Jersey man's character
For the amateur geologists many granite walls around
Rozel include Les Écréhous stone. Given the abundance
of quarries on Jersey, the quarrying of granite from the
reef must have required a considerable amount of effort
and danger for little return given the poorer quality of
the Les Écréhous stone. However, this ignores a key
feature of the traditional Jersey man’s character.Though
Les Écréhous granite was of poor quality, it had one big
advantage: it was free!
Once afloat the need to aim well to the west of Les
Écréhous often feels strange, but given the strong crosstides in Le Ruau channel, it soon makes good sense. If
you leave Rozel around low water, there is a good
chance you might spot a pod of dolphins about a mile
off Nez du Guet. Jersey is fortunate to have over 100
dolphins resident all year off the east coast of the island.
Beyond Les Écréhous lies the Normandy coastline
(14nm from Jersey) and on a clear day buildings are
visible. It can be disconcerting to watch the transits on
buildings and rocks appearing to be on rollers as they
slide sideways due to the cross tide stream. This is
when having a compass course helps.
Look up and you may see Gannets en route to their
feeding grounds. Almost all will have flown 35nm from
Alderney which is home to one of the largest
gannetries in the British Isles. Tracking devices have
revealed these huge birds may fly over 340km in
search of food in 72 hours!
Near Les Écréhous the water gets shallow and the
tide stream increases so it's not a good idea to start
aiming directly at La Marmotière too early. As you
approach, the brightly painted huts nestling around
this tiny rocky outcrop become clearer.
is fortunate to have over 100 dolphins
resident all year off the east coast of the island
Gannets
As you paddle further away from land you might
encounter a westerly swell. If paddlers are unused to
paddling offshore, it is common to find your average
speed drops as people begin to feel more exposed
and insignificant. Here there is no coastline to handrail
around, just the expanse of ocean. Though lying north
east of Jersey, Les Écréhous can be an exposed place.
If, even on a calm day, you see swell breaking onto the
western reefs, you can expect to encounter swell.
Once ashore the regular paddler may point out storm
damage to the fishermen’s cabins and even where
entire buildings were destroyed during storms.
On a sunny August weekend the lagoon may already
be filling with visiting yachts and boats. Nearby is the
islet of La Maître Île which during the bird nesting
season is uninhabited. The smell from the Cormorants
puts most people off from landing.
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