Harwich to Eastbourne next week

benw

benw

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Have been looking at this for a while but would appreciate some opinions:
Plan to depart Harwich around 2 hrs before LW. We will be using the outside route.
Looking at av boat speed to achieve 6kn will make Ramsgate before foul tide runs north.
However the next bit seems I will have to take a hit re foul tide at some point going to Eastbourne.
So which is deemed better foul tide off Ramsgate for a few hours or foul tide approaching Eastbourne? Does a back eddy form once the tide flows north past Beachy Head?

Plan B is if making better progress get to Dover.

Plan C is straight to Eastbourne.

Thoughts.....
 
I'm a big softy, so I'd do it in two hops. Leave Harwich at HW Dover +1, and head for Dover. Then I'd leave Dover at HW Dover +3 and go to Eastbourne.
 
Looking at Monday next week it's an early dep from Harwich HW 0122 or after lunch 1333 meaning leave in the dark or arrive in the dark. I think I favour leaving a home port in the dark as opposed to arriving in a less known port.
A couple of hours out from Harwich and by LSH should be first light. At least the big boys are lit up nice and bright.
Ben
 
I would agree with Sailorman (and I saw Tillergirl say the same in another recent thread).
We have always left at HW Harwich, taking the route past Roughs, Long Sand Head and then south past the Kentish Knock bouy.
Inside the Thanet wind farm then pass Ramsgate and take the Gull Channel to Dover.
In the past we have also arrived at Dover around HW and kept going as you then get the tide with you from Dungeness heading westwards.
However, if you are heading for Fecamp, why not take the route outside the Thanet wind farm and head to Boulogne. It's an easy trip to Fecamp from there and no silly locks at the end of a long journey.
Your journey out from Harwich will also be aided by the lights of the three wind farms you pass. We came in to Harwich last Friday at around 2am and it was like passing a couple of cities out there.
As an aside, we berthed on the hammerhead at RHYC not far from you once we arrived before going up to Foxs in the afternoon once our berth was clear.
Have routes and charts on board at Foxs and previous logs to look at if it helps. We are on board other than Friday evening this week.
 
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It does seems counter intuitive to leave at HW trying to go south when the tide is going north but the reality is that for the first part of the passage you are going across the tide which isn't as bad as one might fear and then that puts you in a good position to pick up the SW going tide when it starts. I am working on a full set of tables for the outside route (but inside Thanet WF) at the moment.
 
wingdiver said:
Your journey out from Harwich will also be aided by the lights of the three wind farms you pass. We came in to Harwich last Friday at around 2am and it was like passing a couple of cities out there.
Click to expand...

Fred Rift

Should pass this on to Trinity House. There should not be as much illimination as there is if only the correct charted lights were on. In my view to much light is more of a hazard than a benefit as smaller, less bright lights get masked.

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?398728-SW-Sunk-details-now-available&highlight=foulgers+gat
 
Thanks For replies. I would like to have a chat through the options we have just been lifted at Foxs so down for a couple of nights.
I shall pm perhaps a rendezvous at the bar might be in order? I think I will be buying Roger a beer anyway!
Thanks Wingdiver.
Ben
 
We left Harwich Monday (I think but we're loosing track of the days) at HW-1 and made Dover 10 hours later. We weren't in a rush, there was no wind at all and we never went above 50% revs to keep fuel use down. Small tides so little adverse and less help than usual from North Foreland. The strangest part was Foulgers Gat, adverse tide going in and coming out but a clear 0.75 favourable tide down the Gat when it should have been adverse. Very strange. The inside route was a doddle and saved 8 miles, that's an hour and a half saved and it was more interesting.

Dover have a 50% off deal for other TransEurope marinas. Their diesel on 60/40 was about £1.10 so very good value if you wanted it. Then Eastbourne yesterday and the best sail we have ever had - new monster cruising chute and had a steady 6.5 through the water with 12 knots apparent, I couldn't believe it, we sailed 40 miles and motored about 3. Same again today to Brighton and hopefully a bit more of the same tomorrow to Chichester.

Like others have said, you have to time arrival at North Foreland for favourable tide so why not get there 90 minutes earlier and go all the way to Dover? In the past we've anchored quite often for free in the harbour overnight but now at we get 50% off we didn't bother.
 
I went Ipswich to the Solent in one bash about 3 weeks ago. We left Ipswich at LW (cos it was when the crew's train arrived rather than exceptional passage planning) and went through Foulgers Gat which really was a doddle. We seemed to carry a fair tide as far as Dungeness except from Foulgers where we had quite a bite of tide against us for a couple of miles. If I was to split the trip I'd stop at Ramsgate and time the departure from there to get the full tidal benefit.
 
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