Guernsey Press

Cruise ship a sign of summer, but stormy waters lie ahead

AS THE saying goes, one swallow doesn't make a summer and nor, in a Sark context, does the sight of half a dozen horse-drawn carriages coming down The Avenue necessarily mean that we're in for a bumper tourist season.

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AS THE saying goes, one swallow doesn't make a summer and nor, in a Sark context, does the sight of half a dozen horse-drawn carriages coming down The Avenue necessarily mean that we're in for a bumper tourist season.

However, it does bring smiles to the faces of traders and those smiles were very much in evidence a couple of mornings ago at the sight of more than 160 cruise liner passengers enjoying a delightful dose of warm spring sunshine.

They were from the Norwegian ship Fram and from the looks on the faces of those I saw on carriages, there seems to be more than an even chance that they will be telling family and friends how much they enjoyed their short stay in Sark. There's nothing better than word of mouth advertising.

On that same day I received more evidence that the signs look good for the season when told that friends from Jersey hoping to spend the early May Bank Holiday weekend in Sark only managed to find accommodation at their fourth emailed attempt – the first three were fully booked.

Sark Shipping is now moving towards its summer schedule – there's at least one round trip from and to Guernsey every day of the week and more on some days – and for those wanting to spend a long weekend here, there is an additional Guernsey departure at 5.45pm on Fridays along with a Sark departure at 8am on Mondays, something local people having been advocating for years.

I wonder if that particular additional service has anything to do with the Barclay family-owned Aval du Creux Hotel running a similar service last summer using one of the Brecqhou boats. Sadly, there are those here who would refuse point blank to acknowledge such a thing, even if presented with overwhelming evidence to confirm it.

I very much fear that there will be more focusing on who rather than what next week when Chief Pleas discusses, among 30 other matters, licensing all vessels using Sark ports, no matter where they come from, ostensibly to protect the Sark Shipping 'lifeline' service to and from Guernsey.

One Sarkee raised a couple of interesting points with me on that issue earlier this week.

A couple of years ago Sark Shipping took a group to Dielette – elected Sark politicians were fairly thin on the ground on that occasion, but no matter – and announced, when news of the trip emerged, that they intended starting a cargo service that June. As my companion put it, 'we're still waiting for it to start'.

His interpretation of the effect of a ban on, for example, the Brecqhou Warrior bringing freight from France was that with it the Shipping Committee is, in essence, telling people where they can shop, for it's pointless buying in France if it has to be then loaded on to a Sark Shipping vessel in Guernsey.

The final point he made was that, as far as he (and I) can recall, there has been no public utterance from Sark Shipping itself as to whether it has sought such a licensing scheme for vessels using Sark ports. Indeed, the silence from the company whose future – we are told – is in jeopardy unless the licensing is introduced has been deafening, unless we've both missed something.

A week ago a fair percentage of residents made their way to the duck pond adjacent to Petit Beauregard for the annual Good Friday model boat bash – or, as most parents put it, the annual excuse for children to get their clothes soaking wet without being chastised. I have to say that the weather was better than it has been on previous occasions and it was yet again an enjoyable part of the Sark community's calendar.

The email address for comment is fallesark@sark.net.

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