Anxious E. coast sailor

[sailorman]

Hoping to cross the channel to Cherbourg next week and then on to the CIs. We're Channel virgins although been round to Helford and over to Ostend etc etc on various trips in the past and in all sorts of weather. Despite this I find myself getting more nervous about this trip than ever before. I've grown accustomed to the idea that if I am daft enough to get it wrong I'll hit mud, not rocks.
Am I alone in this, and is it as bad as it looks on the charts?
Reassurance please!

Its an easy crossing with nothing to seeon the way.just make sure you end up up tideplenty of room sithin the hbrnever liked the town hsving been spoilt by oostendeobver the yrs

 

[mattonthesea]

Thanks for the kind words! Portland race inside W. bound and outside E bound in a near gale held no terrors but I confess this seems to for some reason. Got an up to date chart of the area recently thanks.

I did the CIs a fair few times before I did my YM Offshore. And since then I've been up and down the Bristol Channel many times. But I chickened out of the Portland inshore eastbound passage a couple of weeks ago in a F6. So I don't think you'll have a problem. Just think a bit further ahead than you normally do ?

 

[Laminar Flow]

We spent our first 4 years with the current boat sailing in Brittany, CI's etc.
Crossing the Channel with the right weather, good visibility, and modern instruments is easy.
Looking at the charts for a number of places on that side i.e. Ci's, Illes Chaussee, the area around Brehat and south, Baie of Morlaix etc. it is more like looking at a constellation chart with millions of little stars (rocks) and can seem pretty scary. Up close, everything falls into place and you wonder what your fuss was all about.
After our time in Brittany, we sailed up to Holland. Assuredly I found, the Waddenzee, with it's shifting sands, mud banks and thin water much more challenging. We are now back in Brittany with 12m tides, but of course that can also means, that for a few hours at a time, you have a lot more water between you and the bottom.

 

[sailorman]

Hoping to cross the channel to Cherbourg next week and then on to the CIs. We're Channel virgins although been round to Helford and over to Ostend etc etc on various trips in the past and in all sorts of weather. Despite this I find myself getting more nervous about this trip than ever before. I've grown accustomed to the idea that if I am daft enough to get it wrong I'll hit mud, not rocks.
Am I alone in this, and is it as bad as it looks on the charts?
Reassurance please!

Give me charts over pilot books any day most are like horror stories. x channel is boring with little to see on the way mostly off sounding todcb entrance is vast with plenty of room inside. I think lastime on a pontoon they had replaced the damn hoops with real cleats

[Edited to aid clarity.]

 

[Charlie Boy]

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