Hamburg

The summer weather brought on the urge for a visit to Herm which coincided with the arrival of the German Liner Hamburg on her way from El Ferrol, on the north west coast of Spain, to Honfleur in Normandy. With the sun shining from a cloudless sky and calm seas guests had good conditions for the short tender ride to St Peter Port. Behind the trees is Les Cotils, shortly to host one of the displays from the Chelsea Flower Show and only a 20 minute walk from the landing pontoon.

The first ferry to Herm always carries a good mixture of cargo; luggage for guests at the White House hotel, necessities for the running of guest accommodation, camping supplies for the visitors camping on one of the island's two campsites and the wine for tonight's dinner.

The Hamburg carrying just over 400 guests is one of those liners that can visit smaller destinations. In September 2014 she made a Great Lakes cruise, the first by a liner for many years. Milwaukee welcomed the liner commenting how she brought tourism money to the city. One of her destinations was Sarnia, the Roman name for Guernsey, with a local blogger reporting how she caught the eye of motorists on her way south to Detroit. Different surroundings today with the many German guests enjoying the sun-drenched island.

Azores, Adonia & Sea Cloud II

Three days with no liners, then three are on the anchorages off St Peter Port. The Adonia and Azores arrived this morning from the Scilly Isles along with the Sea Cloud II that arrived from Cowes, Isle of Wight. Not too sure if the windsurfer got close to the liners, there was a lot of activity off St Peter Port to contend with.

The Sea Cloud II was the first to leave, taking a lunch time departure bound for Lorient. The Azores was the last to leave, just before sunset, bound for Le Havre, where some guests may take the coach trip to Paris.

Herm Island provided a different viewpoint to try and get all three liners together, but was not as good as the sea front in Guernsey!! After the bad weather of the last few days Herm was busy with visitors making the most of the good weather, and maybe staying for a long weekend. The White House Hotel is a short walk from the beaches, as well as providing spectacular views of sunsets over Guernsey. The harbour beach doesn't look too busy, but Shell Beach was proving popular.

The cliff path on the high ground on the south side of Herm gives good views of St Peter Port and the three liners. The islet in the foreground is Crevichon and is only a short distance from Jethou, a privately leased island which is not open to the public. The Adonia, on the left of this image departed at tea time bound for Southampton, for the end of her British Isles cruise. The Azores is also on a British Isles cruise originating from Liverpool. Cruise & Maritime Voyages is chartering the Azores and they sail from various "local" ports such as Liverpool, Hull and Bristol as well as London-Tilbury.

One more image of the three liners on the anchorage, an impressive sight.