Blogs from Guernsey, Channel Islands, Europe - page 2

The Guernsey Ice Cream Caper and Liberation Day! Well, we have been told that Guernsey Cows make the very best ice cream and we are here in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, an island between France and Great Britain, and part of the United Kingdom, to test out that assumption! Before we get started however, we must take a tender to shore as our ship cannot get close to the dock. Tender after tender loads up 100 people each and heads for shore. We finally board and bounce our way across, for 15 minutes, until the 13th century Castle Cornet at the mouth of St. Peter Harbor comes into view through the mist and we reach the dock. The day is overcast but really pretty as we make our way, along with our friends Dave and Sharon, ... read more

21st August Alderney Island – Guernsey 24nm Departed 1400 – had to wait for the tide as the current that rips through the Alderney Swinge is extremely strong...that is on the east side of the island...on the west side is the Alderney Race – just as strong currents. We got out from the bay and had a shuddering in the prop. We've had this a while but it usually stops once you put the boat in fwd and reverse a few times, however this time we couldn't stop it. So, we turned around and picked up another mooring. On the way in, I was getting the dive gear ready so Phil could go down and grease the prop. As we'd had this problem for a bit, we thought this would fix it. However, when Phil got ... read more

For those of you that only know of the Channel Islands off the coast of California, the ones we sailed to are located 10-30 miles to the northwest of France. The Channel Islands have a very interesting and unique history. When the Normans first controlled Normandy, currently part of France, the Channel Islands were part of Normandy and thus belonged to the Duke of Normandy. In 1066 when the Normans conquered the Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Hastings, the Duke of Normandy became the King of England. This meant that the King of England not only ruled over England but also controlled Normandy and the Channel Islands. In around 1240 the French took control of Normandy but were unable to get control of the Channel Islands meaning to this day they have remained under the control ... read more

Left Dartmouth on July 26th at 6.45am (later than anticipated due to Mike having to pukll an all-nighter to sort his tools and store them!) with sun shining brightly on the flat sea. Our nerves about meeting a tanker were soon tested as we found ourselves on a collision course with a freakin huge one just outside Dartmouth and had to stop to bob over the huuuuge wake it left behind! However, when we actually got to the shipping lanes, all we could see were these huge leviathans on the horizon - who'd have thought our closest encounter would be less than an hour out to sea?! We dealt with a few hairy moments on the crossing - some pretty big rolling waves were hitting us side on for a few hours causing a lot of ... read more

Well, that's me two weeks into the next chapter of my life....my time out travelling is but a distant memory. I've been pretty rubbish keeping in touch (no Facebook or Googlemail access at work, laptop still at home and need to change mobile tarriff) so hence this blog. Arrived on Guernsey (aka the Rock) 26 Feb - it was sunny and looking it's best. Popped into the office to see my new colleagues in the flesh as we'd only had one telephone interview and one video conf interview, so both sides were keen to meet each other. Invited to join the Quiz team that night. Behaved myself, had lots of wine and staggered back to B&B about 1am! Agency had put me in touch with an Irish guy, Gary who had relocated here about a year ... read more