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

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.

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.

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.

Guernsey quarries

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

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.

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.

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

‘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