Hurst Narrows

srp

srp

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Now that another poster has kindly set up a useful discussion on Portland Bill, perhaps some kind souls will help out with similar info on Hurst Narrows. I'm hoping to take an inshore (ish) route to Christchurch, either from Keyhaven or Yarmouth (whichever is easiest). Would anyone like to draw a suitable line on the chart? A hint as to the best state of the tide would help as well.
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Anywhere through the pale green bit with a flood under you (changes 1h b4 HW Portsmouth) then hang a right b4 NE Shingles to head NW along the North Channel and follow Hurst Beach to North Head buoy then turn for C'Church.

Not to be attempted with more than a stiff F5 SWly blowing through the channel, unless you enjoy that sort of thing.
 
Good water everywhere, but be careful if going very near Hurst Point (near the castle). There is an area known as the Trap, and it really can draw a low powered boat onto the beach.
 
The North Channel is not terribly well marked iirc, one small buoy somewhere near Milford on sea? Keep an eye on the sounder, don't cut the corner. The tide may set you onto the bank, so watch transits or take bearings or set waypoints etc.
I would tend to take the tide out through Hurst, soon after it turns Westgoing, so that not too much wind over tide has built up, follow the well buoyed Needles Ch, from SW Shingles head straight for Studland...
I must admit to a) sailing straight over the shingles, oblivious to its existance,(long time ago!, its come up since!) b) being skipper of a boat that ran aground there, albeit I was off watch in my bunk. This is what makes me think the Needles is preferable, to me anyway!
North Channel might be preferable if Needles Ch is a dead beat?
Anywhere from Hurst to Needles can be lumpy, so hatches closed etc.
 
I would not go as close to the Island shore through choice if you are doing the sensible thing and going through on the ebb as you will find it difficult to go across the tide. Have a look at a good detailed tidal atlas as the direction changes according to the state of the tide. I normally go close into Hurst and then follow the coast until North Haven, although if there is not too much wind and sea you can turn south before you actually reach the buoy.
 
It doesn't need to be particularly well marked, you just follow the beach.

North Channel is nearly always flatter and more comfortable then Needles Channel
 
Yes - you can now tell how old I am /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif - I tend to jump between imperial and metric depending on what I'm doing. In my defence I have to say that usually the depth units are set to metres,(and distances to nautical miles, boat/wind speed in knots and temperature in Celcius - the usual British mix-up of units).
 
Do foriegn boats have charts that don't use the nautical mile and show distances in kilometers?

If so, how do they relate that to longitude and latitude?

Imagine being a submarine skipper having to work out your rate of dive. So many metres in so many nautical miles...
 
I do that trip a fair bit. As others have said, go with the tide, not against it. You can sail close to Hurst Castle, then follow the beach. Almost always preferable to the Needles Channel, not least because it saves you miles if you're heading to Christchurch. YOu will need to check the height of water in Christchurch entrance, as both the entrance itself and the buoyed channel leading to it is very shallow. Best to check a tidal curve for Christchurch entrance. Then follow the buoyed channel up to Christchurch - again, it's very shallow in places. I went up there on the upper part of the tidal curve last Sunday afternoon, and still only had 1.5 metres of water in total in places.

KB
KB

KB
 
I would recommend investing in Winning Tides by Mike Broughton or Solent Tides by Peter Bruce - there are times when the reverse eddy close to Hurst beach saves much tedious plodding out in the main stream.
 
My chart shows the Trap as about 0.1 nm off Hurst Castle, and tide rips extending up to 0.2 nm. Presumably you would sail just outside these, but inside the NE Shingles buoy, which is 0.43 nm off the castle?

Thanks for the book suggestion Malaprop, and all the helpful advice from everyone else.
 
Forget the Trap if you are leaving the Solent on a rising tide in a small boat in reasonable conditions. Aim to pass out through Hurst about an hour before high water Portsmouth, stay about 100 yards offshore rounding Hurst Castle and approach from the Lymington side as there is less tide. Aim for the North Head buoy from Hurst Castle and then for Christchurch entrance, which is the tricky bit - pick up the entrance buoys and follow the channel through the Run which take you very close to the shore.

Christchurch SC advise on entering the harbour and give tide times - on springs the second high tide can be better for entering, but the tide sits on all high tides.

Don't tell everyone but Christchurch SC are very welcoming and have a visitors pontoon, well worth a visit. After entering the harbour, the next challenge is Blackberry Point, where there is a sand bar and you can find yourself joining the Christchurch Harbour ploughing team. I do it with 3' 6" draft, you shouldn't have a problem. It is one of my favourite destinations and we always end up staying for longer than planned.
 
Firstly don't get too wound up about Hurst because although the water gets slap happy it is for but a very short distance. Headed west you will likely be leaving the Solent at or around HW so the spit off Hurst doesn't come into play, just be aware that it is close in on the east end of the narrows. Secondly it matters not if you leave from Yarmouth or Keyhaven or Lymington. Thirdly the important tide time to consider is going to be Christchurch because you MUST have enough water to get in over the bar. Most Christchurch boats leave the Solent at the earliest time even going against the very last of the east going flood from say Lymington or Yarmouth which is easy enough, the reason is to arrive off Christchurch at or before 2nd HW. Remember Christchurch, like Poole has TWO HWs and one LW and between the 1st and 2nd HW the tide drops just a bit, it then fair pi$$es out from 2nd HW to LW! Finally and especially away from LW there is plenty of water except over the Shingles bordering on the Needles Channel and the North Channel to North Head buoy is not at all critical. If headed for Poole from Hurst we take a line from about 500yds up North Channel direct to Poole and bypass North Head buoy and we have 6'10"/2.08m draught, there is actually less water between Lymington entrance and Hurst or in Lymington channel than we see when taking the Hurst to Poole line mentioned where we never see less than 17ft in old money and usually much more.
 
Peter Bruce's books Solent Tides, Wight and Solent Hazards, and use the North Channel definitely. All godsends for working the area.

And with the tide if you can.
The penalty for getting it slightly late is to just get to the North End Bouy hard on a light wind, motor sailing like stink, have your outboard stop suddenly and be carried back to the Pennington Beacon!
So we went to Lymington for an ice-cream instead of Christchurch:D /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Just to add, many are advocating waiting for the tide to turn before going out through Hurst, this advice might apply more if your destination was Poole. With your destination being Christchurch you are cutting it fine to get there if you do - you can meet 4 or 5 knots of tide coming out of the Run if you miss the tide and you won't be going in if there isn't enough water left in the harbour. Better to fight the last of the flood round Hurst to give yourself that margin.
 
Don't worry about Hurst, just follow the guidance above, NE Shingles on Port - North head.

Needles passage Ok as long as breeze isn't too high, then you get some biggish waves near the Bridge.

The North Channel route will probably take you near Hengistbury ledge, so watch out for the numerous fishing pots.
 
If going to Christchurch, there are few, if any lobster pots on the inshore line from North Head buoy to the harbour entrance. Your only problem will be avioding an overloaded fishing vessel coming home with his haul of bass (that's me, if you didn't immediately recognise the description /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif )
 
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