In and out the needle

FalconSteve

FalconSteve

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I'm taking the mother in law out on her first boat trip tomorrow, I'm thinking of taking her to see the needles as it is a relatively short trip from ocean village. it's her birthday, so I want to pop somewhere picturesque and anchor the boat for lunch after. anyone able advise on a good safe navigation round the needles? also can anyone recommend a calm bay to anchor for lunch? it is supposed to be good boating weather tomorrow with light winds. my boat is a 27' sports cruiser with 3'3" draft.
 
Totland bay and Alum bay perhaps but Whitecliff bay is at the other end of the IOW to the needles

Mind the wreck if you go round the end of the needles.

Freshwater bay another possible bay to visit but not if the wind picks up from the SW

Good tide tomorrow so consider "threading the needles" if the wind is light
 
Thanks for the tips, definitely going to keep the needles on the left on the way out :D. I vaguely remember something about cross tidal streams near the needles being something to avoid. not sure where the streams meet, but I saw some cresting peaks when I transferred her from Weymouth when we first purchased her. the skipper who delivered her with us, said something about it then. anyone know anything specific? we're still quite naive at the moment, but getting more confident since we did the PB2 last month.

I must admit I had discounted alum bay as a mooring point, I thought it might be a bit exposed and be a bit rocky rolly ;-). since there are 2 recommendations I'm up for trying, it will be a great sight for the mother in law and it is her birthday.
 
It's only exposed if the wind is in the N or NW. With little wod it's fine.

You get strong currents going through the hurst channel, but your boat is capable of 20knts plus so it's a non-issue. Best to avoid wind over tide but that's a given anywhere really.
 
Cheers Whitelighter, last time I tried to visit the needles on our own we got as far as hurst castle before we ran low on daylight and turned around. It was a little choppy, but as you say the boat rode it really well.

The nasty I meant was right near the needles themselves. maybe 1/2 nm to the west. Does that ring a bell?
 
Thanks l'escargot. Would it be fair to say that if I don't see it, then either it's calm and no probs, or the labrodor is looking in the wrong direction?

I only really asked originally in case I was at risk of grounding, my charts don't show anything too shallow and I was worried I might have missed something.

If we're talking cross tides, then that should be obvious and not likely to put anyone in danger.
 
Planning on our first "round the island" trip tomorrow, be passing needles around 12:00 if weather stays good. Just looked at Bramblemet, air temp fell 3 deg + in the last hour + and from our Portsmouth Harbour "crows nest" there is no viz at all. So heres hoping the fog burns off to let us out to play!
 
Gentlmanracer - you'll be there before us. We're heading out from ocean village at around 11, so I think it will be near on 1 by the time we get to the needles. Thanks again l'escargot, fore warned is fore armed and all that :)
 
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