ALAN WOODNUTT was Miss Alderney’s knight in shining armour when she was in danger of missing the Jersey Battle of
Flowers.
The boat owner stepped in when thick fog in Alderney on Thursday morning prevented trainee chef Hannah Cox, and boyfriend Simon Benfield from boarding a Blue Islands flight to Jersey, via Guernsey.
The couple were resigned to missing the colourful parade.
Miss Cox considered waiting for the fog to clear before taking up Mr Woodnutt’s offer and setting off shortly after 10am.
However, Miss Cox’s boat phobia almost curtailed the trip
before it had started. ‘I hate boats,’ said the 17-year-old, of Le Banquage.
‘A few weeks ago I went to Beaumont-Hague and was really sick the whole way back. I wasn’t keen on getting in the Rib but we had no choice.’
Miss Cox was also faced with the prospect of keeping her hair dry during the 42 nautical mile journey, which took an hour and 40 minutes.
‘It was a little rougher than expected and was up, down, up, down the whole way. I wasn’t sick this time and I think that’s because I was outside.
‘My dress was safely put away and I had a coat on which was tied up tight so my hair wouldn’t get messed up.’
After arriving in Jersey shortly before noon – 90 minutes later than planned – Miss Cox didn’t have long to change into her dress and make it to the pre-parade lunch.
‘We had 20 minutes to get from the harbour to the hotel and from the hotel to lunch. Everyone had already started when we got there so that was a bit embarrassing. We managed to grab a quick bite to eat before I took part in the parade for the next two hours.’