Guernsey and Sark Island Excursion | Bark Europa Day 14

summer in the british isles

July 9, Day 14

GUERNSEY

After several days sailing in thick morning fog and afternoon rains, the Europa welcomed a fun filled excursion in the Guernsey Island Sun. After fourteen days on the ship, we welcomed that chance to stretch our legs on ground that wasn’t constantly moving sideways. Our first evening consisted of some light exploring but mostly trips to the local pubs. One group enjoyed the first place that we saw, the Ship & Crown, while others explored deeper into the streets and residential areas.

After enjoying some time at a singing competition filled with families and their singing children, the crew and I moved upwards onto the island and entered a historic inn. There was nobody inside except the bartender who excitedly welcomed us to the dimly lit tavern. We talked about our ship, how some of us have been sailing since Cape Town, and our plans for after our journey ends in harlingen. After talking for a while more, we said our goodbyes and our lovely bartender excitedly bid adieu with “It was great to meet you all, I can’t wait to tell my kids that a bunch of pirates were in my tavern tonight.”

The following day was a full exploration around the port of Guernsey Island. I took some MUCH needed time to myself away from everyone on the ship. I spent about three hours alone wandering the cliffside enjoying the peace until I stopped for lunch. I walked passed the Octopus restaurant on my way to my short hike and made a note of the location to visit on my return. I had a wonderful lunch with an overlook of the port and watched the beginnings of a “three-person-triathalon”. I enjoyed a tonic water on ice, mushroom caps, grilled asparagus, and a classic Fish N’ Chips on this old British Island. It was the first fish I have eaten in nearly nine years. I felt weird about it but everything on the menu was caught locally and delivered promptly and I had actually seen a fisherman working on their boat in the harbor during my hike a few hours before delivering fish to the restaurant.

After leaving the restaurant, I ran into Byron on the beach and joined him for a bit, laying in the sun like a lizard. Jaap visited the Military Museum, Byron and I swam in the rock pools along the coastline, Jasmin and Marthe found Fermain Bay, and a few people climbed the paths to the cliffside for a bird’s eye view of the area. Afterwards we both walked around town trying our best to avoid the droves of people that had just descended on the small town from the cruise ship that had docked the morning before. Two of us, Inken and Simone had visited the cliffs the previous evening and returned on the second day to enjoy a picnic in the sun with a view of the deep teal water, green seaweed, and orange tinted rocky coast.

We returned to the ship in the mid afternoon to have our dinner together on the ship. At anchor there is a peacefulness and restfulness onboard and everyone moved slowly as we started our move to Sark Island. As we raised the anchor, a large group gathered on the sloop deck playing card games. I shared some chocolate and evening snacks and enjoyed a warm glow in the clouds as the sun set between the British Islands, just off the coast of France.

SARK

On anchor at Sark Island, I joined Lars and Daniel on the Zodiac with some of the other guests. They briefly were our guides, cracking jokes and giving us a comically brief description of the island that we were visiting. Making up bird species like the Albino Puffin; 

“Do you see it?? right there! Aw you missed it? Better luck next time.”

“The island is actually owned by just two families.”

“Would you believe that there are 1.2 million people on this tiny island??”

I wanted to drive the zodiac so badly. I later asked how much experience Lars has with driving them and apparently he has never driven the “Zodiac” branded Skiffs before. He made some hand motions and sound effects that looks precisely like the boat I drove in Fort Lauderdale for my PBL2 cert.

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