Guernsey Press

Rough seas and strong winds take their toll on travel

STRONG WINDS stopped the Chieftain V from getting into Guernsey with the national papers yesterday, but they did not go to waste.

Published
The boat No Worries washed ashore at Bordeaux after breaking from its moorings during high winds yesterday. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 20630473)

Gusts of gale force nine were recorded overnight on Monday, which prevented the crew from sailing. And at the airport all of the flights scheduled for that morning were delayed by at least one-and-a-half hours, with the 11.30am flight to Alderney having been completely cancelled.

Iris Freight CI director David Nuth said that this was the sixth time since April last year that the boat service had been halted.

‘We have to make decisions early on in the evening. There was no wind the previous night until midnight, then it became clear the conditions weren’t satisfactory for sailing,’ he said.

Since the papers have started being printed in Jersey it has allowed more flexibility between the printer and the shipping company.

‘I can’t be stuck with two or three tonnes of papers that I can’t deliver, so I am able to tell the publishers not to print the papers for Guernsey if we know we are unable to sail so they don’t waste the papers.

‘First and foremost is the safety of the crew. Sometimes we might make the wrong decision, but we don’t want to damage the ship either or there won’t be a service.

‘I don’t personally think we have a bad reputation at all. I’ll make sure the papers go [today],’ he said.

Meanwhile, a boat named ‘No Worries’ appeared to have broken from its moorings at Bordeaux harbour during the rough weather, leaving it stranded on the shore.