Memorable channel crossings

[fireball]

was comedy capers stuff.

Oh don't get me started on comedy capers!

I like to reverse into the finger berth - it makes getting on and off far easier and more sociable ...

Complete cockup on Friday ... nearly ended up gaining an anchor from Maggie May ... but would've probably left a stantion post or two! Ended up aborting and coming back in with some speed on ...
Why oh why do I always try and reverse AGAINST the propwash ...?!

 

[sighmoon]

2. F8 - beam reach - boat mimicked a submarine at times - fastest X-ing so far - Ostend -> Landguard 8h35m.

130 odd miles in 8h35 - average of 15 knots! What was that on?

 

[Koeketiene]

130 odd miles in 8h35 - average of 15 knots! What was that on?

Question is: what are you on?

Ostend -> Landguard is 81NM

 

[Mudisox]

?Memorable?

But what makes a crossing memorable?

The weather, the wind, the speed, the crew, the food, the drink, the chat?

Is the idea of a "Crossing", a voyage, or just a means to get to B from A?

This weekends' crossings there and back were memorable, [as my memory is not it used to be!]

But it was voyage to get to Cherbourg to meet up with some nice people and back, hopefully carried out safely and workmanlike with 10 hours out and 10 hours back with a beam reach both ways for 70 odd miles. Some sunshine too, baked a cake, and all without GPS, so that should have helped being memorable in that it took me back as to how we did it 50 years ago. Mind you I appreciated the shipping lanes to confirm the DR, and the autopilot did most of the work.

 

[Robin]

Well over a hundred return trips, probably nearer 150. Lots are forotten, lots are remembered fondly and lots remembered as warning calls!

1963 on a Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter (Theodora, with OYC), passing Bournemouth twice in the night trying to get into the Solent, no wind and spring tides.

Sailing down the moonbeams, lots of times.
Sailing with a 'moonbow', once. (rainbow from the moon)
Sailing at full chat, 10kt surfs and more with a huge trail of phosphorescence out astern.
Seeing both sides of the Channel at same time, by day as well as night.
St Vaast to Poole in under 10 hours in a Liz 30 during a Channel Race Gale that had all the lifeboats from Bembridge to Poole out working casualties.
Sailing with a basking shark same length as boat (W33) alongside looking at us, once.
Friday night crossings in all weathers up to F8 to get the then proper duty free, upwind included. Younger and more gung ho back then.
Averaging 7.5kts for 18hrs straight in a W33 on way to S Brittany.
Lots of thick fog crossings pre radar, pre Decca & GPS.
Counting the beeps from VHF 'lighthouses'.
Lots of thick fog crossings with Decca or GPS, later ones with radar also.
Three return crossings with defunct engines, from Cherbourg marina to Poole Quay (Liz 30), Cherbourg marina to Lymington YH marina Westerly Conway), Cherbourg marina to Poole mooring (Liz 30).
Too many crossings under engine.
Hearing about the death of Princess Di, mid Channel.
Being shadowed (we think by HM Customs)) in thick fog with radar, they wouldn't answer VHF, we stopped they stopped, we moved again so did they, only buqqered off when a big ship came to join the fun.
Heading up, and up, and up under spinnaker trying to get uptide of a carelessly parked oil rig, then having to do a rapid drop and genoa hoist as the guard boats arrived..
Diverting 5mls (under sail) to give our spare fuel can to a sail boat that had run out of diesel..
Leaving 30 minutes after our berth neighbour's HR38 and arriving an hour ahead of them all under sail and they motor sailed!
Being attacked by Lloyd Pacifico from astern, nobody on it's bridge, when SWMBO was reading 'Shipkiller' about a yacht run down by a tanker.
Lots more...good, bad and indifferent!

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Counting the beeps from VHF 'lighthouses'.

Ahhh.... spent last weekend ripping out old instruments from my 'new' boat... including an RDF unit.... brought back some happy memories at the time... I was taken back to sitting at a chart table with dim red light at 0'god 'oclock in the early morning, listening to the strains of 'sailing by' waiting for the shipping forecast before waking the crew with a cup of steaming tea.... happy days!

 

[Twister_Ken]

I have brief snippets of recall from some, but the memorable ones:

My first. Hustler 25.5, night crossing early in the season. Very little wind and cold rain from Hamble to Cherbourg. No self-steering so with three of us, someone had to be on the tiller all the time.

A boy's trip to Alderney for firework night. Sigma 38. Alderney to Lymington completed in daylight (November, remember). Lots of double figure surfs in a F6 on the quarter.

Returning from Deauville after a RORC race. A gentle breeze, spinnaker up and cleated off. Most of the crew below sleeping off copious quantities of wine. Slowly being overtaken by Yeoman. Fantastic sunset and a clear night with stars.

And the last one, of course, but mostly for Parahandy's cooking.

 

[sighmoon]

Question is: what are you on?

Ostend -> Landguard is 81NM

How embarrasssing. I'll spare you my Google Earth misuse explanation.

Very impressive speed though.

 

[FullCircle]

1964 on the Lord Warden from Dover.
My first channel crossing, and me only 7.

On our way to the Costa Brava to go camping.


Second was on my Corribee in 1989.

Is that a Cliff?
Yep.
Good, must be Cap Gris Nez then. Aim left of that.
Seen that boat behind us?
Yep.
Good, when it overtakes us, keep its stern in line with the bow of our boat.
Righto.
Coo, look traffic lights on that wall.
Yeah. When they go green make a dash for it.
Okey. Dokey.
Is that it?
Yep.
Doddle n'est-ce pas?
Yep. Do you think we missed anything out?
Only if you forgot the passports.
Err,err,errrrrrr, phew, yep, put 'em in a safe place.
Grand, break out the vin de table.

 

[Poignard]

Trying to identify the light on the starboard bow that ought to have been Cap la Hague but was in fact Barfleur.

 

[johnalison]

It's a bit like any landing being a good one if you walk away from it; any crossing I do without harm to myself, crew or the boat must be OK. I only failed once, when I ended up in hospital with a disc shortly after, though actually, I enjoyed the crossing which was force 5/6ish on the beam.

 

[Blueboatman]

Blimey many many but far fewer as skipper.
Can remember the hot sunbathe, salad n motoring ones, a couple of scary rising forecast ones, a bad easterly 8 one , and one parking on the Warden Ledge inside the needles cos we were too frigging clever at following a back eddy up.
The best ones all seemed to be leaving Yarmouth at 10 pm, early afternoon arrivals rested, fed and ready to eat drink and play.

 

[jhr]

... One about 4 or 5 years ago with Stugeron Steve, where we had a perfect beam reach in about 20kts of wind the whole way back... a second, the outbound leg of that same trip where it rained so hard that we were emptying our wellies every 15 mins....

Ah yes; happy memories. That beam reach was one of the most perfect sails I've ever experienced, cross-Channel or otherwise.

Was that the year that the Emsworth Bad Boys experienced pilotage difficulties with a pair of glass doors, or am I conflating two separate trips?

 

[Twister_Ken]

Trying to identify the light on the starboard bow that ought to have been Cap la Hague but was in fact Barfleur.

What? No dit dah dit dit dah dit dah dit dit from Alderney aerobeacon?

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Ah yes; happy memories. That beam reach was one of the most perfect sails I've ever experienced, cross-Channel or otherwise.

Was that the year that the Emsworth Bad Boys experienced pilotage difficulties with a pair of glass doors, or am I conflating two separate trips?

Yep, that was the one.... same year that Tome woke up complaining that someone had left a half eaten kebab in his cockpit...

 

[Poignard]

what? No dit dah dit dit dah dit dah dit dit from alderney aerobeacon?

-. --- -.. ..-. !

 

[LadyInBed]

You never forget your first one
For me 05-Aug-87 Left 05:30 from Portland to Cherbourg 14hr45 70.0 nM wind SW3-4
in my 22ft Swin Ranger.
Other memorable crossings:
Cherbourg to Portland, the sea was flat as glass, not a cloud in the sky, Temp was up in the high 70's(F).
24hr passage from Portland to Pampol in the Swin Ranger.
One of my best trips was, strange as it may seem, an aborted single handed crossing from Dartmouth to Lezardrieux in the Countess, got about 30 miles off Start Point, found that my wind gen wasn't charging, worked out that the best I could make in one tack was Guernsey so turned tail back to Poole.
Did 123nM in 19hrs overnight with twin poled out head sails - most exhilarating.

 

[Pinnacle]

Oh don't get me started on comedy capers!

I like to reverse into the finger berth - it makes getting on and off far easier and more sociable ...

Complete cockup on Friday ... nearly ended up gaining an anchor from Maggie May ... but would've probably left a stantion post or two!

No problem.....we have another one on board exactly the same!

 

[Iain C]

Memorable ones...

First night sail as a young lad in a First 35. Never seen phosphoresence before...it was amazing.

Coming back (also as a young lad) in an OYC 72' ketch under triple reefed main, storm jib, reefed mizzen, saw 12 knots.

And the piece de resistance, last year, mid 30s, feeling about 12 again. Picture says a thousand words...and this was November! Also saw 12 knots. When we were'nt doing 20...

 

[billmacfarlane]

I've done somewhere between 30 and 40 but I can remember various bits of them all. Memorable ones include a trip from Littlehampton to Fecamp overnight in a chartered Salder Barracuda in W7-8. It took us 6.5 hrs. One from Cherbourg to Chichester in a W3/4 overnight in a very flat sea. Both my daughters came up in their nighties and watched the stars until dawn. One I did 4 years ago from Chichester to St Vaast in what was forecast as a NW5-6, but turned somewhat uglier. We had trouble with reefing and did it with about a reef and a half in. The crossing took 8.5 hours but I'd rather it took longer and we were in control.