- Jet-skiers denied entry after arriving at Guernsey harbour
- Back-up fuel depot was shut
- Riders faced a return journey with ‘minimum fuel’
GUERNSEY has an ‘underlying dislike’ of jet-skiers, according to one Jersey rider.
Tony Barraclough (53) was speaking after he and a group of seven other jet-skiers made a trip to Guernsey and were unable to refuel.
Jet-skiers are not allowed into St Peter Port Harbour, where the main fuel berth is situated. They do have access to the QEII marina, but on the Sunday afternoon when Mr Barraclough’s riders needed fuel, it was closed.
The group had to return to Jersey dangerously low on fuel, and one of the group arrived back with only enough fuel in his tank to do less than one mile.
Mr Barraclough, a long-haul airline pilot, said it had been ‘a disappointing and dangerous situation to be in’. He added: ‘It’s hard to believe that a fuel berth would be closed at 2.30 pm on a Sunday in the middle of August.
‘We were then faced with having to get back to Jersey with minimum fuel. Some of us had larger tanks so we knew we could tow the others if anyone ran out, but it was not a good situation.
‘One of the French jet-skiers arrived back in Jersey with less than half a litre in his tank.’
Mr Barraclough –who used his jet-ski to rescue a young girl when she drifted out to sea on a boogie board at Rozel last year – said that Jersey and Guernsey had very different attitudes towards riders.
‘Locals in Guernsey fill up their jet-skis before they go in the water, and if they come to Jersey they can refuel here, so it’s not a problem for them. Jet-skiers are much more welcome in Jersey.
‘The port authorities cite safety as the main reason for not letting us into St Peter Port Harbour due to the amount of commercial traffic, but Jersey does not have the same restrictions and probably has more commercial traffic. In my view, Guernsey has an underlying dislike towards jet skiers.’
Guernsey Harbourmaster Captain Chad Murray denied that the island was unwelcoming and said that the rules were there for safety reasons.
‘Jet-skiers are welcome in our waters, but under the Harbours Ordinance they are prohibited from entering St Peter Port or St Sampson’s harbours, which means they cannot come past the two pier-heads. The reason they are not allowed is because they are very small craft and sometimes operators can fall off.
‘And obviously with the number of vessels, including large commercial as well as leisure craft, it is not appropriate for jet-skis to be manoeuvring in the harbour. The results of a collision could be tragic.’
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