Condor delayed, so charity group get to Jersey by Rib
A GROUP of islanders was so determined to get to Jersey on Saturday that they took to a rigid inflatable to make the inter-island crossing when Condor was forced to cancel its Liberation day trip.
The ferry had suffered technical problems on Thursday and Friday and this had a knock-on effect to timings on Saturday.
A Condor spokesman said that tidal restrictions in St Helier, plus crew hour regulations, added to the problem.
'The Jersey day trip was cancelled because the time available in Jersey was insufficient,' he said.
He said Condor apologised to those who missed their day trip, and they were offered a refund.
Problems had been rectified, but although the ferry aimed to catch up over the weekend, he said, there were still some delays and passengers had been notified of the changes to the schedule.
One group that was determined not to miss its trip to Jersey were members of the ActionAid Guernsey group.
They had planned to hold an information session to attract volunteers for a trip to rebuild a school in Nepal, damaged by the 2015 earthquakes. It was the first time the local branch of charity had sought to involve Jersey residents.
Chair Natalie Tucker took to Facebook to appeal for help after hearing of the cancellation.
'I just messaged everyone I knew with a boat and posted it to Facebook groups,' she said.
A friend of hers with a Rib was able to take the ActionAid representatives to Jersey.
Miss Tucker said the sea was relatively calm 'but we all got a bit windswept'.
