The eight jet skiers had to return to Jersey low on fuel after being denied entry to re-fuel in St Peter Port, only to discover the other fuel berth, in the QEII marina was closed. One of the group arrived back in Jersey with less than half a litre in his tank –enough to do less than one mile.
Tony Barraclough, a Jersey jetskier who last year rescued a young child who had drifted out to sea from Rozel Harbour, was amongst the group.
He said: “About eight of us wanted to get fuel in Guernsey before heading back to Jersey but the ports authorities denied us entry. Jet skiers are not allowed into St Peter Port where the main fuel berth is. We went to the QEII berth but that was closed. It’s hard to believe that a fuel berth would be closed at 2.30pm 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 knew we could tow the others if anyone ran out, but it was not a good situation. One of the French jetskiers arrived back in Jersey with less than half a litre in his tank.”
However, Guernsey Harbour Master, Chad Murray denied they were being unfriendly to Jersey jetskiers and said the rules are for safety, “Jet skiers are welcome in our waters, but under the Harbours Ordinance they are prohibited from entering either St Peter Port or St Sampson’s harbours. The reason they’re not allowed is because they’re 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’s not appropriate for jet skis to be manoeuvring in the harbour.
The Harbours don’t operate the fuelling station so I can’t comment about whether that was closed. But jet skis are permitted into the marina because that doesn’t have the commercial traffic.”
Tony Barraclough said the two islands have very different attitudes, “Locals in Guernsey fill up their jetskis before they go in the water, and if they come to Jersey, they can refuel here so it’s not a problem for them. Jetskiers are much more welcome in Jersey.
Guernsey has a peculiar attitude towards jetskiers. They once let a group into the port but insisted they were shepherded by a port master in a small boat. It’s unbelievable. We like going to Guernsey and I can get there and back on one tank, but I wouldn’t have enough left to help with a rescue.”
Harbour Master, Chad Murray said, “I’m quite concerned that jet skis undertook such a passage potentially without another safety vessel with them because it’s a big stretch of water for such small craft and they should consider having fuel reserves with them.”
Mr Murray reiterated, “Myself as Harbour Master and the Harbour are very sympathetic to jet skiers and we welcome them in our waters as we do other leisure craft, but we do not allow them into St Peter Port harbour or St Sampson for safety reasons.”
