An English Summer 75

 

Stargazer sits amid a convivial band of 'thirty footers,' in St Peter Port harbour. Tanya, our East Coast colleague, from the Orwell, is alongside. Beyond her lies, Neville Featherstone's, Westerly Fulmar, Juno. No longer owned by the pilot book author, but on her maiden voyage, under enthusiastic new command . Woody, another East Coast boat, out of Oostende on the Belgian shore, is across the pontoon. Her crew took Stargazer's lines, on arrival at the quarantine pontoons. With the results of their PCR tests (required by those entering from beyond the Common Travel Area) through, they are free to join us.

Beyond this small community, the harbour is eerily quiet, by any standards, let alone those of the height of the Guernsey summer season. The Yang, to the Yin, of the 'fully booked,' ports of the south and southwest coasts of England. A once in a lifetime opportunity to be savoured, by the lucky visitor; if not by those whose livelihoods depend on migratory cruising boats.

Today's shore-side mission is to obtain white diesel (see footnote). I set off, up the now familiar steps, carrying two empty jerry cans.

Navigating by an eclectic mixture of landmarks : Keep taking the flights of steps, until Fat Rascal's. . . .

. . . .Onto the road, up past the Law Courts. . . .

. . . .Carry on ascending ; keeping Victoria Tower to the right. . . . 

. . . .Turn right, into a leafy residential street.

 There Doyle Motors, showroom and forecourt, lies within a quadrangle of houses, accessed, on two sides, by an alleyway.

Before limiting my mobility, by filling the cans, I detour to Victoria Tower. It Stands on a grassy mound, two streets away. Commanding a view, out over the rooftops and cranes, of St Peter Port, across the Little Russel to Herm and Jethou.

White Diesel Footnote:

Stargazer runs on fully taxed, and therefore unmarked, or white, diesel. As is the European standard, for both boats and road vehicles. In the UK the standard is for boats to run on, so called, red diesel. Hence, in all bar two, UK ports only red diesel is available on the dockside. This is fuel on which excise duty is paid, but not VAT. A red dye is added to it, so that its use may be readily monitored. 

Within the EU, it is illegal to sail with marked diesel in the boat's tanks . In practice the French only object if marked diesel is carried in cans, outside the vessel's main tank . However the Belgians take a strong stance, seeking out visiting UK boats, dipping their tanks and fining those, where red diesel is found ( at one euro per litre). In the Netherlands too, in my experience, after asking to see VAT status proof, for the boat, boarding customs officials next ask about diesel provenance. Hence, as a boat which spends most of her time cruising European waters, Stargazer runs on white diesel . Which means a walk to a roadside forecourt, for a fill up, when in the UK.