Cherbourg - Alderney-Poole

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As a relatively new skipper I am about to embark on a cross channel trip to Cherbourg then across to Alderney and returning to the UK via Poole.(I will be sailing a Jeanneau DS 43.
Do any readers have any sensible advise and tips about such a trip regarding tides, departure times etc.
All sensible replies will of course be gratefully received
Many Thanks
 
Just to say that we are doing our first trip this weekend, hoping to depart Monday from Poole to Cherbourg, then Alderney, Guernsey and over to Dartmouth to see some rellies. There are lots of experienced crossers on here, so good luck - when are you going?
 
We will be back by then, so will pass on any tips on our return, you will no doubt get loads of help from this forum. I assume you have the channel pilot guide, we have gained a lot of useful tips re tides etc from that, so worth buying it if you don't have it already. There do seem to be a lot of bits and pieces to think about so be organised! We are currently hoping for good weather for next week, forecast seems to indicate it will be steady for August, fingers crossed.
 
Hi, Some advice here:

CHERBOURG

I sail a DS43 too from Brixham, and may be in Alderney early August.

Good luck!
 
Hi Surrey-sailor

Advise I can give you for Cherbourg is:

When you get the other side remember that the tide is quiet strong in the 'bay', you want the left entrance. Punching the tide to get east is a pain if you arrive to far west at the wrong time.

Next bit of advise is watch out for those bloody fishing pots inside the Harbour!!!!! They will come and 'get' any unsuspecting sailor!!!!

'P' pontoon, is the visitor's pontoon with walk ashore access. And there is also a floating pontoon, tender needed though or the taxi.

A good walk to the Supamarche, but great victuals.

Alderney Race on the spring tide, wow!! Good fun but keep your whit's about you and face it nose on, and with some 'welly' in reserve!

Have a great safe time

SS. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gifXX
 
Just done a similar trip. You didn't say where you were setting off from.

If you need to go out of the Solent I found it gets tricky to work out how to get out past the Needles comfortably. That is, while the tide isn't too strong, but also avoiding wind over tide, at the same time as making sure the trip across is in daylight (it was our first solo crossing).

General advice from others on how to time the Needles exit would be welcome.

No major worry about tides during the crossing, you get pushed one way, then the other. Once well into the crossing you need to look up which way the tide will be running when you get to Cherbourg and try not to arrive downtide of you entrance. Nice thing about Cherbourg is wide entrances into protected water, loads of time to sort yourself out in acres of space before getting into the marina.

We screwed up 'cos I told the crew not to worry about cross track error (drifting off the direct planned route), just to worry about traffic. Then I went to sleep. I forgot that we had both tide and leeway taking us in the same direction, so the XTE when I woke up was double what I expected! I should have said "don't worry about 4 miles of XTE, bear up if it is more".

On the way to Alderney and if I remember right the advice is to be leaving Cherbourg's western entrance 3 hours before high water Dover. It took us 30mins to get from the pontoons to the entrance, then a couple of hours to get to the Race, and by then it is going slack and then turning to go south. I know forumites say don't put too much store by what other boats are doing, but we found it comforting that everyone else seemed to leave in a gaggle at the same time!

Also advice we had was to stay to the north of the straight line from the Cap DeLH to Alderney. Assuming reasonable visibility you can see Alderney from Cap deLH.

There was quite a cross current at Braye entrance, so watch a transit 'cos just pointing the boat at the entrance sees it sliding sideways. The plotters forecast of our CMG was interesting as we approached the harbour, nothing like the direction the boat was pointing /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

The buoys in Braye were all full (some doubled up) when we got there at tea time a week ago, but the Harbour chap was very helpful and showed us exactly where to anchor (£3 BTW). Again, just repeating advice we got, but I was told that if you can't get on a buoy, and the wind is from the NE and above a F4, and you aren't 100% sure of your anchoring technique & gear, think about pressing on to UK (if coming north) 'cos the harbour can be tricky.

PS - We really enjoyed the trip. We had much more time to think and consider than we felt we would have when doing the planning, so it wasn't nearly as stressful as anticipated.
 
We decided against the needles problem, but decided to make our way down to Poole for the Sunday night, and go over from there, for our first trip I wanted to try and do the whole thing in daylight as much as possible. We have worked our net tidal vector plotting our course to a mile east of the harbour entrance to allow for strong streams at the entrance, do you think this will be enough, or maybe do a couple of miles to be sure, we don't fancy battling back east against a strong current, especially when we are likely to be tired!
 
after the Needles, everything is really just cross tide so as long as you get a bit of ebb through the Needles Channel all you need to do is plan the offset to make sure you're a couple of miles uptide of Cherbourg. I then refine this after 6 hours, then 9 hours and then every subsequent hour. Arriving at Cherbourg downtide is not good.

At the Needles you might get a bit of rough water for a few hundred yards but unless you're setting off in a F6+ SW I would'nt worry.
 
Hi, The Needles is not really an issue in anything under F4 SW, and you can go round North Head to avoid the Bridge. Or you can go via Bembridge

Re the tide vector - plan as you have done, but check it again when half way - you may not make the speed you planned. Then keep an eye on it to ensure you arrive up tide of the preferred entrance. On the French coast the tides are sometimes stronger and more variable than the almanacs would suggest. From Poole the West entrance is OK.

This plotting link is very useful:

CCX Cross Channel planner
 
So, if wind is less than F5 and you avoid wind over tide the Needles isn't too bad?

We've only gone out at the turn to ebb in F3 NE, and it was flat. Reading the pilots you'd think there were only a few opportunities to go past the Needles, and on some days there wouldn't be any during daylight. Is the northern route gentler or just less traffic?
 
When leaving the Solent via the Needles don't overlook the North Channel entered at Hurst Castle - it enables you to keep clear of overfalls at the Bridge by sailing wide. A little further maybe, but not as far as going to Poole.

Do cross-Channel tides cancel out? NOT for a small yottie they don't, and warnings about ensuring arrival uptide of Cherbourg are to be taken very seriously.

Re Alderney, if you've not seen pics (or even if you have) of a NE gale then beware - waves break over the breakwater, boats range around damaging each other, and it can be impossible to get ashore for hours if not days!!
Never mind your anchoring technique (see well-worn thread of 'Wot Anchor' and buy a fishermans) just get out of there!
 
My experience is that with less than or F5 wind with or against tide its OK.

It might get uncomfortable for a bit but its OK with a short section of very steep short seas around the bridge I suspect its worse at the end off the ebb rather than the start.

Most of the time I went through I was getting to the end of the ebb as I'd usually carry the tide from Southampton.

I would avoid it if S to SW >F5 and wind against tide by going through the North Channel where the Shingles bank shelters.
 
Help me by explaining that reasoning?

It is close enough 60nm from Needles to Cherbourg. By my reckoning a small yacht is the one for whom the tides would cancel out. At 5knts it would take 12 hrs, roughly two tides (allowing that the tide runs more strongly on the south side of the Channel).

Most mobo's would do it in 3 hours, but then they don't have to worry too much about tides, only the resultant sea state.

We are not a small yacht and do worry about tides. We averaged 7.5knts, so we didn't get two full tides, which, with the leeway mistake, also helped screw up my planning. Will learn lesson from Jimi to re-plan gradually more frequently while enroute and perhaps not sleep so much /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Thanks Jimi, will file that advice away for future trips. No problem wth a bit of rough and tumble, so long as not genuinely dangerous. Having wider window will make planning much easier.
 
For the last couple of hours approaching Cherbourg I put a waypoint in the entrance display the cross-track error in the cockpit and steer for zero cross-track error.
 
[ QUOTE ]
For the last couple of hours approaching Cherbourg I put a waypoint in the entrance display the cross-track error in the cockpit and steer for zero cross-track error.

[/ QUOTE ]

I did that once and it was strange cos I could achieve the same ground track but with a range of SOG fom 3.3Kn to 7Kn on a range of headings and the same boatspeed ... quite seriously!! I now alway work out a CTS and monitor using a waypoint in the entrance only working from XTE for the last couple of miles
 
Hi Captain

I just completed my Yachtmaster Examination, and one of my passage plans were from, Ocean Village to Cherb.

If I had over navigated by changing course to steer every hour, I would have sailed many more miles than I would of had to, ending up with a fail. This would have changed my distance run, my eta, etc etc.

You have to be aware of the tide but as you say, AND I BELIEVE YOU TO BE CORRECT , on a 12 hour passage the tide will push you one way for 4 -6 hours then back the other way,

Er Won't it?

SS /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gifXX
 
Leaving Poole on Mon 7 Aug HW Dover is at about
10:15 and 22:45. So the current off Cherbourg will start to set to the West around 22:00 BST. So if your ETA is before 22:00 (as I suspect) you will be pushed East.

From Poole I always head straight for Cherbourg (about 170º) then adjust my course in the last 3 hours.
 
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