Passage plan, Portsmouth to Cherbourg

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Laundryman

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I am planning to join the Cherbourg cruise this year for my first channel crossing so my attention is on my passage plan. I have found on sailing almanac.com a passage plan for the same which shows passage from Portsmouth via the needles, whereas I was expecting to go east of the island. Is there a preferred passage or do I plan both and pick which one on the day dependent on wind direction? Thanks. Alan
 
From Pompey, I'd go round the east of the Island irrespective of the wind, tbh.

From central/west Solent, the Needles route is more logical, because if you turn left at the Needles and head due south, you'll almost certainly fetch up in Cherbourg :). It becomes a less logical option if there's a strong ebb and the wind is S - SW F5 or more .....
 
Which ever way you go (and from Portsmouth I would certainly go East of IOW) plan to arrive well up tide with plenty of tide still to run. The tide flows very fast past Cherbourg!
 
needles or from yarmouth is shorter by about 10 miles.

however if you are in portsmouth, bembridge is a good bet.... if your going out on springs make sure you take a bit of the tide out round the back of the island. it will give you a push in the right direction to start with.

look closely at the tidal flow for your departure time round the back of the island. and also your arrival in the solent on your return.

always arrive off cherb upstream of the tide. and you will get dragged in.
 
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Alan

There will be quite a number of boats leaving Portsmouth/Chichester harbours early on the Friday. I would expect everyone to be passing to the East of IOW. From memory, its about 200deg from Bembridge ledge to Cherbourg. I dont have a tidal stream atlas to hand, but it will be neaps, so there should not be too much of a need to make a big allowance for the East/West tidal set, although much will depends upon your planned boatspeed. The entrance(s) to the port are both relatively easy - for a first-time approach, for my money, I think the Western entrance is simpler.

Looking forward to meeting you.
 
The best thing to do is work it all out manually using something like the Yachtsmans Tidal Atlas and a chart. (Although you could use the tide tables in an almanac or the Shell Channel pilot)

Get a bit of A4 lined paper and draw a line down the middle from top to bottom, title the first column with West, the other East.

On the chart draw a line from Bembridge Buoy, (missing W Princessa) to Cherbourg.

Work out what time you want to leave (or arrive) Portsmouth, then work out how long it will take you to get to Bembridge buoy then mark each hour on your cherbourg line. from that work out which direction the tide will be going every hour and write in the appropriate east/west column.

At the end total up the tidal difference of each column, plot that (say 2nm west) from your start point at Bembrigde, where that (2 miles at 270º) line ends, draw a line from there to Cherbourg, work out the magnetic course, (make sure you won't be crossing any land) steer that course until you're about 10 miles out.

At that point work out what the tide will be doing for the next 2-3 hours at Cherbourg Entrance then head higher than the up tide entrance. only when you get close do you drop down to make the entrance. If you miss it you sill have the other entrance to head for.

If you have the Shell Channel Pilot, it's all described better in there.

DON'T add a waypoint at Cherbourg and steer for that waypoint, you'll end up sailing further, even though your plot on the chartplotter will be a straight line:rolleyes:
 
For a first attempt, leaving from Yarmouth not only reduces the distance, but also provides a nice outgoing tide to make you feel that you are getting there quickly.

However, the most valid reason is that with normal SW winds, it opens up the bearing a bit more allowing better VMG.
 
With the wind SW you can get a better angle from the needles than the nab. If you're aiming for a morning departure and you have time, one option would be to head west the night before and pick up a buoy outside yarmouth (beware being caught in a raft inside with an early morning departure) and go from there. Obviously be very cautious of any significant south westerly against the ebb through the needles (as my pre-post check of posts since I started writing reveals jhr has already highlighted).

Generally though with a little bit of departure time flexibility the east side of the island is the shorter passage from portsmouth
 
No need to pick up a buoy outside Yarmouth unless you want to go ashore. Anchor behind Hurst just south of the entrance to Keyhaven. nice and peaceful, little tide and a bit closer to the Hurst narrows for a quick getaway on an ebbing tide.
 
Tranona said:
Anchor behind Hurst just south of the entrance to Keyhaven. nice and peaceful, little tide and a bit closer to the Hurst narrows for a quick getaway on an ebbing tide.
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+1, as they say.

I've stopped there ready for an early start westward. The pilot book gives a bearing to the lighthouse to help ensure you're nicely in the anchorage, but it's not critical. Being relatively open (though sheltered from the west) it's easy and pleasant to just hoist sail and slip away - if you had someone still asleep you needn't wake them with the donk.

Pete
 
One thing to be aware of going out through the Needles is that if the wind is a bit brisk SW or W, then the sea will be a bit lumpy 'till you get clear of Bridge buoy. If you do leave from Hurst, then plan to leave 1 hour before the ebb starts (at Hurst), that way the sea will be more kindly to you as you pick up the first of the West going flow.
 
Another factor is if you can't choose your time to leave Pompey. If you have to set off with a strong ebb, you might just want to ride it down the Solent and not have to punch it out past Bembridge to Dunnose. Make sure you'll get to Hurst before it changes, though.

Given a choice of departure time, I reckon an hour or so before HW Portsmouth is best. Slackish water in the E Solent, then a big kick along the E side of Wight as the ebb sets in and 5 or so hours of W-going in the Channel.
 
Laundryman said:
Thank you to everyone, your replies are exactly what I am looking for. Weather permitting, see you in Cherbourg!
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From the Hamble I let the wind prediction and direction be a deciding factor. Always seem to find the Needles quicker though as you get stronger tide Approx 4-5kts in Neaps going West and through the Needles.

IIRC we will leave Friday morning at 04.00 for Cherbourg unless the wind is better earlier/later. If I need to go E round I of W I leave +/- 6hr of that time.

I work out tidal effect for every hour and as I tend to do the X channel bit in 10hrs I work out the difference and aim for that offset (eg say 13kts of total tide going west but only 10kts going east) therefore aim 3NM to East of Cherbourg. In a perfect passage plane over say 12hrs you will plot an S on the chart.

I check my actual position against estimated at 0.5 and 0.75 distance across and only adjust if necessary at 0.75 distance as the tides are so much stronger on the French side!

I think the most common fault among channel virgins is to underestimate the amount the tide will take you to the E or W of your S course in the last half of the journey.

I will try to get Simon J to do a weather prediction on the Tuesday before that weekend.
 
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I usually pick up a bouy outside yarmouth.

The trip gets me used to being on the boat and my sealegs, depature is easy, if it is calm enough for a first cross channel it will be OK on the bouys, you can leave at crack of dawn, you wont sleep that soundly out of antcippation, and pschycologically by mid morning you will be well out in the channel.

If you leave from Portsmouth then by mid morning you will still be off the IOW. If it is neaps then a morning/eve HW and you could do the same from Bembridge but you need to navigate past Bembridge ledge. On my first cross channel I failed to do that and ran aground but that was another story and 25 years ago.

Whichever way you go, head on a course that will get you uptide at your ETA but let the tide take you E/W of track, estimate total cross track error, XTE can be 8 miles at neaps, 10+ at springs. Dont worry and let the tide take you but just fine tune in the last 25% of the trip to allow for variation in speed. Dont worry about motorsailing if calm: I would rather keep up a good SOG with a constant heading and concentrate on the nav and shipping than wallow around going nowhere.

If you allow 12 hours at 5 knots but motorsail at 6 and arrive in 19 hours your crew think you are brilliant, if you sail at 3 and take 20 hours expect mutiny and a ferry trip home. The aim of the game is to get in the marina yacht club bar in good time.

Enjoy and feel the satisfaction from "going foreign", although a standard passage ther eis enough to think about to feel pleased with a job well done.
 
typo; 10 not 19 hours at 6 knots, silly me, and yes anchor of hurst is fine but on the yarmouth bouys no need to worry about dragging and scope etc, just chuck of the rope in teh morning and away and if you easrly cant sleep just gointo yarmouth, there wil be space att that time of year and lets just hope this weeks gales stay away
 
It's a depressing thing to find yourself a few hundred yards downtide of the downtide entrance. It could take hours to get in the harbour on spings while the marina fills up and the bars close :eek:

To avoid this I have a waypoint 10 miles off Cherbourg. When I get there, I work out what the tide's going to be doing in a couple of hours or so and aim for the uptide entrance. That way, if I get it wrong, I've got a second chance.
 
snooks said:
DON'T add a waypoint at Cherbourg and steer for that waypoint, you'll end up sailing further, even though your plot on the chartplotter will be a straight line:rolleyes:
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I plot a waypoint at cherbourg, but don't steer to it, as the cross track error is a quick and easy sanity check for how your tidal drift is going. If I estimated that by half way I'd be 9 miles west of track but I'm only two miles off track I'd know something isn't going to plan. It's not uber precise but it's a quick and easy check.

I have only ever gone east of the IOW going from Portsmouth or Chicester to Cherbourg.
 
Just crack on south, autohelm set bang on the west entrance. Leave on the turn of the tide first six hours tide will pull you one way, next six hours it will push you the other way. Balances itself out usually, but in the last few hours when in sight on the entrance you might need to make a little adjustment. Easiest passage there is, pay attention at the shipping lanes but chill for the rest.
 
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