A race against the tide to reach Grosse Rocque
Famously a Cobo fisherman heads out every Liberation Day to the Grosse Rocque, spotted in the distance from Cobo Bay, to raise a Guernsey flag on the rock.
But on the lowest tide of the year, at 0.1m, when photographer Peter Frankland, like me, an Albecq native, speculated if it would be possible to walk out to the Grosse Rocque that we see almost every day, we decided to take up the challenge on foot.
Neither of us had ever been out that far without floating assistance, and so we checked the tide tables to see if it was possible, and took the gamble, keen to ensure that the trip would not end in embarrassment, with the focus of the story on us being rescued.
With me in a wetsuit and wellies and Peter in waders we thought we were prepared as we made our way down the beach, passing a sprinkling of ormerers as we crossed the rocks to get to the 10ft-wide gully between the inner and outer reef.
We made it to the gully about an hour before low tide to ensure that we had enough time to make it to the flagpole and back before the tide began to rise again.
Crossing the gully proved much more difficult than we first anticipated. We knew we were certain to come across slippery seaweed, but having the kelp wrapped around our legs in chest-deep water made it almost impossible to stay upright.
It’s safe to say that there was no staying dry after that crossing.
Still in a rush to make it to the peak of the rock and back in time for the tides, we clambered over the rocks as quickly as possible.
What surprised us was the size of the ravines, and at times crossing them proved a bit of a challenge.
Climbing rocks in a wetsuit and crossing ravines made me feel like I was in the Hunger Games.
As we got closer to the flagpole, the climb was almost vertical and the smell was unforgettable.
Putting our hands in masses of bird poo, or should we say ‘guano’, the smell, combined with rotting fish, presumably leftovers from the birds’ dinner, was one we had not been expecting.
But we made it, and after a selfie to our colleagues and some pictures at the top, we began the trek back down just a few minutes later, still battling the changing tide.
We crossed the gully as the water was at its lowest, just over knee high and with less concern over the tide, we were able to get some content and relax a little before trekking back up the beach.
Overall it took us about two hours there and back for what should be about 1km each way. However a warning – anyone attempting to visit Grosse Rocque this way should be very cautious of the tides.
