This proved to be a wise decision as the wind refused to abate all weekend. There was even too much for the Carey Olsen yacht race from Jersey to Guernsey, which had to be cancelled - and unlike us, they like wind!

 

The early decision also allowed the Carteret Harbourmaster, Yacht Club de Barneville-Carteret and the restaurant to be advised well in advance of the weekend. The postponement would have come as no surprise to them but by keeping them in the loop the GYC Motor section should have earned significant Brownie Points that should stand it in good stead for next time.

 

For a briefing for a cancelled trip, it was really well attended with 56 members turning out. This is an indication of the very strong social ties that have been built over the Section’s brief existence. Either that or there was nothing on telly that night.

 

During the briefing the members discussed whether or not to reschedule the trip to Carteret and after a very democratic vote, the members decided by a large majority to programme a visit to Carteret during the Bank Holiday weekend in late August. Details of this will of course follow later.

 

Chris Morris of Sea Fisheries then gave a most interesting talk on the role and work of the Sea Fisheries and the Leopardess. We all learnt something that evening. Mostly that we wouldn’t want to do Chris’s job for all the tea in China. It is a challenging job and one that is essential to the livelihood of our local fishermen and the conservation of local fish stocks. Good work lads.

 

Friday and Saturday saw high winds and the occasional very heavy shower proving the Committee’s decision to be a good one. Fortunately, the Committee not only had a Plan B (a trip to a local bay with a barbeque on a beach) but also a Plan C and it was this that swung into effect on the Saturday afternoon. Once it was clear that the weather was not going to let us go boating, the Committee hastily arranged a trip to the airport.

 

The backup plan consisted of a visit to the Guernsey Aero Club, which included a talk on the role and work of the club by Rob Le Page, a visit to the Airport Fire Service and a VIP guided tour around the Channel Island Air Search plan and hangar.

 

The new extension to the Aero Club has made a major difference and really opened up the view of the runway and the whole facility.

 

The Airport Fire Service tour was impressive and both the lads were kind enough to show us around the whole operation and even took out one of the impressive new tenders to let off a bit of water. The newest tenders are able to dispense 9,000 litres in less than 2 minutes. To put that in perspective some of our members would struggle to drink that much lager in that time.

 

The tour of the Channel Islands Air Search indicated the very strong tie that exists between the Guernsey Yacht Club and Air Search.  Jason Hobbs, James Ridout and Andy Green are all GYC members and have all been on GYC Motor events. They were assisted by Chris Morris who provided the Sea Fisheries on the Thursday (another hardened boater) and Mickey Phillips.  They regaled fascinating stories on the many experiences of the crew and explained how the very expensive (infra red camera) and less expensive (pee bottle) works.

 

Heading back to the Aero Club, we had a quick overview of the planned changes to the runway and the planning process before moving on to the Aiglle hangar. Dave Leathem gave a talk on the private aircraft that are based in Guernsey and we had an amazing tour of the jets and turboprops. Anyone have a spare £50m?

 

28 people then finished the day at the Guernsey Yacht Club with an excellent 3 course meal in the Commodore’s room. Compliments to the chef, Vanessa and her hard working team.

 

Many thanks to all the people who gave up their time to show us around the various elements of the airport. We thought boating was expensive – think again!

 

Friday 22^nd July – Briefing

Saturday 23^rd July - Commercial Passages trip

 

Friday 26^th August – Briefing

Saturday 27^th August to Monday 29^th August – Carteret weekend