Return from Alderney to Solent. Start like a Boss. End like a fool.

[Mark Payne]

What was I thinking?

Our first visit to Alderney just completed and I write this from Yarmouth on IOW. Now at the end of our 1 month cruise in the UK, Normandy and the Channel Islands.
The moral or the story... don't forget to think about the "easy bit" by focusing too much on the "hard bit".

The good: We bossed the tide runs NE out of Alderney making 7-8 knots SOG sailing for much of 4-5 hours.
Our first return passage from Alderney.
Leaving Alderney at 5AM (BST) some 2.5 hours before HW Braye did the job! (Tues 28th June 2022 if you are checking tides!)
We excecuted the plan to arrive at Studland Bay for 13:00 to sit on a eco boy for late lunch and wait for the tide to turn at 17:00 at Hurst to let us into the solent for Yarmouth. It was basically all good except....

The Bad: What was I thinking? I worked out the CTS and accounted correctly for each hour of tide. All good.
The track was perfect (CTS dead North if you are interested in that).
I knew I would have majority north east flow with a few hours of west flow at the end of the passage (8 hours).
BUT... I took us pretty much directly just to the east of Old Harry.... Why did I do that? The bloody overfalls are on the chart. Fool.

With the wind behind at 20 knots southerly blowing over and the tide running to the SW around Durlston Head and Old Harry, things got bumpy.
Very bumpy. Good job the gybe preventer was on.

Silly boy. I could have planned for the centre of Poole bay and avoided all of that.

The Mistake: Focusing too much on what is new to you and forgetting what you already know.
I got trapped into complacency thinking I know my own waters... did that bit deserve any less respect?

It put and hour on our passage time and a quite unpleasant hour at that.
It could have easily been avoided.

Next Time:

Don't let "the hard bit" use all the brain power and save some thinking for the other bits!

 

[HughClayton]

Thanks for sharing and sorry that you got bumped around at the end of the passage. I’ve made similar mistakes in that same part of the sea and realized that when I’m planning passages I do a much better job, particularly when I’m tired, of listing every hazard I can think of along the route and then ticking them off as I prepare the plan. Overfalls are never ever enjoyable and best avoided every time. Glad you got back with enough good humour to share the story.

 

[Concerto]

No one ever gets every passage plan completely right. Being able to admit your mistakes and learn from them will make you a better sailor. You have decided to make your mistake public, well done. Hopefully at least one person is saved from the same mistake.

Part of the problem now is there is so much information available to us, either printed or online, we can sometimes go into information overload. Learning which sources give you the most reliable information is part of the learning curve.

 

[Sandy]

The boat runs on UTC so I don't even have to think about faffing about with changing time zones (including daylight saving time)

On passage I am very much of the school of "approximate navigation", roughly in that direction until we have drunk sufficient tea or land is spotted on the horizon before making a course change and it usually works. Pilotage is a different matter.

 

[Keith-i]

Worth considering though that at least you knew what to expect and what best to do when you met the bumpy water in your home ground. You wouldn’t necessarily have known the best course of action or route to take had you encountered the overfalls in The Swinge.

 

[pyrojames]

Sometimes you get into these sort of situations even wth the best of plans. They test your resiliance to cope with tougher conditions than you might otherwise experience, especially when you are tired at the end of a passage. Your ability to deal with it, either gives you more confidence in your ability to adapt, or knocks you back to being more circumspect in what you attempt. You gain knowledge either way, and hopefully you know that you can now cope with a bit more.

 

[Mark Payne]

Worth considering though that at least you knew what to expect and what best to do when you met the bumpy water in your home ground. You wouldn’t necessarily have known the best course of action or route to take had you encountered the overfalls in The Swinge.

We used The Swinge to both route to Guernsey from Alderney and again on the way back. Due to my fear and this being at the forefront of my planning this was nailed at slack. (HW Alderney + 2.5). It was all fine and lovely. I cycled there on land to observe it at other times …. No Thank You!

 

[ryanroberts]

Ah, the first trip in my first own boat. In 25+ as a rusty day skipper. A learning experience.

 

[Elessar]

What was I thinking?

Our first visit to Alderney just completed and I write this from Yarmouth on IOW. Now at the end of our 1 month cruise in the UK, Normandy and the Channel Islands.
The moral or the story... don't forget to think about the "easy bit" by focusing too much on the "hard bit".

The good: We bossed the tide runs NE out of Alderney making 7-8 knots SOG sailing for much of 4-5 hours.
Our first return passage from Alderney.
Leaving Alderney at 5AM (BST) some 2.5 hours before HW Braye did the job! (Tues 28th June 2022 if you are checking tides!)
We excecuted the plan to arrive at Studland Bay for 13:00 to sit on a eco boy for late lunch and wait for the tide to turn at 17:00 at Hurst to let us into the solent for Yarmouth. It was basically all good except....

The Bad: What was I thinking? I worked out the CTS and accounted correctly for each hour of tide. All good.
The track was perfect (CTS dead North if you are interested in that).
I knew I would have majority north east flow with a few hours of west flow at the end of the passage (8 hours).
BUT... I took us pretty much directly just to the east of Old Harry.... Why did I do that? The bloody overfalls are on the chart. Fool.

With the wind behind at 20 knots southerly blowing over and the tide running to the SW around Durlston Head and Old Harry, things got bumpy.
Very bumpy. Good job the gybe preventer was on.

Silly boy. I could have planned for the centre of Poole bay and avoided all of that.

The Mistake: Focusing too much on what is new to you and forgetting what you already know.
I got trapped into complacency thinking I know my own waters... did that bit deserve any less respect?

It put and hour on our passage time and a quite unpleasant hour at that.
It could have easily been avoided.

Next Time:

Don't let "the hard bit" use all the brain power and save some thinking for the other bits!

You clearly know what you’re doing - many people these days don’t even understand how to calculate a CTS and just put their pilot on “track”, fighting the tide all the way.

You’ve shared your oversight for the benefit of others too. In a well written and entertaining post.

Hats off. ?