Grandes Rocques

This morning we arrived early at the carboot sale and bought an assortment of books and jigsaws. We then proceeded on to Grandes Rocques to capture a blip. It's a glorious day with not a cloud in sight. It was low tide and I've taken a picture looking out across the rocky shoreline.

It was at this spot on 1st February 1978 that an oil rig 'The Orion' was wrecked. It was being towed from Rotterdam to Brazil when the towline snapped in a hurricane. The rig carrying 33 men on board was driven onto the rocks here. They were all saved from a raging sea by a night time air and sea rescue operation. The following day at low tide many of the crew reboarded the rig at lowtide and it was later necessary to rescue them a second time ! The rig was also salvaged later.