Time and Tide waits for no man

Day One...

Well, another Ormering adventure finally had begun. It was Saturday and low tide was at 13.40 with a 0.4 metre low making for a good tide to go in search of Haliotise Tuberculata (Ormer).

Fortius pulled up along side the fisherman's quay with Tuc on the helm. The sun was shining and everyone congregated at the stern to load our gear for a days hard work
turning granite. Leaving St Peter Port behind and with The Peril in tow we headed off to
Guernseys sister isle of Jethou for our first location of granite turning. The hunter gatherer instinct in us was strong and we were all keen to get ashore. Traditionally ormers were seen as a valuable food source. Many years ago they were relatively plentiful and easy to gather but due to over fishing the once plentyful supply had become depleted. I've been going ormering with my close friends for as long as I can remember and today was no exception as we had a boat full. Tuc (El Capitano), Blakey (the Bordeaux Rat), Jen (Chief Photographer), Wiggi and yours truly.

Kitting up for action. The Bordeaux rat got off to a bad start by tearing the ass out of his waterproofs, which meant he was going to get very wet. Heading ashore in The Peril, it looked like the spot we had chosen to look at didn't have many rocks to turn. You have two ways to hunt for the allusive Ormer.

The first is by Turning. You pick an area of boulders and roll them over to see if there are any stuck to the backs. They can be quite hard to spot sometimes especially under water when your waist deep in freezing cold 8 degree water.

The other way is by Cricking, which is where you stick your arm into the many cracks and crevices of the rocks and feel around for the Ormer.

Opting for the Cricking method in this spot worked out quit nicely and I was rewarded with a nice half dozen slugs. Tuc and the Rat went for the turning and kicked my ass with 10 a piece. Tuc's a Jammie bugger, if he fell in a pile of poo he would come out smelling of roses.

We still had time before low, so off we headed to spots number two and three. Spot two, a small reef west of Jethou called Clavelee which produced a few more slugs and guess what Tuc came out on top again. Off to spot three, a larger reef called Grossee Ferrriere. We had to cross a tidal passage to get to the Ferriere in The Peril called the Tobars passage. So we had the mother ship (Fortius) follow us across with Geoffers at the wheel who was looking after her while we were ashore.

Unknown to us we had been beaten to this spot by fellow Granite turners on the previous tides and all had been turned. We all had work hard and the strains of the days activity was starting to show, Wiggi hadn't been Ormering for a good few years. I think we broke him good and proper. We called it a day and headed back to the mother ship for a well deserved coffee and to look over the photos Jen had been taking over the day. Tomorrow brings a bigger tide so more of the same ...