Transit along the South Coast: Brighton or Newhaven

[lw395]

It clearly says no foreign flagged yachts.
The UK is shut.
Possibly not unreasonable in the circumstances.

 

[Koeketiene]

Interesting. No mention of foreign flags in the announcements from MDL and "boatfolk" (as Dean and Reddyhoff seem to have rebranded) and nothing I can see in the government guidance ...maybe worth a call to Premier head office for clarification (you don't want to be speaking to random new person on the front desk who's reading the same info as you).

See my links in post #9

 

[Koeketiene]

It clearly says no foreign flagged yachts.
The UK is shut.
Possibly not unreasonable in the circumstances.

So it would seem.
Had hoped to transit the Channel from east to west as the tides are less fierce than along the French side.
Also more options for a berth once you have passed the IoW.

My insurance policy has the 18hr max clause when sailing singlehanded.
Alderney being closed to visitors is a real bummer as the passage Cherbourg -> Roscoff will almost certainly take me longer.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Shocking thing to say but you could just buy a red duster for that part of the voyage, I doubt anyone is going to check.

 

[laika]

See my links in post #9

Unless I'm mistaken your post #9 contained links to the Premier announcement. I was checking to see if the other big marina chains had similar wording or whether this was just a Premier thing. MDL and "boatpeople" don't mention flag requirements. My thinking was that if all marinas are doing it it's likely an industry decision or government guidance I just haven't seen, so unlikely to be revised next week. If Premier are the only ones it may be unilateral and therefore more likely to be something they might revise it, so more worth checking to confirm.

 

[lw395]

Singlehanded, I don't think your trip is sensible.
It seems an obvious possibility that any area of either coast could go back into strict lockdown.
You could be left in poor weather with nowhere to go.
I think you are knowingly taking a significant risk of that.

 

[lw395]

Shocking thing to say but you could just buy a red duster for that part of the voyage, I doubt anyone is going to check.

I think they very well might check up when someone tests positive and they have a go at contact tracing.
Who was in the same pubs as Joe Bloggs?
Who was in the same marina?

 

[Koeketiene]

Shocking thing to say but you could just buy a red duster for that part of the voyage, I doubt anyone is going to check.

What my luck, even if they were going to check only one boat, it would be mine.

 

[Stingo]

Ref the 18hr insurance limit, can you ask them to extend that to n hours just for this voyage, all due to current circumstances?

 

[Koeketiene]

Singlehanded, I don't think your trip is sensible.
It seems an obvious possibility that any area of either coast could go back into strict lockdown.
You could be left in poor weather with nowhere to go.
I think you are knowingly taking a significant risk of that.

I fail to see the relation between a possible second lock-down and me being single-handed.
How would it be different with crew?

FWIW: if a second lock-down does materialise, I'd rather get stuck on the French side.
As a French resident, I can always say I will self-isolate at home.

 

[Koeketiene]

Ref the 18hr insurance limit, can you ask them to extend that to n hours just for this voyage, all due to current circumstances?

If the need arises, I will certainly give them a call.

 

[Biggles Wader]

Ref the 18hr insurance limit, can you ask them to extend that to n hours just for this voyage, all due to current circumstances?

Or see if you can find someone to crew with you for some or all of the trip?
No shortage of bored/frustrated sailors at the moment!

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Slight aside, but I'm curious - Do you know if they just pump the water from one lock to the other (a smart idea if they do) or do they use the standard sloose to sea / harbour?

I don't believe so, it's the usual "drain the marina" arrangement. Which is huge by the way. Might be possible to save half a lockfull each time but it would be very slow, or would require massive pumps. The fill or drain only takes a few minutes, they're quite impressive.

 

[BabySharkDooDooDooDooDoo]

I seem to recall that going down from seaward into the marina (or visa versa) wasn't uncommon so had wondered if the water level in the marina had been set somewhere below the usual HW level.

 

[lw395]

I fail to see the relation between a possible second lock-down and me being single-handed.
How would it be different with crew?

FWIW: if a second lock-down does materialise, I'd rather get stuck on the French side.
As a French resident, I can always say I will self-isolate at home.

With a crew, one could safely and sensibly sail back to any port. You can keep sailing safely for more than 18 hours if you need to.
It still might not be a clever idea with a crew, you could be stuck at great inconvenience and maybe expense.
Another lockdown would not be a great surprise either.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

I seem to recall that going down from seaward into the marina (or visa versa) wasn't uncommon so had wondered if the water level in the marina had been set somewhere below the usual HW level.

Yes I think it is. I do know that some years ago a fault (?human error) resulted in the high water level in the Marina rising way beyoind its usual level to flood the pathways. It never runs on freeflow AFAIK, and the tidal range there can be 6.5m or more.

 

[Koeketiene]

With a crew, one could safely and sensibly sail back to any port. You can keep sailing safely for more than 18 hours if you need to.
It still might not be a clever idea with a crew, you could be stuck at great inconvenience and maybe expense.
Another lockdown would not be a great surprise either.

A rather pessimistic point of view, one I do not share.

Of course, you may have the opportunity to say 'I told you so' at some point in the future.
No course of action is entirely risk-free.

 

[iLens]

There is a small marina just inside the lock in Shoreham's commercial harbour - very basic but very sheltered. I've used it twice on Dover-Portsmouth legs. Contact the lockkeeper (very helpful). It's about 4 miles futher than Brighton

 

[stuartwineberg]

Surely coming into UK from undefined port earns you a 14 day quarantine. Doesn’t apply to France though but seems like they are all applying a possibly overcareful one size fits all approach

 

[Iliade]

As I understand it, everything changes on the 4th.

Maybe stay French side and head east enjoying the hospitality until then, by which time you can probably 'just' nip across at Dover :-0