Page 16 - Yachter Spring/Summer 2020

16 CRUISING REPORTS
THREE MEN IN A BOAT AND SOME UNEXPECTED VISITORS
My brother Nigel, friend Bryan and I decided to take Walkabout 111, our 36ft lift keel cruiser, on a quick cruise to wrap up the season.
with wind against tide.We hatched a plan to confirm the forecast early the next day and leave harbour as soon as the sill opened and the tide direction was in our favour, then proceed north along the French coast, and only give up our east (windward) ground in favour of a weaker tide nearer to Alderney if conditions showed the race to be too rough; then we would sail across the Channel to any port east of Portland so as to be in a good position to get back to the Solent the following day.
On the morning of departure, the
forecast gave an ENE wind of 25 knots.
We were soon on our way beam reaching
in flat water making the most of the tide in brilliant sunshine. South of Dilette, a patrol boat was spotted a couple of miles astern heading in our direction.As it drew abeam, we could see it was a French customs cutter displaying a board on the bridge wing with Channel 8 on it. Nigel, a recently retired Cable Ship Captain, dived below and fired up the radio then went into professional seaman mode: “This is Walkabout, please go-ahead French customs vessel DA28”. They wanted to know our last port, where we were bound and how many persons were aboard.“Walkabout please standby”.A few minutes later:“Walkabout please prepare
to be boarded”. Nigel replied straightaway: “DA28, understood, we will maintain course and speed until you are ready to board”.
We continued, a 36-foot yacht with a 150- foot French customs cutter in tow.After taking in a quick mainsail reef, we set about gathering our necessary documentation together into one neat file, passports, SSR,
After a whistle-stop nine-day tour of the Channel Islands and Northern Brittany
via Alderney, St Peter Port, Herm, Sark, Tréguier, Ploumanac’h,Yaudet (mouth of
the Le Léguer river to Lannion),Trébeurden, Tréguier, St Helier, Gorey, and Carteret,
we were planning our return to the UK. Winds were forecast to be fairly settled at
25 to 30 knots NE then veering slightly south of east over the next few days.We had to a degree boxed ourselves into a corner
as our preferred leaping off point, Braye Harbour was open to the NE and would
be uncomfortable, if not a tad dangerous with winds of this strength and direction; also, the Alderney Race can be quite vicious
WE WERE SOON ON OUR WAY BEAM REACHING IN FLAT WATER MAKING THE MOST OF THE TIDE IN BRILLIANT SUNSHINE.