Portsmouth to CIs

I guess it depends on the apparent wind angle to make it more/less comfortable.
I have gone out through the Nab many times but SWMBO finds it so, so boring as you seem to be in contact with the land for such a long time. At least with the Needless (love that!) channel, the land seems to go away a lot quicker.
If you can time it right, it's also possible (if you can average 5-6knots) to do Yarmouth/Lymington direct to St. Peter Port without loads of foul tide. Depart Yarmouth at the end of the West going tide to take a complete cycle to the East followed by the inevitable push down through the Alderney Race to St. Peter Port before the tides start North-East again.
 
Doesn't the W going current start sooner and run stronger through the Solent than S of IoW?

06-Solent-W-1.png


06-Solent-E-1-1.png
 
The two factors that influence the choice are the state of tide at the time of arrival and the predicted wind.

I would probably go via bembridge and aim to be at bembridge when the tide was beginning to set west.
 
Little Grebe said:
The tide would be just starting to be West going at our proposed time of departure.

Would it be best to go via Bembridge Ledge and follow along the South coast of the Isle of Wight or pass through the Solent and head to our destination from the Needles Fairway?
Click to expand...

Taking the ebb to go down the "back" of the IoW can be very efficient, since the tide is deflected that way (rather than simply heading west), but whether that helps you is likely to be affected by the wind direction/strength. Heading out via the Needles maybe better if the wind would be on your nose once you get past Bembridge.
 
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