Dover - Calais Advice

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CJ1

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Hello everyone,

In mid August - quarantine permitting- I plan to sail from The Swale to Calais, and would be grateful for any advice, as it will be the first time I have done this passage.
My boat is a 27'Moody.
The crew would be myself and one "Competent Crew".
Tides will be Springs.
Equipment includes AIS (receiving only), chart plotter, two DSC radios one handheld.

I plan to sail to Dover or Ramsgate on day 1;
across to Calais day 2;
Spend day 3 in Calais;
return to Dover/ Ramsgate day 4;
back to the Swale day 5.

In particular - do you think crossing from Ramsgate or Dover is preferable ?
Any tips to ensure stress free crossing the TSS ?
Best departure time from Dover/Ramsgate/Calais ?

Thank you for your thoughts!
 
I have only ever done Ramsgate-Calais, though I have once done Calais-Dover. We have done R-C with anything from a 26' boat with a petrol engine to a 10-metre modern boat. It is some time since I did it, to be frank, but I think it comes to about seven hours in a small boat and should be a pleasant trip. I can't remember the tide plan either, but it's not hard to work out. You will probably end up with a wait at the other end for the tide to let you into the basin.

The shipping usually looks much worse on an AIS chart that on the water. Most ships are a mile or so apart and you could probably do it with your eyes shut without being hit. In fact, our first crossing was a bit like that, in fog with no radio/radar/AIS. We did have a foghorn and lifejackets. So long as you obey the rules you'll be OK, but you must cross the lanes at the 90 degree angle (heading). You can use the 3kn tide to turn this into your desired course almost. If conditions dictate it, Boulogne is an interesting alternative, and no tide to wait for.
 
The key bit is how you want to cross the ferry lanes which in the summer are pretty busy. Not only are there Dover/Calais ferries, but also Dover/Dunkirk ferries.

If you enter Dover via the Eastern entrance and stay the night there and depart by the Western entrance, you avoid having to cross any ferry lanes. Dover port control, always helpful, will ensure you a safe entrance into the port. Just call them on Ch14 when you are about 2nm off the East entrance. They will then ask you to report again when you are about 200 yards off the entrance and give you permission to enter when it is safe.

From Ramsgate you will have to deal with the ferries somewhere along the line.

In term of crossing the shipping lanes, an AIS receiver is extremely useful as it takes the guess work out of collision avoidance.

Incidentally, the shipping lanes are not as daunting as apps like Vessel Finder indicate. There is plenty of room. In fact, on a number of occasions I have crossed and wondered where all the ships have gone because I didn’t come across any.

Also, at springs a few hours after HW, the water just outside Dover’s W entrance can be a bit disturbed. Nothing dangerous, but more than you would expect given the wind. It is not a very big area, so things should settle down quite quickly.

Good luck with the trip. I am sure you that if you pick a nice day, you will enjoy it.
 
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Do not under estimate the tidal effect. I did this on my first R to C and ended downtide of the entrance. Quite a struggle to get back to the entrance.
 
Gitane said:
The key bit is how you want to cross the ferry lanes which in the summer are pretty busy. Not only are there Dover/Calais ferries, but also Dover/Dunkirk ferries.

If you enter Dover via the Eastern entrance and stay the night there and depart by the Western entrance, you avoid having to cross any ferry lanes. Dover port control, always helpful, will ensure you a safe entrance into the port. Just call them on Ch14 when you are about 2nm off the East entrance. They will then ask you to report again when you are about 200 yards off the entrance and give you permission to enter when it is safe.

From Ramsgate you will have to deal with the ferries somewhere along the line.

In term of crossing the shipping lanes, an AIS receiver is extremely useful as it takes the guess work out of collision avoidance.

Incidentally, the shipping lanes are not as daunting as apps like Vessel Finder indicate. There is plenty of room. In fact, on a number of occasions I have crossed and wondered where all the ships have gone because I didn’t come across any.

Also, at springs a few hours after HW, the water just outside Dover’s W entrance can be a bit disturbed. Nothing dangerous, but more than you would expect given the wind. It is not a very big area, so things should settle down quite quickly.

Good luck with the trip. I am sure you that if you pick a nice day, you will enjoy it.
Click to expand...

True, but most ferries now operate a reduced schedule.
And ferry tracks are entirely predictable.
Too much focus on the ferries can lead to a 'rabbit caught in the headlights' kind of situation.
Same thing goes for crossing the TSS.
Whilst it may look daunting at first, there often is very little to it.
Especially in daylight and nice weather.
 
Second all those who offer alternative destinations - Boulogne would be my preference or Gravelines. However Calais is an easy sail from either Dover or Ramsgate - simply depends on where you want to spend the night! Dover is currently under construction I believe...
 
P
johnalison said:
I have only ever done Ramsgate-Calais, though I have once done Calais-Dover. We have done R-C with anything from a 26' boat with a petrol engine to a 10-metre modern boat. It is some time since I did it, to be frank, but I think it comes to about seven hours in a small boat and should be a pleasant trip. I can't remember the tide plan either, but it's not hard to work out. You will probably end up with a wait at the other end for the tide to let you into the basin.

The shipping usually looks much worse on an AIS chart that on the water. Most ships are a mile or so apart and you could probably do it with your eyes shut without being hit. In fact, our first crossing was a bit like that, in fog with no radio/radar/AIS. We did have a foghorn and lifejackets. So long as you obey the rules you'll be OK, but you must cross the lanes at the 90 degree angle (heading). You can use the 3kn tide to turn this into your desired course almost. If conditions dictate it, Boulogne is an interesting alternative, and no tide to wait for.
Click to expand...
+1
 
Thanks everyone fir your thoughts, I feel encouraged. - I will now go and investigate Boulougne and Gravelines.
 
Ramsgate would be my preference rather than Dover as a stepping off port.

Regarding destination, really you need to do all of the suggestions above and decide for yourself which is best - they are all worth at least one visit.

You could miss out Ramsgate if you wished - ie Swale to Calais direct.
 
Tide rises to the south
Falls to the north - west

If you leave from Dover HW you will punch the tide on the approach to Calais and probably miss the bridge opening times.

Ramsgate to Calais is easy..
Leave about turn of the tide (it can vary from predictions) and go straight east across the tide to Gull.. Green cone at the end of the line of buoys.
Point at Dunkerque 130 degrees..
Be warey of the Northern of the Goodwins Sands .. after you turn to starboard.. they go walkabout by as much as a mile sometimes without charted alterations..
If it looks like getting shallow simply head Eastward into deeper water Generally only takes about half a mile at the most befoe it gets deep again

The tide sweeps you down to Calais..Arrive Calais.. towards HW in time for the bridge opening

Your course takes you pretty much at Rt angles to the shipping lanes, (I may have simply kept my course in the past.)

You will see the port a long way off .. Especially the huge silo to the east of the port.. aim to the right of it..
Arriving towards HW you can head straight fo the harbour entrance.

OBEY the port controls.. they get very arsy if you ignore the lights!!! separatelly I have never managed to raise port control on the VHF..

On the way across the shipping lanes pay a lot of attention to small white ships if you see any .. Reefers... they are incredibly fast and come on you like a ... well very fast. Also big container jobs.. can also be very fast ... frequently a dot on the horizon to very close in 15 minutes.
 
France is quite a big place and hard to miss. Our first trip from Ramsgate was in fog and without aids of any kind. Navigation consisted of listening for hovercraft. If I heard one to starboard, I steered a bit that way, and if to port, the reverse. This happened for a few hours until we arrived at the offing buoy.
 
We have just returned from a trip to Gravelines, then from Calais back to the Blackwater.
We leave Ramsgate at HW Dover +5 and at 4.5 knots steer 130 degrees for 5 - 6 hours and the tide will place you off Calais or turn up coast to Gravelines.
This last trip to 7.5 hours to Gravelines with almost no wind. Only had to make one course correction to avoid shipping.
On the return trip it is best to start from Calais. Leave 1st bridge opening, get down to the CA4 buoy, then steer 310 degrees which will get you near to the southern part of the Goodwins, turn northerly with the tide right behind you. This trip we opted to sail back to Pyefleet near Brightlingsea. Trip took from 08:30 to 20:45, we had to motor a fair bit initially as there was very little wind, but managed a very pleasant sail from about the Tail of the Falls to the SW Sunk swatchway, where the wind died again.

If you go to Gravelines, which is a great place, it is best to take the trip down to Calais to get the first bridge opening. If you sail back directly from Gravelines to Ramsgate you are pushing the tide for hours, Last time we tried it it took 11 and a half hours to get to Ramsgate.
 
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