Alderney
May
2001 issue, No. 33 in our series.
Alderney, the most northerly of the Channel Islands, lies within
clear sight of France, eight miles west of Cap de la Hague. Pouring
through the famous strait between Alderney's brooding profile and
the stark promontory of La Hague, the Race of Alderney is a swirling
tidal drama with as many moods as days in the year. Even in still
weather, the power of the Race can quicken any navigator's pulse
rate.
Many yacht crews watch the magnificent coast of Alderney from
the tidal escalator of the Race without ever sampling the charms
of this unique island. Yet the harbour is easy enough to approach,
if you time the tide carefully, especially coming from Cherbourg
at the start of a Channel Island cruise. Even in murky visibility,
GPS takes the sting out of this landfall, provided you watch your
plot carefully and allow for cross-streams in good time. The passage
from Cherbourg is not quite 25 miles, a comfortable coastal leg
after a crossing from the Solent. If you are making for Alderney
direct, the harbour entrance is just over 60 miles from the Needles
and less than 50 miles from Portland Bill. The final approach to
Alderney harbour is from the north-east, leaving the submerged foundations
of the old Admiralty breakwater to starboard and the various rocks
off Bibette Head to port.
Arriving from the east by day, a useful steering line in clear
visibility is to keep Casquets lighthouse just open north of Burhou
islet until Château à l'Étoc point bears a shade east of south.
Then head south-west towards Alderney entrance, bringing a white
conical beacon on Old Harbour pierhead just open to the north of
St Anne's church spire, bearing 212 °T. This line leaves the
submerged part of the breakwater 100m clear to starboard. In north-easterlies
the harbour is open to swell, and in due easterlies limited shelter
can be found in the south-east corner of the bay south of Toulouse
Rock. Otherwise, Alderney harbour is perfectly snug and always welcoming.
There's no marina, but plenty of sturdy visitor moorings, all with
yellow buoys.
Mainbrayce Marine Services are in the inner harbour, with a well-stocked
chandlery and diesel alongside for 21/2 hours each side of High
Water. Their water taxi runs from 0830 to midnight during the season.
With your own dinghy, land at the long pontoon just below Alderney
Sailing Club. Near the head of this pontoon is the shower block
and laundrette. Braye Street is nearby with Jean's Stores (open
seven days a week) and the popular Divers Inn, the oldest family-owned
pub on the island. The most endearing feature of Alderney is that
it never seems to change. Visitors who haven't called here for years
find things more or less as they left them. As you gaze around from
your mooring, you'll pick up clues to the character of this inimitable
island: the long breakwater with its reassuring Victorian solidity
and, on the east side of the bay, the ramparts of Fort Albert that
remind you that Alderney's proximity to France has always had strategic
implications.
A long, white beach curves round the southern edge of the harbour,
looking idyllic in warm sunshine. Behind this luxurious sweep of
sand, green slopes rise gently, on which houses are dotted haphazardly.
You sense that Alderney is not very organised and that the islanders
like it that way. The town of St Anne lies a 20-minute stroll uphill
from the harbour and it is a charming blend of traditional English
with a dash of Normandy that has been caught in a time warp for
40 years. Wandering up cobbled Victoria Street past family shops
and gossiping locals, you realise what havoc cars and supermarkets
have wrought. St Anne is a soothing retreat for visitors fresh from
mainland UK. You barely notice yourself relaxing.
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Alderney
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