Stormbound, what does it mean?
Well, basically, it means from a boater’s perspective you’re stuck in a location that you can’t move from due to bad weather forecast.

A great example we've just experienced, and what better place to get stuck than Alderney? Alderney, for those people who are not familiar, is a small island/rock positioned approximately 20 miles off the French coast and about 60 miles south of the UK. One of the islands that forms the Channel Islands, Alderney is about three and a half miles long by about one and a half miles wide and has been described as "2,000 locals clinging to a rock in the English Channel." The harbour at St Bray’s is open for the north east but in west or south west weather it’s a nice, safe, snug location. There is, however, no marina and the facilities are very much “traditional”.

Stormbound means that you are in a location, you’re safe but it’s not advisable to venture further on because of weather. Therefore, having just spent three days stuck in Alderney, I was reminded of this rather interesting scenario.

Sometimes, stormbound means that you can’t even leave the boat. The boat is sitting on anchor or on a mooring and it can be so windy or so rough it’s unsafe to leave the vessel. Over the last three days we’ve had a couple of times where this has been the case and that means you resort to boat cleaning, boat maintenance, anything that fills the time, reading, etc, etc. We have also caught crabs and had visitors from other stormbound boats for drinks and snacks.

I think the interesting thing with being stormbound is the fact that it takes you back to an almost bygone era, particularly in Alderney, it is very, very quiet and there is really very little to do other than hang out and consider the weather.

For anyone who hasn’t been stormbound, I can fully recommend it. It enables you to take time out and you are forced to essentially do nothing for a few days.

There is a fantastic sailing club at Alderney with great Wi-Fi so I did manage to do a little bit of work. However, walking and taking time to study the island’s geology and wildlife has also been interesting, plus to study the extremely rough seas from the land side of things.

For those people who haven’t visited Alderney, whether they intend to be stormbound or visit in good weather, I can fully recommend it. To give you an example, the sailing club is left permanently open for visiting sailors and yachtsmen to use as they wish. There are great shower facilities, great facilities in the port itself. The moorings are nice and secure and a bonus is that you pay less for moorings than most places in the UK.

Being stormbound, whilst it sounds dramatic, is actually the opposite. It enables you to relax, take some time to consider your plans for the rest of your holiday or boating mission and generally spend some time doing the stuff that you thought you were going to do when you purchased a boat in the first place.

With that in mind, I am going back to putting my feet up in the sailing club and continue reading my book, plus a quick glance at emails too :)

................
Neil and Mandy are in the English Channel this week, working and sailing aboard their Rebel Ketch "Supertaff"