Has anyone attempted to land at either of these lighthouses? For some unknown reason I have this compulsion to get my photo taken standing next to them!
Cant find any pilotage info or accounts of anyone else doing it except for Trinity House and they're not going to start telling people how to land! Is it even legal I wonder?
Personally never attempted to land at them, seen Bishops up close and it would certainly need a very slight glassy day to have ago at landing and we don't seem to have many of them in the summer....
You can be sure it will be more like the bottom picture when you plan to go
Good luck and look forward to seeing that picture..
Why not start with the Roches Douvres, much closer and has a proper little harbour to enter to get alongside. We have dropped kayakers out there to camp overnight before kayaking back to Jersey the following day.
I have a bit of a thing for lighthouses (must be the phallic symbol thingy) and our house is full of pictures by Guillaume and Plisson.
I've landed at the Roches Douvres several times. The little jetty on the east side of the main rock has fallen into the sea. The mooring wall on the west side is ok but only useable at high tide and cannot be grounded against because of the rocky bottom. Your best bet is to anchor 25yrds from what remains of the east jetty in about 10ft of water at MLWS. Being this close in avoids the strong currents that run around the lighthouse rock. Take someone with you as a bow spotter; there are heads everywhere.
It's worth making the trip to the Roche Douvres just to see the lighthouse. It's absolutely enormous and beautifully made from dressed pink granite. I get the impression someone has tried to get into the accommodation block the lighthouse stands on as the French authorities have recently fitted the door with a trigger sensor. At one stage the door looked like it could be opened with a large socket set. I must admit I quite fancied a look inside myself. I suppose we'll never know what's there now.
Anyway, try to go if you get the chance. The Roche Douvres definitely have that 'out there' feeling. It's quite eerie being so far from land standing next to Europe's most remote lighthouse. If you don't fancy going on your own get in touch and I'll come along in my boat. I have a bird watching friend who'll come with me. The Roches Douvres are a great place for migrant birds.
