Ortac Channel - Who uses it?

[Moody]

I have used it once on a return trip from Guernsey to the Solent, and am planning to go to the Channel Islands next month, but I haven't heard of many people using it as an alternative to the Alderney Race.

Was I really lucky last time and is there something there to catch me unawares, hence why it doesn't seem popular, or is it that a lot of people use Cherbourg as a stopping off point?

Neil

 

[DaveSteward]

Ortac Channel

I have only used it once. As we approached from the North in a NW4, the sea heaped up into large steep breaking waves. It was a nervous 15 minutes until we were through. There is a lot of water being forced through a narrow channel.

If we had had an engine problem, blocked filter etc, we would have been on the rocks in seconds. We have a Princess 440.

As with all of these places, Alderney Race, the Swinge, Portland Race etc, they are fine in settled conditions and neap tides.

I would prefer the Race or go West of the Casquets.

David
Crazy Diamond

 

[Robin]

I'm answering with many years of cruising this area in a sailing boat, none in a mobo but now a mobo owner so can at least 'think' like one, I think.

Solent to Guernsey via the Ortac or outside of Casquets is a significant detour. Both the Ortac and the Swinge are places where there are severe overfalls at certain times of tide and are not nice places to be if you have any problems like picking up something on a prop or engine failure because the tides sweep you towars the nasties very fast. Alderney Race has space!

Unless you arrive at Alderney Race at slack waters there will be overfalls. Going south slack turning south is about 30 minutes before HW Dover, so time your arrival to match that whether you start from the Solent or Cherbourg. Northbound isn't so easy because you will not get out of St Peter Port Marina at a convenient time, but even if you go out on the pontoons in the outer harbour if you leave there at slack water i the Little Russel it will be running fast up top in the Race.

Avoid strong wind against tide, that is the real maelstrom maker. With a fast mobo you at least have the option of going against the tide if that produces a flatter sea with wind and tide together, it just burns a whole lot more fuel doing it. Alderney Race in full flow on big tides with no wind is flat, very flat, but with swirls on the surface that will have you wondering what monster lies beneath, but it is just a rock or two a hundred feet below. Most yachts leaving to go north from St Peter Port will routinely pass the Race at it's strongest. The key is to go with the flow ie in the rough bits let the tide take you through not full out on the engine, and that is with a yottie size engine. A yacht under sail will get the wind shaken out of the sails and won't be going fast at all in the overfalls, but turning on the engine is not the best solution for the reason given.

People use Cherbourg as a stopover for a number of reasons, not least because on the return trip it means you have cleared customs back into the EU there and don't have to mess with the C1332 forms and procedures back in UK. It also allows you to leave at a time that suits the cross Channel passage and arrival via the Needles or whichever best. Then again it is the best place to stock up on goodies before going home, because the Channel Islands are not cheap nor do they have the nice 'French' stuff. Just make sure the fuel tanks are topped right up in St Peter Port!

Hope it helps.

 

[Sundowner Portofino]

Have used Alderney Race, The Swinge, the Ortak Channel and going West of the Casquetes in our 32ft MOBO coming from the Solent.

Going west of the Casquets nerver ocured to me until someone in Beaucette Marina suggested it and now we always use it.

Just keep a couple of miles west of them and you have very little to worry about, makes life an awful lot easier and means you can plan better for the tidal gates into the marina's or to run wind with tide etc...

As for it being a detour as one poster suggested, its not much of one, maybe six miles and the added comfort, therefore boat speed and SWMBO being happy more than makes up for it. IMHO

 

[philduff]

Ortac channel experience

Forgive me, I know this is a mobo section, but I hope you find the info helpful

A few weeks ago, we passed through the Ortac channel en route from St Peter Port to Weymouth in my 10m sailing yacht, on near springs. We left St Peter Port on the rising tide.
The wind was NW F2-3, wind partially against tide made for a decent sailing breeze, however we were unable to route west of Casquets without tacking, so we took on the Ortac Channel.

Aprroaching over the Casquet banks to the south the water was mill pond flat. We had 3-4 knots of tidal assistance. Passing through the narrow bit between Casquests and Ortac, the Ortac Channel, watching out for the shallow bank extending east of Casquets (marked by breaking water) we approached speedy rock.

All around near the horizon we could see we were encompassed by white water, obviously the overfalls were in full swing, where the fast water hit the slower water.

With 7 knots of tide, now pushing us NE, we surged past speedy rock and almost directly over Dasher rock, we encountered some significant overfalls.

As we appoach the end of the end of the bank, in about 10m the main overfalls began. I estimate 3m-5m. Our boat pitched for and aft, scooping our cockpit half full of water. Not too much of a probalme as it promptly rushed out again, but we got a soaking! Sailing progress stopped as the 5.5 knots of tide was taking the force out of the 10 knot breeze and the boat was pitching all over the place. However the tide was washing us through. We started the engine to give ourselves a hint of steerage way.

It was an uncomfortable 10 minutes, but eventually things calmed down. We hove to, to sort thing out before proceeding on our way.

It had taken 3 hours from St Peter port to get through the Ortac channel and into clear water as yachtie speeds (6 knots + tide).

Phil

 

[duncan]

I'm not sure what the question was?

Ortac exists as a gap/channel in the same way as the Swinge, with Alderney Race to the East, and outside the Casquettes to the West.

Conditions at various points in the whole area are extremely local, and it's hard to generalise much at all - when you are used to it you just relate what you are experiencing at Point A with what you know will be happening at Point B then, or at a particular time in the future. But you really need a good reference to plan accurately.

Specifically in the area around 2NM NW of the Casquette Lighthouse all the way across to the North of the Ortac, around Speedy Rock and West all the way to Cherbourg Peninsular it can change dramatically on an hourly basis - there is a tidal eddy for 1.5 hrs just off speedy rock which you can 'drop into' and sit quietly whilst only a cable away it's a maelstrom; I fish it frequently. However if you miss you exit it can be slow and messy to get anywhere sometimes , but flat calm on light breeze with tide on neaps......

In a fast powerboat you can make your call on conditions as you approach, generally you will get the picture from a long way off approaching from the North, and it's coming up from the South that can see you run a smooth channel up into a couple of miles of 'washing machine sea' the other side.

If conditions are poor then at least 2 miles W of the Casquettes Lighthouse is best, and don't get tempted to turn East for a good few miles. Alternatively there are routes up through the Swinge at all states of the tide if you know where they are - but most will run the middle. This time you should generally keep following round to the East until the entrance to Braye before getting onto your Northerly course if conditions are snotty on both flood and ebb tides.

Finally, for those that haven't realised it (of course everyone here has...) slack water in this area is not at high and low water St PP or Braye - it's about half way between them. This tends to cause confusion for planning powerboats more than yachts because they don't study tidal streams as much as the latter!

Of course you can just ignore any consideration of the elements at play and just get one with it .....however it's rare I get to leave Alderney in these conditions

and some time since I overnighted amongst the rocks there

(so long I have even changed the wiper motor and fixed the leak!)

 

[volvopaul]

I left Guernsey once and plotted a course through the swinge to return to Lymington the fog came down and somehow ended up going through this channel, this was before the days of gps, I was in a 20knot cruise boat going with the tide, I said a long prayer when I knew we were in open water!

 

[strakeryrius]

I have used the Ortac a couple of times in both directions; not a place you would want to be if the weather is even a little bit heavy, and getting your timing right for the tides is an absolute imperative, or the overfalls are very hairy indeed. Even at an hour or so either side of slack there is likely to be some turbulence for a mile or two, nothing most decent sized mobos can't handle, but likely to make you want to slow down as the sea becomes very short but steep with the swells very close together.

If you have a nervous SWMBO or other passengers aboard do yourself a favour and go west of Casquets. It is a small detour but its a much more comfortable ride and the little extra fuel you will use wil be more than cancelled out by the extra fuel you would use battling rough seas in the Ortac.