BobbyD
Member
Good morning,
I am looking at putting my day skipper course into practice and plan to move my 21ft Beneteau first (lifting keel) from Brighton towards the Solent over the upcoming bank holiday weekend (per the great advice from this group over a year ago!). It would be great to get your thoughts on my two options.
Option 1 - leave Brighton on Friday, 28th and stop at Littlehampton. It’s approx. 17NM so around 4.5 hours (assuming average speed of 4 knots). The window for entering LH is 2 hours before to 1 hour after HT so need to arrive between 1130 - 1430. This means leaving Brighton at around 0800 (just after low water) and going against tide.
On second day (Saturday), I would sail from LH to Bembridge but need to reach the Looe at slack water (around 2pm) - a distance of approx 11NM or 2-3 hours. This means leaving LH around 3 hours before the recommended window. This gives me the tide to carry me towards the IoW. Is this possible or does the incoming tide at LH make it difficult for a small boat to exit against tide?
Option 2 - leave Brighton Saturday, 29th and sail straight to Bembridge. it’s approx 40N in total so a long sail. I would plan on leaving Brighton early and sailing against tide to reach the Looe at slack (1400) - it would take around 6 hours so leaving Brighton approx. 8am (possibly earlier to avoid LW). I’ve read on the forum that keeping inshore will help reduce the effect of tide to some extent (so will plan on this).
I am sure many of you do this passage regularly and would welcome some feedback on the two options.
Thanks
I am looking at putting my day skipper course into practice and plan to move my 21ft Beneteau first (lifting keel) from Brighton towards the Solent over the upcoming bank holiday weekend (per the great advice from this group over a year ago!). It would be great to get your thoughts on my two options.
Option 1 - leave Brighton on Friday, 28th and stop at Littlehampton. It’s approx. 17NM so around 4.5 hours (assuming average speed of 4 knots). The window for entering LH is 2 hours before to 1 hour after HT so need to arrive between 1130 - 1430. This means leaving Brighton at around 0800 (just after low water) and going against tide.
On second day (Saturday), I would sail from LH to Bembridge but need to reach the Looe at slack water (around 2pm) - a distance of approx 11NM or 2-3 hours. This means leaving LH around 3 hours before the recommended window. This gives me the tide to carry me towards the IoW. Is this possible or does the incoming tide at LH make it difficult for a small boat to exit against tide?
Option 2 - leave Brighton Saturday, 29th and sail straight to Bembridge. it’s approx 40N in total so a long sail. I would plan on leaving Brighton early and sailing against tide to reach the Looe at slack (1400) - it would take around 6 hours so leaving Brighton approx. 8am (possibly earlier to avoid LW). I’ve read on the forum that keeping inshore will help reduce the effect of tide to some extent (so will plan on this).
I am sure many of you do this passage regularly and would welcome some feedback on the two options.
Thanks