La Vieille lighthouse 0.2nm NE of La Plate in the Raz de Sein click to enlargeWell, the wind screamed through yacht rigging and it poured with rain during the night but by 6am it had exhausted itself and become a reducing F4 with misty drizzle. By the time we cast off at 1113 it was a mere NW’ly 2. Perfect Play d’eau weather.
The nav plan
The ‘pinch point’ of the route was to be abeam La Plate WCM in the Raz de Sein at 1415 when the tide would be slack as it changed from north- to south-going. Given the wind was forecast NW F3, the passage through the Raz should pose no problems.
As soon as we emerged from the protection of the marina the wind began to pick up and for most of the journey to the Raz we had a WNW F5 with a 2m+ Atlantic swell on our beam causing Play d’eau to ‘loolop’ (a special Play d’eau technical term…) creating white caps on the coffee. The stabilisers worked hard.
Interestingly, the two hour journey to La Plate was more tiresome than the transit of the Raz itself. Maybe because the Raz was at slack, maybe it was the westerly wind. But it certainly wasn’t the tyrant it can be.
La Plate West Cardinal Marker in the Raz de Sein click to enlargePassing La Plate at 1412 (three minutes early: note to self – must try harder) we turned east towards Audierne with the wind and swell behind us. A gentle and lovely ride.
Audierne
Our AA guide tells us Audierne used to have a great fishing fleet travelling to Africa to catch tuna. Nowadays its fishermen concentrate on crustacia, lobsters, crab and langoustines.
Arriving
Arriving in Audierne was great fun. The marina is 1nm up the river, reached by a dredged channel which is narrow, and I mean narrow, passing some 25m from the breakwater and 15m from the fishing wharf – narrower than Beaucette Marina’s entrance! Concentrating on the leading lines marked by fore-aft chevrons, it worked perfectly.
Having called the harbour master, he had a hammerhead ready for us. Remembering we were there three years ago almost to the day, he was on the pontoon to welcome us back. A lovely touch.
Round the Finistère corner
The last few days have meant early rises and long hours. Now, well and truly around the Finistère corner, the pressure’s off and we can saunter south to warmer climes as and when we feel like it.
As I write, it’s overcast, raining and chilly. Lin’s just reminded me it’s mid-summer’s day tomorrow, and Christmas is only 6 months and five days away; forever the cheer-leader!This Gannet was swimming in the middle of the Raz de Sein with no concerns at all click to enlarge
Tecky details
1113hrs FST – Departed Camaret
1537hrs FST – Audierne
Planned distance – 30.5nm
Longest leg – 11.8nm, Basse de Lis SCM to La Plate WCM
Tech problems – nil
Piers and Lin
from the Pilot House of Play d’eau
Fleming 55
Message to Gary – given langoustines are fresh every day, we’re going to make Langoustines bisque!
You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.
Play d’eau in St Peter Port, Guernsey at the start of our summer cruise around Brittany click to enlargeAt last!
After I don’t know how many weeks of staring at weather forecasts, the skies and sea states, we have started our summer cruise – just four days before mid-summer’s day.
Waiting had caused Cabin Fever to set in to the point it had almost become Cabin Rot. Endless delays had been caused by high winds and tracing the last of the gremlins in the new electronics.
But now it’s goodbye Cabin Fever, hello Brittany.
Summer Cruise Leg 1
So today we positioned Play d’eau from Beaucette Marina to St Peter Port to take advantage of catching the tide early tomorrow morning (18 June) for the 12 hour journey to L’Aber Wrac’h on the north west coast of Brittany.The St Peter Port water taxi fondly known as the ‘St Peter Port exocet missile’ click to enlargeThe next day (19 June) we plan to take the Chenal du Four and Raz de Sein bound for the pretty, little marina, at Audierne. After that, who knows?
When will we be back?
Our plans are to cruise the west coast of Brittany followed by the north coast as well. How long will we be away? Who knows – maybe we’ll be back in September, maybe October. We’re retired now, so it doesn’t matter.
Piers and Lin
from the Pilot House of Play d’eau
Fleming 55
You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.
The quietness and tranquillity of Beaucette Marina, Guernsey click to enlargeHave you ever wondered about coming to Beaucette Marina? Ever wondered how the marina was created – its history from quarry to marina? And what about the restaurant which seems to have changed hands a number of times over the last few years – is it OK?
Having taken many calls from friends and colleagues asking us these questions, we’ve created new pages on this website which hopefully answer the questions so we don’t have to keep repeating ourselves!
Having tasted the fare at The Restaurant at Beaucette Marina I can only say how delighted we are to have such a great venue as our ‘local’. Al Fresco drinks and dining at The Restaurant at Beaucette Marina click to enlargeWith its position overlooking the marina and distant islands, Valerie with Head Waiter, Max, and their staff are attentive hosts, whilst Chef James (Valerie’s husband) and his team of five are busy creating everything that comes from the kitchen, fresh and from scratch.
Having eaten there on a number of occasions, neither Lin, myself nor our guests have been disappointed. Hence, we decided to add a page to our website about The Restaurant at Beaucette Marina.
Gâche Melée
When I was taking photos of their kitchen, one of the chefs was creating a dish especially for a party that was coming the next day which had requested a traditional Guernsey dessert. ‘Of course,’ James had responded. The result? Gâche Melée, a rich apple based cinnamon cake, made from the best of beef suet, heavy in calories and really cholesterol challenging. Luscious!Chef Yervis creating Gâche Melée a rich cinnamon apple cake click to enlargeThere are two traditional recipes for this dessert, one originating from south Guernsey, the other from the north. Since The Restaurant at Beaucette Marina is in the north, the latter was chosen.
Breakfast?
We have yet to sample their weekend breakfast menu, but having seen the full English and a special of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon I don’t think it will be too long before we are climbing the pontoon to knock on the door of The Restaurant at Beaucette Marina.
Piers and Lin
from the Saloon of Play d’eau
Fleming 55
You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.
Beaucette’s seal, Mr Snore, returns to raid his larder click to enlargeMr Snore has returned to Beaucette Marina, Guernsey, on his annual pilgrimage to clear the marina of its large stock of mullet.
For many years, this large seal has visited Beaucette Marina to plunder the mullet which have been fattening themselves for the last year since his last raid.
John of Yacht White Magic knows Mr Snore well
‘He comes every year,’ said John, ‘and clears the marina of all the large mullet leaving just the small ones to grow until he comes back again the next year. He treats Beaucette Marina as his larder.’
At night Mr Snore sleeps under the pontoons, gently bobbing up and down just keeping his nose above the water level.
‘Last year, he was under the pontoon next to my boat,’ added John. ‘He was snoring loudly, and I mean loudly. He woke me up so I went out and shooed him away. He swam up the pontoon a bit and this time, he fell asleep between the hulls of a visiting catamaran.Mr Snore keeps a sleepy eye on me click to enlargeLike me, the owners were woken up, but rather than shooing him away they thought it was wonderful and spent the next few hours of night watching him!’
Apparently, it takes Mr Snore a few weeks to empty Beaucette Marina (his larder) of large mullet, and just he appeared today, he’ll be gone around the end of June.
I wonder where he’ll be sleeping? Near Play d’eau? Hmmm.
Piers
from the Saloon of Play d’eau
Fleming 55
You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.
Tranquil Beaucette Marina, Guernsey click to enlarge
Beaucette Marina Guernsey with its 115 berths is the quietest, if not the most beautiful and tranquil marina we have found in all our years of cruising.
Positioned on the NE corner of Guernsey, Beaucette Marina is the only privately owned marina in the Channel Islands and benefits from being a member of TransEurope Marinas.
Beaucette is home to a wide variety of sail and motor boats, some of the larger being a Trader 58, an Oyster 60, and our Fleming 55, Play d’eau.
Listen carefully and all you’ll hear are the Oyster Catchers and an occasional seagull. Maybe a boat will start its engines; maybe there’s a swish of water hoses as boats are cleaned. But no noise from passing cars or pedestrians; the only nearby road is the access to the marina.
Beaucette Webcam
Have a look and see Beaucette marina real time, right now, from its webcam.
Maritime info
Beaucette Marina HM office building click to enlarge
There is all the maritime information you need to know about Beaucette Marina, Guernsey, in Reeds Nautical Almanac under Channel Islands, and on the Beaucette website.
However, here are our own observations which you may find of use.
Beaucette Marina, Guernsey – the Entrance
Beaucette Marina’s entrance looks different from others for one reason, alone. Instead of the typical pair of concrete piers you might expect either side of a marina entrance, Beaucette Marina has tall cliff walls which can make the look of the entrance daunting when in fact it really isn’t.
The sill is flat. The north wall is vertical whilst the south wall slopes up at some 45 degrees to the vertical making the entrance wider as the tide rises. When it has 3m of tide over it, the marina manager advises it’s 15m wide – that’s more than at most marinas.
The entrance through the cliffs into Beaucette Marina click to enlarge
Let me give you a comparison – Perros Guirrec on the North Brittany coast has concrete piers with a width of only 6m and we’ve been in and out of there and Play d’eau’s beam is 4.9m! Now that’s a challenge.
If you are at all uncertain, just call Beaucette Marina on Ch80 and Ricky, the Marina Manager, will either come out himself or send someone in one of the marina’s dorys to help guide you in.
Beaucette Marina, Guernsey – approach the Play d’eau way
There’s a small 15 degree dogleg to the right in the final 250m before the entrance, and this is how we handle it on our Fleming 55, Play d’eau.
Call Beaucette Marina on Ch80 for clearance to enter. Like many marinas, there’s not room for two to pass.
Keep just south of the middle of the approach channel.
Aim to pass quite close to the last port hand marker.
Having just passed it, straighten up for the entrance.
When there’s only 3m of tide over the sill the entrance is already 50’wide click to enlarge
Two more points we bear in mind,
Although Play d’eau can enter at HW+/-3hrs (she has a 1.5m draft) we like to deduct 30 minutes either side to allow the tide to have its initial rush over the sill, first.
After the fun of the entrance and the immediate wonderment of being in such a lovely marina, don’t forget to turn to port into Beaucette Marina’s large marina pool to avoid meeting the small breakwater in front of you!
Piers
from the Pilot House of Play d’eau
Fleming 55
You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.
Aquastar 74 Beaucette Marina Guernsey click to enlarge
Makalu, a Malahide trawler Beaucette Marina Guernsey click to enlarge
Spindrift, a 1905 Zulu fishing boat Beaucette Marina Guernsey click to enlarge
Discovery 55 Beaucette Marina Guernsey click to enlarge
The Royal Engineers creating Beaucette Marina from Beaucette quarry. Picture taken 4 September 1968 click to enlarge
In the 19th century, quarrying was Guernsey’s major industry with 268 quarries being actively worked. Many were hundreds of feet deep and most of the extracted granite was crushed and transported by ship for making roads in the UK. Today, some are used as water reservoirs whilst others have been filled by waste disposal.
The granite of especial interest was the immensely hard blue Diorite granite some of which was used in for the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral, London.
Beaucette quarry
The disused quarry at Beaucette in Guernsey’s north east parish of Vale, had been bought by Vale Investments Ltd. Given its location close to the sea the plan was to create a marina. But there was one major obstacle – a substantial cliff wall was in the way.
Quotations were obtained from local companies, but the enterprising owner had an idea and contacted The Royal Engineers to ask if they’d like something to blow up – for training purposes, of course.
After a full reconnaissance had been made, it was estimated one officer and nine men could complete the work in just three weeks. With Ministry of Defence approval given on 18th June, 1968, Vale Investments Ltd accepted The Royal Engineer’s estimate of £725 plus the cost of explosives.
The Royal Engineers come to Beaucette, Guernsey
Beaucette entrance at low tide where The Royal Engineers were standing click to enlarge
Work began in early July 1968, but it was quickly realised that the original estimate was extremely optimistic. The reasons were threefold. The ‘normal’ method of loosening rock by boring holes from the top proved unsuccessful due to the immense strength of the Guernsey granite; the hope that the weight of water plus the effect of the tides would be sufficient to open the channel – but it wasn’t; and finally, a severe storm deposited 600 tons of previously excavated rock back into the opening. Hence, the work would take a great deal longer, and be more expensive than had been expected.
Work was suspended on 8th October 1968 pending a further reconnaissance in November to assess the situation and plan for completion of the task.
With 80% of the rock already removed, it was concluded that work could be completed using 2 officers and 60 other ranks between 17th February to 6th June 1969.
The costs
Rather than the original 3 weeks for 10 men, the work took over 7 months and involved more than 60 men.
The immensely strong dark grey Diorite granite can be found in specific places in the walls of Beaucette Marina. The drilling for the explosives are visible at the top of the picture click to enlarge
From the original £725 plus explosives, it cost some £27,000 including the pay and allowances of the officers and men, but excluding expenses such as accommodation, transportation, use of equipment, and the heavy equipment which had been left at the bottom of the quarry and which remains there to this day.
In the end, matters were settled at a total of £3,300 by Vale Investments ltd, being the original estimate plus a £1,000 ex-gratia payment, and Beaucette Marina, Guernsey, was born.
Questions raised in the House of Commons
On 16th February 1970, further questions were raised in the House of Commons by Mr Roy Roebuck, MP for Harrow East, on the suitability of using the British Army for this type of work.
‘Men of the Royal Engineers blasted rocks (at Beaucette) to facilitate the construction of a yachting marina for a private enterprise company, Vale Investments Ltd. Work costing at least £32,910 has been done for the company, of which the taxpayers have recovered only £3,300. There is a strong presumption, which I hope my hon. Friend will be able to rebut, that the Army has been used as cheap—indeed, free—labour by a private enterprise company to construct a haven for rich men’s yachts.
‘A significant point here is that the people of Guernsey do not contribute a brass farthing to the upkeep of the Services, although many of them are very rich. Indeed, Guernsey is not part of the United Kingdom; it is a Crown dependency which has a special relationship with the United Kingdom because of its proximity and the antiquity of its connection with the Crown. Many of its people are extremely rich, and it is my contention that any work there by agencies sustained by the United Kingdom taxpayer — save possibly acts of mercy carried out at times of emergency — should be paid for in full.
‘The people of Guernsey are taxed at only 4s (20p) in the £, cigarettes cost 2s 2d (11p) for 20, whisky is 32s 6d (£1.63p) a bottle and premium petrol 3s 4d (17p) a gallon. I can see no reason why my constituents are required to dip into their pockets to assist the civil population of Guernsey.’
After debate, Mr Robert Cooke, MP for Bristol West, replied,
‘The Channel Islanders, who are not represented in this House, have been completely vindicated by what the Minister (of Defence for Administration) has said. Obviously the hon. Member for Harrow East…was right to raise the matter. I am very glad…that the Minister has been able in this short debate to prove that what took place was a valuable piece of training, and that there is nothing wrong in private enterprise sometimes being involved in something to the community’s good. I am grateful to the Minister for what he said.
‘I am sure that the motives of the hon. Member for Harrow East in raising the matter in the House were nothing but good. If there was any confusion, I am sure that it is now all settled. As for the rich man’s playground, I gather that this is sometimes enjoyed by the most humble people, who like to get out of the United Kingdom and away from some of the rigours…’
The debate occupied the House for 28 minutes.
Success all round
As was said in the House, on the one hand the exercise at Beaucette quarry was seen as first class training for the Royal Engineers in quarry and rock blasting made unique given the hardness of the granite whilst on the other hand, the Islanders benefitted. Furthermore, it was agreed that responsibility for future estimates would be taken at a higher level than just those concerned, and that instructions had been issued that the assessment of costs must be made with the greatest possible accuracy in future.
Piers
from the library of Play d’eau
Fleming 55
You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form.
A popular dish Lobster, straight from the sea that morning click to enlarge
2021 –
Beaucette Restaurant reopened under new management in 2021, as Saltwater
2012 – 2021
During these years, the restaurant was known as The Restaurant at Beaucette Marina, and opened for business in June 2012, under the management of Chef Patron James and his wife, Valerie.
The restaurant became one of Guernsey’s best, benefitting from stunning views across Beaucette Marina and beyond to Herm, Jethou, Sark, Alderney and France, and, if you peek to the right a bit you can see ‘the other island’, Jersey.
The restaurant had undergone full refurbishment with a large outside decking area for Al Fresco drinks and dining. With Valerie’s eye for detail, the restaurant’s nautical theme was kept and enhanced with splashes of red, ‘my favourite colour,’ added Valerie.
Whilst Valerie looked after the front of house, Chef James commanded the kitchens.
Chef James
‘A splash of red – my favourite colour,’ says Valerie click to enlarge
‘Good cooking is all about flavour, presentation and consistency. Often you’ll find chefs have books detailing their dishes, but my book is in my head,’ said James.
‘We’d cook everything from scratch, including all the sauces, stocks, biscuits and tuiles, cakes and desserts. All would be made in my kitchen so we know they’re fresh, vibrant and most important of all, they’d taste right. Fish came straight from the sea around us, and our meat and vegetables were all sourced locally.’
Chef James’s background is all food-focussed. Having left school James went straight to work experience in a hotel kitchen.
‘I loved it. From there I worked in a number of restaurants and under some great chefs, including Steve Halstead. For eleven years before opening The Restaurant at Beaucette Marina, I was chef at the busy Oatlands Courtyard Brasserie.’
In the kitchen, James had a Head Chef, three trainee chefs and a washer-upper. All were encouraged to be creative and bring fresh ideas, ‘which we’d all test and taste before allowing the changes or adding new dishes to the menu,’ added James, ‘and we’d do whatever we could to help – plus it’s fun creating something new!’
The menus
Valerie and Chef James created Table d’hôte and À la Carte menus for lunch, and a separate À la Carte menu for dinner.
‘If a party wanted something special created, they’d only need to ask,’ added James. ‘It’s fun creating something different!’
Piers and Lin
from the Taste Buds of Play d’eau
Fleming 55
You can get in touch with us any time by using our Contact Form
Chef James and wife Valerie The Restaurant at Beaucette Marina click to enlarge
Robin of RES replaces the GPS1 aerial of the Furuno satellite compass click to enlarge
Bugs – the bane of Play d’eau’s new Pilot House electronics. Can we really exterminate them?
I remember seeing mother-in-law size cockroaches in Delhi years ago in my flying days. There’d been a flying ant swarm and cockroaches, led by these five inch monsters with their armour plated backs, had come out with their armies to hoover a three Michelin star dinner.
In the airport terminal, some local lads were playing football with them but despite severe kicking and smacking against walls, these monster cockroaches just picked themselves up and carried on scurrying about searching for ants as though nothing had happened. They refused to be exterminated.
We now had a monster somewhere in the electrickery on Play d’eau.
Andy Craig of MEI
Andy Craig of MEI had come to Beaucette Marina on 1st May 2013 and resolved all our electronic woes – or so we all thought.
A few days later, a friend had come from the UK to see us, and in the middle of demonstrating (code for showing off!) our new pilot house equipment, the dreaded ‘Heading Data Missing’ alarm on the nn3d re-appeared with the associated ‘Steering Compass Missing’ warning on the Simrad autopilot, activating every possible audible alarm from the Chart Plotter, Radar, Instruments, and this time, from the Satellite Compass as well which also displayed an ‘Aborting’ message.
Arrrgh! An unknown mother-in-law cockroach had crawled out to mock us.
The GPS1 aerial works again, with the same HDOP as the other two aerials in the array click to enlargeAfter re-booting the satellite compass many times, I called Andy of MEI. Having listened to my woes, Andy’s gentle voice came back with, ‘You won’t believe this, Piers. We’ve just had a Tech Bulletin from Furuno advising us there’s a potential fault in the GPS aerials they use in their satellite compass. From what you’ve said, the GPS1 aerial has failed which could have been the source of all the original problems.’
Robin of RES (Guernsey)
In the moments that followed, Andy spoke with the warranty desk at Furuno which immediately accepted the warranty claim, arranged for a spare aerial to be despatched from Holland direct to RES (their authorised agent in Guernsey) and authorised them to effect the repair. How brilliant was that!
Yesterday, Robin of RES appeared on Play d’eau and checked the fault remained. It did. Climbing the radar arch and pony mast, Robin unscrewed the cover from the aerial array, removed and replaced the faulty aerial and appeared back in the Pilot House to check it was now working. It was. Brilliant, again.
One mother-in-law cockroach exterminated. The dreaded Heading Data Missing alarm returns to the nn3d which will be hunted down and exterminated click to enlarge
Any more bugs?
Yes. Two hours later, three more bugs dared to surface. The original ‘Heading Data Missing’ on the nn3d, and two relatively new ones showing as ‘Log’ and ‘EPFS’ in the Radar alarm log. Yet all with no indication of equipment failure.
To me, I don’t believe there’s anything more wrong with any of the equipment. Deduction tells me these bugs are more like mosquitoes hiding in the sentences being dropped onto the nn3d backbone or the speed at which they are talking. A mismatch or confusion somewhere. Time will tell.
So, having exterminated a cockroach we now have three mosquitoes.
The offending anode bolt was knocked out click to enlargeIn cleaning the bilges I’d found a slight weep from one of the four bolts used to secure the two main anodes to the hull. Its washer was rusted leaving a slight rust stain where water must have oozed from the bolt and dribbled into the bilge. The concern was if the hull was wet from the water ingress.
Up, up and away
On Monday at 1630, Play d’eau took the short cut from Beaucette Marina to St Sampson’s and went up in the world as she was lifted by M&G Engineering in their 75 ton hoist to have the offending anode bolt knocked out, the hull checked for moisture content and a new bolt bedded in.
At the same time, we would take advantage of the lift to check the anodes and clean the trim tabs which had grown the most magnificent, yet embarrassing, seaweed beards.
The offending anode bolt
The offending bolt was knocked out and thankfully, it was clean and bright with no sign of any water ingress at all. It appears that the washer had had its anodising scratched as its nut was tightened causing it to corrode in the salty atmosphere of the bilge. Knowing the integrity of the hull had therefore not been breached, we wouldn’t have to suffer the expense of keeping Play d’eau on the hard for days if not weeks to dry out. What a relief.
Note 1 to self: Cover the exposed nuts and bolts on the inside of the bilge with white grease to prevent a return of worrying corrosion. The new bolt, greased up to prevent corrosion recurring click to enlarge
Play d’eau’s other anodes
When Play d’eau was lifted in February we checked all 12 anodes and it was only the two prop shaft anodes which needed changing.
And now with her in the strops, all looked OK except for the two on the prop shafts. After just four months they’d almost been completely eaten away which was most unusual. Maybe the reason for the rapid erosion was that we’d used MG Duff’s new aluminium anodes rather than zinc, as M G Duff had recommended.
Note 2 to self: If aluminium was the reason the shaft anodes had worn so quickly, I must use twin anodes or more on both shafts to get a full year’s use out of them – or better still, find zinc anodes again.
The Beard
The hull looked really good with almost no hint of fouling at all. But the trim tabs were another story. They were sporting a truly magnificent full set of whiskers.
The reason for this became evident when they were removed; the anti-fouling had been flaking off leaving bare metal. Far too much of a temptation for the Beaucette Marina seaweeds.
Note 3 to self: Next lift-out, take the trim tabs back to bare metal and start again.
Happy cruising!
Piers
from the Engine Room of Play d’eau
Fleming 55
In just four months the trim tabs had grown magnificent beards of Beaucette seaweed click to enlarge
It looked so beautiful, but it had to come off click to enlarge
The aluminium anode on the port prop shaft had virtually gone in only four months click to enlarge
The aluminium anode on the starboard prop shaft had almost disappeared completely click to enlarge
These were the voyages of Piers and Lin du Pré aboard their Fleming 55
