Insider’s cruising guide to the Channel Islands

Where to go, what to do and what to see in the Channel Islands? Here's a taste of what's in our definitive guide in the Motor Boats Monthly July 2011 issue.

So close, yet so far, this clump of islands off the French coast, which are British Crown Dependencies, became a target for invasion in the 1940s as Hitler set about conquering Europe. His welcome was in stark contrast to the warm embrace that awaits visiting motorboats that set off today towards the Channel Islands.

Your passage to the Channel Islands Choose your route to the Channel Islands, depending on your starting point. The full feature can be found in the July 2011 issue of Motor Boats Monthly. Alderney Alderney is an island where cars wear body indentations as badges of honour and children as young as six walk to school without their parents. But if the islanders' reputation is a little bonkers, be assured the welcome they give to every visiting boater is as warm as you will find on any Caribbean island.

Approach the massive breakwater from the sea and there, waiting to greet you, will be a member of the harbourmaster's team in a boat. It is their job to assist you and to answer all your questions. Only when he knows your boat is safely tethered will he mention the fee of £15, which covers the mooring for 24 hours and as many hot showers as your crew may need.

Above: Favourite haven, Longis Bay

Guernsey Guernsey is at the centre of its very own crusing ground. Good ferry connections with the mainland and a plethora of wide, easily accessible slipways make it a great place for cars and trailers to launch boats.

The island has a holiday feel about it, the locals recognise that tourism plays an important part in the island's economy and go out of their way to make visiting crews welcome.

Above: This museum at Fort Gret is nicknamed 'the cup and the saucer'

Jersey The most southern of the Channel Islands, Jersey had 23,000 visitors last year in 7000 boats, each staying an average of two and a half days. In the height of the season the island finds room for 130 boats a night. State-owned marinas have 80 berths and moorings set aside for visitors.

Tourists love the capital St Helier's fish market on Beresford Street and the covered market on Halkett Place, and there are many cafés and bars, whose tables spill out onto the pavement to give that Continental feel to a quintessentially British island.

Above: Mont Orgueil Castle overlooks the small harbour in the pretty town of Gorey. Sark Self-governing and financing, the island of Sark is the smallest community with its own legislature under the Crown of England. Anyone who has read up on the area will know the plucky courage of Sybil Hathaway (aka the Dame of Sark) who told the officer commanding the occupying German forces to wipe his feet before entering her home.

It was her stalwart attitude that saw the islanders of Sark come through WWII well. Now it is her grandson who holds the title of Seigneur of Sark and it is he who holds the island in perpetuity from HM the Queen and oversees its well-being.

Above: Only boats that can take ground can visit the small but delightful Creux Harbour.

Herm Everyone loves this tiny little island just three miles to the east of Guernsey. It may only be just 500 acres of rock and sand but the diversity it offers visitors is vast given its diminutive size.

The island has, over the centuries, been home to many groups of visitors from Neolithic Man to modern-day boaters, who all seem to be just as enchanted as their predecessors have been.

The lack of cars and the sense that time has stood still here adds to the wonderful ambiance. When the day ferries leave, the only people left behind are the hotel's overnight guests and the boating community to enjoy the tranquility.