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Idle B'gger Cruise V 2008

By John Whittle

12th September saw the crew gather in St Peter Port for the Vth annual Idle B'gger Memorial Cruise.

The crew was John, skipper, Calvers, cook and Andy, navigator and keeper of the gadgets, i.e. as last year with the sad exception of Anthony who had been unable to attend at the last minute. Unfortunately the skipper had to go into work briefly which meant that provisioning was left entirely to Calvers who had arrived the previous evening. 90 minutes in a Guernsey supermarket must surely represent some sort of record. We may have been a crew member light but the same could not be said of the victualling!

There is a theory that mankind had once been able to communicate via telepathy but has subsequently lost the skill. Well I don’t claim any great insight but proponents will take succour from the fact that, after years of running this cruise it was 2008 when 2 people both hit upon the idea of crew shirts. Anthony had sent some by post and they were artfully inscribed thus:

John	- Most revered skipper (apt he thought!)
Ian	- Le chef
Andy	- Mr Gadget
Alas we have yet to discover what he had called himself.

Ian had also acquired some shirts emblazoned with his own unique humour:

John	- God, the delegator (again, very apt!)
Ian	- Moi, le chef
Andy	- Satnav man
And most appropriate of all for Anthony - "I hate the chef" (most apt!)

Anyway, with full tanks, a well endowed galley and, as events would prove, a well stocked bar, we set sail, or rather motor, for Jersey. In inimitable Calvers style we had barely come onto our course, under engine as the wind was quite light, when Calvers descended to create lunch. Needless to say any of the three courses produced would have been sufficient on its own! At the same time the wind appeared and a very pleasant reach took us to Corbierre point where the wind died and we motored into St Helier. At about 16:30 and with impeccable timing (for which the skipper claimed all the credit) the depth on the marina sill went to 2.3 meters and the lights went green as we motored up the harbour. 28 Nmiles.

After several Calvers G&T’s and some wine we set off to dine and found Bistro Rosa in the fish market - another excellent find for nauticalnosh.com.

Saturday - early start, a Calvers breakfast on the mooring but somehow THE button was not pressed (see previous 2 years). The author had been a bit heavy on the laughing water and so was a touch delicate. We had light winds so we motored round the south east of Jersey and through Violet passage, a new route for all of us. Once round the wind filled, so up with sails onto a beat. We could not make the channel by Les Ecrehouts without a tack but the Navigator said it was fine and so we went over the shoal. In fact we never had less that 8 meters under the keel and only a little broken water indicated that this may not be a great idea in a southerly blow, lunch involved more force feeding by Calvers. Finally to Carteret about 5:30 - only just deep enough, down to an indicated 0.1 meter under the keel! Intriguingly the pilot advises that the river is dredged to 4 meters ABOVE chart datum - it is also perhaps a little overdue! Carteret is a pretty little market town and well worth a visit although as with most of this coast, very tidal. As we motored up river it was hard to imagine that 6 hours later one can walk across. Quite the grumpiest harbour master I have met took our mooring fees, we rafted up in the functional but quite attractive marina and, after a few drinks set off for a pleasant and very good value dinner at L’Hermitage. 28 Nmiles.

Sunday saw an early (why do we always have so many early starts?) departure at 7am but no wind. At least there was enough depth though as we left pretty much at HW, well over 2 m to spare but I seriously wonder if Carteret is tenable on a neap tide. Alas the wind never came and so we motored all the way. The time was not wasted though as Skipper decided this was an excellent opportunity to treat the teak to a good salt water scrub. He kindly found a bucket and brush and Ian did a truly fantastic job of cleaning! As we finally approached St Malo it appeared as dramatic as ever; as was the wash from the Condor that chose to pass us 200 yards to starboard! Needless to say we had also been treated to both another magnificent Calvers breakfast, this time served "to go" in what appeared to be family sized loaves of bread, and lunch, of Herculean proportions, which followed a few hours later. I think it was at this point that the skipper began to identify with the force fed Perigord geese! Malnutrition will never be a hazard on this cruise!

Once through the lock, as last year, we chose to forgo the marina and tied up against the dock wall under the imposing gates of the old town. St Malo really is a delightful place. We were keen to revisit the restaurant we visited last year, Entre deau Verres. A text to Anthony soon gave us full details (Nauticalnosh.com to the rescue). I am pleased to report that it was as good as last year. 49 Nmiles.

Up early (again) to catch the lock, a tactical decision was made to replenish fuel after so much motoring the day before and with the forecast still generally light - expensive in France but in fact it probably guaranteed that we could sail; in fact that was almost the last motoring we did.

We left the marina and tied up to a mooring outside for another gargantuan, but superb, Calverley breakfast! We made a leisurely departure, bound for Sark but with a "plan b" if the wind failed; it did and so mid afternoon we diverted to Jersey, but at least we sailed almost the whole day. Back to Bistro Rosa (a definite must for nauticalnosh.com subscribers) which was as excellent as the first time AND they kindly donated their laundry bag after the crew had spotted that it was the perfect size for the newly acquired genoa sock. Good to know that the old blagging skills are still there! 43 Nmiles.

Up early and another gargantuan breakfast and we set sail for Sark. With light SE winds we motored along the southern coast of Jersey but once round Corbierre Point we were soon under sail and at last the spinnaker came out. Alas not for long as 20 minutes later we were under a close, but fast, reach for America! With some reluctance the skipper pronounced that it must come down and a 2 sail fetch had us back on course. Still we sailed all the way and almost caught up with a French 45 footer. Finally we motored into Havre Goslin where we picked up one of the handy visitors moorings and yet more force feeding followed (apologies - it was lunch), a great preparation for one of the features of this lovely island - steps! All 299 of them. 25 Nmiles.

Half way up and needing a rest we briefly chatted to crew of another yacht who were on their way down. We walked to The Avenue for the obligatory ice cream (well the skipper said it was), a quick walk back and the decision taken, rather reluctantly due to a forecast of fog, to return to Guernsey instead of staying overnight on the Sark mooring. 5 Nmiles.

The now traditional final meal at the Absolute End (another nauticalnosh.com favourite) but this time without Sally who was still feeling under the weather from an earlier illness. We bumped into the same crew we had met in Sark (oh, a Moody 54 by the way - not to be sniffed at) and it turns out they know a friend of the Skipper, a typically small world!

A good year was had by Andy - two trips and not a single erroneous Mayday call!

Finally the traditional final breakfast; the also traditional scrubbing and departures. We logged 180 miles, sailed most of every day except Sunday and enjoyed some lovely weather which is remarkable this year (thanks Alan). We are already planning next year!