Crossing the Channel with some very stupid drivers

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I mentioned before that we went on holiday to Jersey, one of the Channel Islands in the English Channel just off the coast of Normandy, northern France. One reason I suggested that was because we wouldn’t have to fly there, we could go by ferry, so no horrible experience of queueing for hours at airport security, and no terrible guilt trip about our profligate use of fossil fuels. It would be a mini adventure instead, and a lot more energy-efficient. Unfortunately the ferry didn’t turn out to be quite as much fun as I had hoped, because our trip happened to coincide with the arrival of a spell of wet weather and gale-force winds. The crossing was rather ‘bumpy’ as the captain described it, and the last hour of the four-hour trip was the worst when we changed direction for the last leg from Guernsey to Jersey. As time passed, more and more people gathered on the outside decks, where it was bitterly cold, and on the top deck it was so windy it was difficult to walk – more a case of involuntarily running across to the nearest railing and grabbing it! But adding to the annoyance and discomfort of the trip was a chorus of car alarms! As the vehicles were loaded, each was guided to a parking spot by a team of staff. There were notices all around telling people to park their vehicles in gear, with the handbrake on, and to disable the alarm. And as every single car was parked, a member of staff spoke to the driver and asked them if they had parked in gear, put their handbrake on, and disabled their alarm. Presumably they all said yes. But in spite of that, we hadn’t even left the port before car alarms started going off. One was the car right next to us and we hadn’t even left our vehicle. We were forced to get out and collect our bags all while an incredible loud alarm was blaring, we couldn’t even put our fingers in our ears of course as we had stuff to carry! My ears didn’t feel at all right for hours afterwards. Then as soon as we actually started to move, more alarms started. We could see some of the cars from upstairs and Mercedes seemed to be the worst offenders. The staff were obviously far more tolerant than I am; if I was the captain I would have stopped and announced that we were not going any further until every alarm was disabled, or cars would be jettisoned into the sea! All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2023.