Le Boreal and Boudicca

It did not go well for the Boudicca today in Guernsey. She arrived at the anchorage from Dover early this morning with her guests ready for a long day ashore. After the shore party had landed it seemed that the swell was too great, the tender was recalled, and two hours later the ship was continuing her passage to Falmouth where she arrived at tea time. The disappointed guests on board did not even have time to visit Castle Cornet which was tantalisingly close.

By the time Le Boreal arrived from the south, the weather had changed from a grey, drizzly day to one of sunshine and really heavy rain showers. Le Boreal's decks were empty as she came to the anchorage vacated earlier by the Boudicca . Only four months ago Le Boreal was in Antarctica, one of the newer ships for those challenging cruises, being launched in 2010. With the sun behind the liner and the rain in front she made an impressive sight.

By the time she had anchored the showers had passed and her guests enjoyed their short half day visit to Guernsey, before leaving late afternoon for Caen, where she will transit the canal at Ouistreham.

When the guests came ashore they would find plenty of buses, (now closer than ever due to the new landing area for tenders,) helping the independent traveler enjoy Guernsey. Alternatively, in between some of these buildings are small, ancient, pedestrian lanes which are a fascinating way to explore St Peter Port.

Sea Explorer I

The Sea Explorer arrived this morning from Portsmouth with the rising sun blinding anybody looking towards Sark to see her come up to the anchorage. One of the smaller liners visiting Guernsey this year, she is a recent fleet addition to AP Touring and Noble Caledonian  joining her sister ships, Island Sky and Caledonian Sky.

The St Peter Port pilot marks the position where the Sea Explorer will anchor on her half day visit to Guernsey before moving closer to Herm during the afternoon. Tomorrow she will leave for Sark, and then onto Alderney.

While the guests of the Sea Explorer were on Herm, they probably visited Shell Beach which yesterday morning was bathed in sunshine. A walk along the east coast of the island from Belvoir Bay brings this view of the beach, with no one in sight on this spring morning. The shells which make up the sand are carried to the beach by the Gulf Stream

Costa Pacifica

The Costa Pacifica left Savona in the north west corner of Italy on the 18th April and will arrive in Kiel, Germany on the 28th April. This morning her guests enjoyed Guernsey having last sailed from Porto in Portugal.

Unbeknown to the guests on board they were going to be the first real test for the new pontoon and tendering area in St Peter Port. The Costa Pacific with a capacity for 3,500 guests was the largest to visit so far this year, and on a half day visit, which squeezes the tender traffic into a very short period, it was always going to be a challenge.

The new crossing point on the Albert Pier proved a problem as local officials wished to keep the road clear. This pushed queues back towards town, and stopped the more orderly queuing arrangement of previous years. One of the advantages of the new area is that there are cafes close by which some guests took advantage of, rather than spending their time in Guernsey in a queue.

Speaking to a Costa shoreside crewman, there seems to be a limit to the number of tenders allowed to be used at any one time causing a tailback of guests. The local Sark ferry, Sark Venture, was chartered which helped to ease the situation and speed up the process. The Costa Pacifica left early afternoon for Amsterdam where she should arrive at midday tomorrow.

Saga Pearl II

The Saga Pearl II put in a rare appearance at St Peter Port today arriving after a overnight journey from nearby St Malo. With the decks looking rather empty, Herm is in the background, a short 20 minute ferry ride from the harbour. The ferries are now the opposite side of the harbour to the current landing pontoons for tenders, though booked tours for Harm and Sark should go to the inter island ferries directly,

The arrivals area continues to change with the new locally infamous grey flower planters putting in multiple appearances. Behind these empty planters, called various names in the local media,  is the newly cleaned Prince Albert statue which has lost its green colour with is the only colour that many locals knew.

The Saga Pearl II prepares to leave St Peter Port with guests ready for their last night on board as tomorrow morning she will be in Southampton at the end of her cruise. Saga operates smaller ships which give a different experience to the larger ones.

Anthem of the Seas

La Conchee reef, on the west coast of Guernsey,  in January 1974 was the scene of a tragic shipping disaster when the Cypriot ship Prosperity was driven onto the reef by hurricane force winds with the loss of all on board. On the morning after, the ship could be seen broken in two.  In L'Eree car park on the west coast of Guernsey is a memorial to the disaster.

Forty one years later the Anthem of the Seas, the world's third largest cruise ship, sails past the west coast of Guernsey with La Conchee Reef in the foreground. With a capacity of almost 5,000 guests, robotic bar tenders, surf simulator, and virtual sky diving machine it is a ship that could never have been dreamed of that January morning in 1974. The Anthem of the Seas will be christened tomorrow, 20th April 2015, in Southampton, its base for the summer of 2015, before heading to its permanent home port in New Jersey's Cape Liberty Cruise Port from the winter.

Azores and Voyager

In July 1956 the first major peacetime passenger liner disaster since the loss of the Titantic occurred  at the Nantucket Light Vessel, the inbound and outbound focal point for shipping sailing to New York. The bow of the Swedish liner Stockholm sliced into the Italian liner Andrea Doria, causing the Stockholm's bow to be battered into nothing and the Doria to sink, with some loss of life. The Stockholm at the time was the smallest passenger ship operating on the North Atlantic route. Today after many name changes and owners, (as well as recently being impounded in Lisbon,) the Azores arrived at the anchorage off St Peter Port.

There were two liners in today, the other being the Voyager, which prompted two lanes at the new pontoon. I think they will need a Disney queuing system when the Costa Pacifica arrives next weekend. The 'small' on the road is not a comment on the size of the liners, but the "small" cars that were recently allowed to park there.

Guernsey has enjoyed ten days of wonderful weather with temperatures reaching 24C/75F, but today as the guests came ashore to enjoy their visit, the cloud got thicker, the rain came, and the wind got stronger. With the two liners viewed from the Salerie, with the Voyager in the background, the day did not look inviting. So much so that the Voyager sailed early at lunch time for La Coruna to miss the worsening weather.

It was just on tea time with the last tender back at the liner, and the pilot on board, that the Azores hoisted anchor and set sail for the Isle of Scilly with the wind and rain increasing. At the harbour the landing pontoon was towed away to allow dredging to continue at the position of the new landing area. In the background is Brehon Tower, built in the Napoleonic wars to protect the entrance to St Peter Port. Local rib tours take you for a close up look.

Marco Polo

The blossom is out on the cliffs, the sun is shining, the sea is calm, the cafes are busy, the new pontoon is welcoming more guests from the Marco Polo. It's April in Guernsey, what a place to live! Just above Saints Bay on the south coast the blossom spills over the cliff path making a arch to walk under as you enjoy the views..

Always popular is the normal bus service that takes the guests from the liners on a coastal drive all the way around the Island, for the cost of a standard bus fare. Why CT Plus does not add more buses to this service when the liners are in town I do not know. Get there early, or late if you want to use this busy route.

With no visiting yachts, the new pontoon really stands out, and shows the short walk from the Marco Polo tender into town, compared to the old, longer walk from by the Herm Trident ferry.

With the sea as calm as this, tender operation was no problem for the guests from the Marco Polo on her Easter Cruise around the British Isles. She left Tresco, on the Isles of Scilly last night and at teatime will leave for Honfleur in Normandy. Those on board the Condor Liberation had a close view of the liner as they made their approach to St Peter Port passing Castle Cornet. The 'Cows Horn' in the foreground, is one of the outlying fortifications of Fort George. With World War 2 and Napoleonic fortifications on top, and a German tunnel underneath (now a Aquarium), it's only a 15 minute walk from the new pontoon, giving good views of the anchorage and the east coast cliffs.

Oriana

An ill wind blows some people no good but not everyone loses out. For the guests on board the Oriana returning from a two week cruise to witness the Solar Eclipse, they had a extra night on board because the ship was unable to dock in Southampton, despite having two tugs assisting. As a result of the late arrival of the Oriana on its berth in Southampton P & O put the guests expecting to enjoy their cruise to Guernsey and Zeebrugge, in hotels in the area paying for the room and meals. They also have a 50% refund of the cost of their cruise, but miss out on a night on board at sea.

Despite the 24 hour delay, the guests on the Oriana arrived early this morning at the new liner pontoon in St Peter Port with its temporary signage. The weather today started off damp and misty but cleared during the day to enable all to enjoy a full day on the Island.

The last guests leaving the island had no queues to bother about as they stroll along the pontoon to board their tender for the ride to the ship on the more easterly anchorage.

The Oriana looks strange in her part painted new house colours as she waits for her late afternoon departure for Zeebrugge where she will arrive early tomorrow morning. She should be returning to Guernsey in August, hopefully to warmer weather. Good Friday tomorrow and the inter island ferries are busy with weekend guests to Sark and Herm.