Sailing Rotterdam to Wight

[Ton_the_dutchman]

Hi

We are planning a sailing trip from Holland to the solent /wight, we are take the
first miles along the coastline to Duinkerken/Oostende.
After there we make the Trip to Dover or sailing along the southcoasat to go
to Wight.
A have to reed the reeds mcm.. en the charts but maybe i can get some usefull information from the "other" side of sea.
How can you plan the best trip from duinkerk/oostende to pas the shipping lane (90 degrees).?
and the tide is a lot along the englisch coast, what is your advice ?
are there nice marina's along the soutcoast to make a stop ? depth 2 m 34 feet.
what we must see on the Island of wight (Marina and other p[laces,pubs etc) ?
Shell we take our dingky ?(for the moorings)

A lot of questions, but i hope you can give good advice.
Thank you (my english is not always the best, talking is better).

Bibi

Ton

 

[Chris_Stannard]

I came from Vlissingen to Cowes last November in 27 hours. We motor sailed most of the way at about 6.7 knots. We left Vlissingen in the morning as soon as the tide was high enough to lock out. We followed the French coast as far as Cap Gris Nez and then crossed, remember you must cross shipping lanes at right angles.

On the South Coast i do not like the Marina at Brighton where the water is very shallow and you can get a nasty swell.

There are good marinas at Portsmouth, where there is much of interest including the Mary Rose (16th Century warship, the Victory, which was at Trafalgar, and the Warrior which was the first British Iron clad warship. there is also a castle at Porchester which is one of the finest Roman forts still in existence.

On the Isle of Wight there is a Good Marina at East Cowes, and the Yacht Haven at West cowes which is more expensive. Amongst many tourist attractions is Osborne House and Gardens. This was one of Queen Victorias palaces amd is well worht a visit. Carisbrook Castle in the centre of the Isle of Wight is also well worth a visit. Do not come to Cowes in the week starting 2 August which is Cowes week and every bberth will be booked already. It will be worth bringing your dinghy as there are one or two quiet harbours which are worth visiting, Newtown Creek and the Beaulieu river.

Have a good visit,

Hope you have a

Chris Stannard

 

[Twister_Ken]

Possible stopping places:
Dover, Eastbourne, Brighton, Portsmouth/Gosport.

Places to visit on Isle of Wight:
Cowes, Yarmouth

Places to visit on Solent mainland:
Hamble, Southampton; Beaulieu River, Lymington.

Marinas in all these places so dinghy not totally necessary.

All of them* have a wide range of pubs and restaurants, difficult to make any recommendations without knowing your tastes.

*Eastbourne and to a lesser extent Brighton Marinas are some way from town centres. Of the Hamble marinas only Port Hamble is actually near Hamble village.

 

[Viking]

You have to cross the Channel shipping lanes at right angles (90 degrees).
There are good ports both sides of the Channel. Dover, Ramsgate, Brighton on the UK side. You could try Chichester Harbour, here you can anchor, pick-up a mooring or use one of the Marinas. Chichester marina as a very good yacht club.
Portsmouth, Is a must. Haslar Marina (port side) you can get a ferry across to visit to Portsmouth centre.
Solent - Southampton, Cowes IOW (not Cowes week), Beaulieu - car museum and castle - Lymington - Yarmouth IOW. Lots to see on the IOW.

Have a good trip

 

[johna]

Ton

I spent last week en route from Hellovetsluice to Dover via Willamstadd and the inland water ways to Breskens. The weather forced us to take the inland route but we are so pleased that we did. I plan to return asap.

Other posts have given the information of what is available on the South Coast but a very important item is MONEY. Compared with the overnight costs in Holland UK is very expensive.

Have a good trip.

Johna

PS

If Sue and Kurt sailing from Stellamdam to UK East Coast last week in a Delher 34 read this please contact me on 01202 745152 we still have your tools.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by johna on 10/07/2002 09:11 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[tcm]

I would cross the channel from nearer calais, which is the shortest distance.

I would make sure to visit Lymington, Beaulieu on the south coast, and Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight.

It would be good to have a dinghy, because some of the moorings are on the other side of a river, and the water taxi is £1 or more each time. Also, with a dinghy, you can go further up the river at Yarmouth, for example, under the bridge.

 

[roger]

Official advice is that your heading must be at right angles to the separation zone. Your track will be different according to the tidal stream. Thats advice from British coastguards. I dont know what the French say.
I suggest your departure point for the crossing should be Dunkirk not Calais because of locked harbours and the difficulties of getting into Calais without a long detour to the west. You have possibly shallow banks to cross.
Dover has a quite good marina. Eastbornes Sovereign Harbour is excellent but make sure there is enough water. In 2000 the entry channel had silted up till it was at chart datum not 2 metres below as stated in the Almanac.
Brightons Marina is unpleasant. On our visits the toilets were not clean, the staff were unhelpful and the pontton planking was tending to break up. Brighton is however a fun town to visit.
Note that the ports mentioned are long distances apart and you may well be held up by bad weather.
Costs of English Marinas are appalling. For a 9.5 metre boat in Haslar in 2000 I paid 23 pounds - say 35 Euros per night.
Portsmouth does have good attractions but so does the Isle of Wight. Do not expect good food unless you pay heavily for it and make sure you bring your own liquor. You are passing by Belgium for wonderful beer and France for good wine. Spirits too are much cheaper outside England.
Also the Solent is very crowded in summer and places to stop are difficult to find unless you stop early in the day.
As you will gather I do not much like cruising england even in the very beautiful Sout West. I've just had a good holiday in Brittany in spite of the poor recent weather. The marinas were well run and cheap and the food....