With spring tides in excess of 11 metres, accompanied by strong winds and a powerful swell, John Vautier, who operates The Slipway kiosk at Grève de Lecq, admitted the conditions had caused ‘a bit of a mission’.
‘We were semi-organised, so we made sure the kiosk had been brought up from the beach,’ he said. ‘We thought the steps had survived the high tide, but there was one really big wave that snapped the bolts they are fixed with.’
The wooden steps were initially swept out to sea, but were then washed back towards the shore and dumped on the beach, causing the handrail to break off.
Mr Vautier said the steps, which are installed in spring every year ahead of the summer season, had now been removed and would be repaired, but added it was unlikely they would be put back before the end of the summer.
The conditions also saw waves and spray coming over sea walls on the
south coast, and caused some boats at Le Hocq in St Clement to break from their moorings.
Jersey Met has issued a series of weather alerts, including a yellow warning for today’s high tide at 9.40am, which is forecast to reach 11.4 metres.
