Exploring Alderney

Yesterday we did not sail (except to move Gerty to a better mooring). But we dinghied! The dinghy’s name is officially “Dolorous.”  Joshua named her and she has a new anchor, chain, locks, etc to keep her safe. The skipper has charged me with the task of painting her, like our mailbox, so nobody will want to take her.  Do you get the unintentional insult?  Ha ha ha. (A bit of history- at every house we lived in I painted the mailbox wildly bright with flower scenes and “GALLIN”).

So this post was just interrupted by the Alderney customs and immigration official.  I suppose I will get used to this, but it was quite exciting the first time. She checked us out and asked for our passports, so I guess we are officially visitors now.

So back to yesterday. We rented bikes and cycled around the entire island, which is a magnificently beautiful place wrought with a very sad and violent history.  The man from Cycle and Surf has to be one of the best bicycle rental service people in the world.  The bikes were fitted and tuned perfectly and he gave us a great briefing of where to go and what to see.

The island has been a prime fort hold since the Roman Empire. The forts and gun turrets have been updated over the years with each passing war. The incredible causeway to Fort Clonque that magically rises up from the sea when the tide goes out, made the biggest impression on me.

It was so beautiful, but the history is sad and violent as a local fisherman told us the story of the modern fortification being built by German slaves during World War II.  In his mind, the wounds of war still seemed fresh.

They raise their own pigs and the Alderney pork burgers at The Moorings restaurant are delicious.  Yes I feel guilty about eating one of the pigs that we enjoyed watching on our bike ride.

The Harbor was nicely decorated throughout the day with the tall ship, Kaskelot, a special treat.

Today we sail to Guernsey. The plan is to leave at 3 pm and follow the Swinge and then continue SW . The wind is expected to be 10 knots out of the NW and the sail should take about 4 hours.  Can’t wait!