First time across the channel.....

[VicS]

You can cut an hour or so off the trip by going to Bembridge first as a bit of a shake down from Chi then to Cherbourg, definately a good first destination and not a bad place to visit, if you leave at first light in the summer you should be able to do the crossing in daylight

Going via anywhere else, be it Bembridge or Yarmouth to get a better slant on the wind, delays your eventual arrival at the destination.

I think probably most of my channel crossings have been at night. In the old days landfall just before dawn was considered a good strategy because the lights wee still on to confirm your position but then the final approach and entry was in daylight.

Some interesting landfalls in darkness down to the Brittany coast I can still recall. Follow the lights into the old harbour at Roscoff then at low water next day look at what you picked your way through in the dark !!

 

[john_morris_uk]

Going via anywhere else, be it Bembridge or Yarmouth to get a better slant on the wind, delays your eventual arrival at the destination.

I think probably most of my channel crossings have been at night. In the old days landfall just before dawn was considered a good strategy because the lights wee still on to confirm your position but then the final approach and entry was in daylight.

Some interesting landfalls in darkness down to the Brittany coast I can still recall. Follow the lights into the old harbour at Roscoff then at low water next day look at what you picked your way through in the dark !!

Don't scare the poor chap.

What I was trying to imply by "leave in the dark" was that he will almost certainly end up arriving by day and its quite nice sailing across the channel as the dawn comes up.

With the advent of reliable GPS its not quite such a problem identifying exactly where you are as you approach the coast and making sure that what you see is squares with what is on the chart. My first channel crossings were all with no nav aids at all except log and compass and finding where you were was a bit more of a problem. However nowadays he will have a very good idea of how he is making relevant to the tidal stream etc and so long as he's sensible then Cherbourg will be easy enough. The tide does sluice across the entrance at springs - hence my comment about 'sensible hat on'.

 

[SimonD]

I'm sure we all have our own ways of working up a course to steer, but you won't go far wrong with a channel tidal atlas: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yachtsmans-Tidal-Atlas-Central-Channel/dp/0713667370

 

[john_morris_uk]

Good book - I have Reeves Foulkes laminated on our boat (for use with china graph pencils.)

 

[oldbilbo]

I have Reeves Foulkes laminated on our boat (for use with china graph pencils.)

Posh! There speaks someone with access to the sooper-expensive Staff Course naval-aircrew flight-suit kneepad Genuine-Beduine MoD chinagraph pencils, 'O-groups' for the use of......

The rest of us plebs use IKEA 2B pencils.

 

[KevO]

Posh! There speaks someone with access to the sooper-expensive Staff Course naval-aircrew flight-suit kneepad Genuine-Beduine MoD chinagraph pencils, 'O-groups' for the use of......

The rest of us plebs use IKEA 2B pencils.

+1... Bl**dy 2-winged master race innit...

 

[Tomahawk]

When all is said... the tides planned, weather forecast gone over again and again and again and you cast off.. you will never forget your first landfall in France.... Go and enjoy yourself...

On a practical note... the majority ofmshipping will keep between the Ouissant TSS and the Dover Straits one... mark where they cross your route and that should be where you will encounter shipping... outside those areas it is very unusual to come across shipping...


Once again.. good luck..

 

[VicS]

Since shipping is mentioned. Ferries not following route up and down the channel you do have to watch out for.

Esp be aware that they use a route close to the eastern shore of the IOW, rather than the Nab Channel, cutting inside the Princessa shoal and keeping close to in to Bembridge ledge.

We don't need another Ouzo incident

 

[sailorman]

So the ships go west through Dover straights & vanish
The trip from the Solent to Cherbourg is very straight forward,(if not much to do or see on the way) as stated make you are up tide on arrival, choose the entrance that suits the tide. The town its self is dull imo.The marina offer discounts for club / RYA membership & shower tokens are free issue, dont put money in the token vending machines, they are aimed at the mobile home dwellers.
Have a good & safe trip, there is nothing like ones first arrival as skipper one`s own boat.

When all is said... the tides planned, weather forecast gone over again and again and again and you cast off.. you will never forget your first landfall in France.... Go and enjoy yourself...

On a practical note... the majority ofmshipping will keep between the Ouissant TSS and the Dover Straits one... mark where they cross your route and that should be where you will encounter shipping... outside those areas it is very unusual to come across shipping...


Once again.. good luck..

 

[VicS]

So the ships go west through Dover straights & vanish

No the majority follow a straight line from the Dover TSS to the Casquets TSS Similarly in the opposite direction

 

[sailorman]

Really

No the majority follow a straight line from the Dover TSS to the Casquets TSS Similarly in the opposite direction

 

[VicS]

Really

Yep. Thats where you see them. One behind the other, follow my leader style. Outside those "lanes" its is mostly ferries or of course a few going to or from channel ports.

Heading for France you meet the west bound traffic first and then a little later the east bound
Look at one of the online AIS sites and you'll see.

 

[sailorman]

I have seen then without ais, its a boring trip, deep water with no real navigational issues

Yep. Thats where you see them. One behind the other, follow my leader style. Outside those "lanes" its is mostly ferries or of course a few going to or from channel ports.

Heading for France you meet the west bound traffic first and then a little later the east bound
Look at one of the online AIS sites and you'll see.

 

[BarryH]

Thanks for the replies. Sort of backs up what I was thinking. I'll have to get a tidal atlas for that side. All mine deal with this side of the channel, though my plotter has tidal streams in it I'm not confident that they are 100% accurate as bourne out last year when they seemed totally wrong! May have been me reading the info wrong on a new plotter.

Anyway thanks again. Its a "goal" to tick off on the personal todo list. All I need now is to get the boat finished and some decent weather this year. One can only hope!!

 

[Tomahawk]

So the ships go west through Dover straights & vanish
......

Of course they do...... the world's flat and they fall off the edge don't you know.... Good thing Cherbourg is on part of the flat bit..

 

[sailorman]

I use an Admiralty tidal atlas, there is a specific one for the channel

Thanks for the replies. Sort of backs up what I was thinking. I'll have to get a tidal atlas for that side. All mine deal with this side of the channel, though my plotter has tidal streams in it I'm not confident that they are 100% accurate as bourne out last year when they seemed totally wrong! May have been me reading the info wrong on a new plotter.

Anyway thanks again. Its a "goal" to tick off on the personal todo list. All I need now is to get the boat finished and some decent weather this year. One can only hope!!

 

[VicS]

Thanks for the replies. Sort of backs up what I was thinking. I'll have to get a tidal atlas for that side. All mine deal with this side of the channel, though my plotter has tidal streams in it I'm not confident that they are 100% accurate as bourne out last year when they seemed totally wrong! May have been me reading the info wrong on a new plotter.

Anyway thanks again. Its a "goal" to tick off on the personal todo list. All I need now is to get the boat finished and some decent weather this year. One can only hope!!

An admiralty Tidal stream atlas would do you nicely for basic tidal stream info.

The Reeve Foulks Atlas ( for the Central channel and Solent) contains a lot of additional information on tidal heights. It can be very useful.

 

[Topcat47]

Reeves Fowkes is the better of the two, based on HW Cherbourg. That said I've done it for years using the tidal maps in the small boat almanac. I've recently upgraded to the Channel almanac 'cos I'm 60+ and my eyesight's not quite what it was.

 

[Giblets]

The one thing that has not been mentioned is, after the first successful crossing of the Channel, the wind is guaranteed to turn to come from the north for the trip back!!

 

[Seajet]

The one thing that has not been mentioned is, after the first successful crossing of the Channel, the wind is guaranteed to turn to come from the north for the trip back!!

Yup, and / or fog !

People going across should allow plenty of time for Plan B even if it's a ferry, I've been stuck in Guernsey for a week with thick fog before now, the one time I allowed ' must get back Monday ' syndrome to take hold we had a rather lumpy crossing with F7-8 on the beam; OK we survived but fatigue was definitely an issue, with 3 fit crew - no autopilot, though it would have required a good one.

Now I always have a Plan B in mind, if the Scuttlebutt Cruise to Poole works out and we get there people should have half an eye on the train timetable in case we get a stiff Easterly for the return and people simply have to get to work...