Ouaisne and this year was no different. Approximately 20 members of the Jersey Canoe Club gathered in the car park in rapidly deteriorating weather conditions.  Just after high water on a spring tide it was obvious that there would be an entertaining tidal race off Noirmont, so that's where we headed.

We were not disappointed, there were some delightful waves to surf, some interesting moving water and the deterioration in the weather conditions was delayed.  Two hours on the water followed by a pint in the warmth of The Smugglers was a perfect way to start Boxing Day celebrations.

Launching from Ouaisne

Heading along the side of Pt Le Fret in rather grey conditions.

Noirmont Tower from the east.

A bit of chop is always enjoyable.

The German Tower at Noirmont is clearly visible as we headed back towards Pt Le Fret and Ouaisne.

One of the great locations in Jersey, La Cotte de St Brelade.

By the morning of the 27th December wind had increased dramatically, gusting to 50 knots so looking down from the cliffs the sea state had deteriorated significantly since the day before, although the sun was shining down  and what had been a rather grey landscape.

 

 Ouaisne with some surf rolling into the beach, in contrast to the day before.

 The swell was starting to break against Pt Le Fret.

 Looking down in La Cotte de St Brelade.

St Brelade's Bay

It was another bitterly cold day although the majority of yesterdays snowfall had disappeared.  There were just a few patches on some of the cliffs and beaches.  I decided to have a quick tour of the sights of St Brelade's Bay.  A bit of fresh air and exercise but the temperature was still hovering between 1 and 2 degrees so I decided to make it a fairly brisk paddle.  

In common with so many days this year low grey cloud seemed to suck the colour out of the landscape.  I don't actually think I have kayaked under blue skies or in sunshine so far this year.

 Approaching La Cotte de St Brelade, one of the major archaeological sites in Jersey.  Take a look here for further information

Snow lying on the beach is pretty rare in Jersey.

Pt Le Fret is often an ominous looking headland, and today with the low grey cloud was no exception.  The remnants of an Atlantic swell were dissipating their energy on the surrounding rocks so I took a slightly wider track than normal.

From Pt Le Fret it was possible to look east towards Noirmont but today my journey involved heading west.

From Pt Le Fret I headed offshore and west towards Corbiere.  The north easterly wind and ebbing tide certainly assisted my progress.  According to my GPS, I peaked at 7.7 knots although I noticed that I went above 7 knots on several occasions.

St Brelade's Bay looked quite distant and as I moved away from the shelter of the land the surface of the water became a bit more lively.  I saw 2 fishing boats but apart from those I had the sea to myself.

      

Beauport as it looks in the summer and as it looked today.

A Sunday morning squall

What a difference an hour makes.  I was running the Sunday morning sea kayaking session for the Jersey Canoe Club, we headed south out of Ouaisne but within a few hundred metres we were running for the shelter of La Cotte Island as a significant squall was approaching fast. Visibility and temperatures were dropping whilst wind speeds and rainfall intensity was going in the opposite direction.

We sheltered for perhaps 20 minutes whilst being exposed to the full force of the rain, but eventually the conditions started to ease and we were able to continue with our paddle in far more reasonable conditions.  It was interesting to consider what action we could have taken if we had been exposed to such a squall whilst on an open crossing.  We still haven't come up with a definitive answer.

 Looking back towards La Cotte.  The dark clouds are developing to the north.

 Sheltering close to La Cotte Island.  The temperature dropped several degrees and there was a significant increase in wind speed.

 John feeling the full impact of the rain

 Looking south towards Pt Le Fret.  Amazingly just 4 miles east no rain was recorded.

 The rear edge of the squall crossing St Aubin's Bay.

 The storm heads south, seas calm off and two paddlers return to Ouaisne.