Blogs from Jersey, Channel Islands, Europe

Getting excited - the e-bikes are charged and ready to go; weather report good. On the ferry at 18.25 to St Malo - an overnight stay and then the train! For those not familiar with St Malo - a potted history! The ‘Cite’ is the original town, once surrounded by the sea and virtually impregnable to aggressors - the inhabitants were a cocky bunch who didn’t consider themselves French or Bretagne. Untouchable? During the interminable wars with the English they engaged in piracy and smuggling, then moving on to exploring North America. During WW2 the town was flattened by American bombers in the Allies attempt to secure a working port after D Day. Nowadays it is an extremely popular tourist destination with some lovely beaches to the east of the Cite and plenty of restaurants in ... read more

Dear All Greetings again from London, for the second of my two blog entries on my mini-travels to Jersey earlier this week. Here I plan to write up on my second two days on this lovely little Channel Island, which although were not quite so exhilarating and enthralling as the first two days, were pleasant and agreeable enough. I believe it was the weather which made a difference, which although I’m not complaining too much, was really quite sunny and bright on Monday. This meant that I stayed dry for the whole day, but in fact the day was more genteel and calm – I know that this really shouldn’t be a problem, but compared to the windswept exhilaration of Sunday, felt a bit mundane. Still, mustn’t grumble, and I enjoyed very much my final two ... read more

The two big news stories during our stay in Jersey – football and the weather. The weather stories were a bit predictable. The “Beast From The East” was making a presence with some unusually cold temperatures and a biting wind. However, now we had snow in the forecast. Jersey is the southern most of the Channel Islands and tucked in at the bottom of the chain. It is much nearer the French coast and therefore not so prominently positioned like Guernsey and Alderney, that take the occasional swipe from a storm heading in from the north. We were busy staring out into the harbour at St Aubin from the comfort of the Westward pub. The locals were staring at the sky. A tiny amount of small white flakes descended. A barman advised that it was the ... read more

There is a familiarity about Jersey, even though we've never been. It has that same feel you get in Los Angeles. I mean by that, you have seen it before on the TV. Jersey was the backdrop for the 1980s detective series, Bergerac. Think Death in Paradise of the day, transferred from the Caribbean. Jim Bergerac - divorced, recovering alcoholic - solves crime on small island, accompanied by a succession of ever changing female co-stars. At least, he kept the same car - a 1949 open top Triumph Roadster 2000. Well he didn't actually - during the rigours on TV filming, the producers went through 3 identical models between 1981 and 1991. We circled over the azure blue waters of St Ouen Bay to land from a westerly direction. The North Sea never looks this ... read more

1stSept Much nicer day today so we set off. We had another boat rafted off us and they were going on a ferry trip at 10:00 so we had to leave earlier than planned. Never mind. We fuelled up and then went to a waiting pontoon to wait for the tide. No point fighting against the massive tides and currents they have running round these islands. Finally at 1230 it was time to go. Had a lovely sail all day. It was a bit slow in parts, but sunny, calm and just so nice to be sailing. We couldn’t enter over the sill in Jersey before 1830 anyway, so no rush to get there. Around the bottom of Jersey the current really kicked in and we were doing 6kts easily. We were a bit early, but ... read more