Sailing Salcombe to Guernsey - First timer advice please

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picardy

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I am planning a trip from Salcombe / Dartmouth to Channel islands this summer in my 34ft sailing yacht.

Can anyone suggest a principle points to consider in relation to arrival times and states of the tide or indeed where to aim for first - I was thinking of Guernsey. I expect to average a speed of around 5 knots.

I will of course buy appropriate charts, pilotage guides etc and am relatively experienced and have plotter, VHF etc.

Thanks
 
picardy said:
I am planning a trip from Salcombe / Dartmouth to Channel islands this summer in my 34ft sailing yacht.

Can anyone suggest a principle points to consider in relation to arrival times and states of the tide or indeed where to aim for first - I was thinking of Guernsey. I expect to average a speed of around 5 knots.

I will of course buy appropriate charts, pilotage guides etc and am relatively experienced and have plotter, VHF etc.

Thanks
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Have just done, last summer, a 1300 mile trip to Portugal from Holyhead, a few general points. Xcweather gives a good trend as to what the weather is doing. Your average speed seems a bit high, I did the same but found the true ave speed was 4kts. Wind on nose etc. The issue is that if you use a too hi ave speed then the pressure is on to get to tidal gates. Use a slightly lower speed to give a conservative arrival time, work the arrival time backwards from the tidal gates using a slightly lower ave speed and Xcweather trend becimes more accurate the closer the date becomes.
S
 
Look carefully at the tidal atlas. Find when it flows East from Les Hanois light and then North to St Peter Port. Time your arrival to be off Les Hanois appropriately. i.e. Leaving Salcombe about 12 hours earlier with a favourable wind. Suggest for a first visit this is a better approach than via the NE of Guernsey and South down the Little Russell.
 
and don't forget to watch out for the shipping lanes - you will pass very close to or through the Traffic Separation Zone
 
Have done Salcombe to St Peter Port lots of times from way back in the 60s using just an RDF , echo sounder (for locating Hurd Deep) and compass to present day with all its bells and whistles.
It's an average trip of between 12 hrs on a good day to 14 on an average day . It's best to leave Salcombe at dusk the reason being that Start light gives a good back bearing for some 25miles and the "loom"of Les Hanois light can be seen some 15miles later making a dawn arrival easy . You don't actually cross the shipping lanes but you do cross where ships start to converge TSS. But they are easily spotted on the dark and their mast head lights give good directional information.
Tides are not really an issue crossing to the Cis from Salcombe as the trip is close to 12hrs .
As previous said approach SPPT from the south.
It sounds more daunting than it is.
PM me if you want more detailed info .
 
Your course shape should take you West of the traffic zones. Current that far W of Alderny isn't too strong but having it with you is an obvious bonus, so aim to be just S of the traffic zone around HW Dover to get the S then E set of the current to Guernsey.
Fishing is good in that area, so trail a line then maybe Bass for dinner or at worst Mackerel :)
 
It's a grand first crossing.

I normally sets off around first light which normally gives you time for a wash and brush up before the pubs open in St Peter Port.

Look out for shipping north of where you might expect as ships head off towards Lands End as they exit the Channel lane. They will be a mixed bag in terms of direction, having a look on an AIS site will give you the picture. South of this they will be more orderly and what you expect. An AIS receiving set is a great boon.

If you time the tide at Les Hanios you will be pushed in grand style. Give the reef a berth as it can be rough and there are some rocks to be aware of along that coast. Once you round St Martin Point you are almost there and should start thinking about getting in.

In June things will be quiet. In Aug very busy. There is a waiting pontoon outside the marina which I should avoid. Go onto one of the other pontoons, secure where you can and put the kettle on. You can stay there as long as you like, blow the dinghy up and you have cracked it. If you do decide to enter the marina it is probably best to do it late on the tide, there is no advantage in joining the early, manic scrum that can develop as the staff open up for incoming boats.

There are not many pubs, but loads of bars and eating places. Avoid the chippy like the plague.
 
I did the Dartmouth to Guernsey trip last summer, first "big" trip. It took us about 14hrs, (33 ft Moody) from Noss to Beaucette.

I planned to go West of the TSS and the Channel lightship was a good visual reference. Over the journey the tide broadly cancelled itself out. I passage-planned at 4 knots and tested/adjusted as we made better time (standing off waiting for a tide over the sill is better than missing the window and waiting for the next tide). The key driver was the tidal window for the sill at Beaucette, which we made easily. Ships were easy to see, but as previous posters have mentioned, it can get quite busy and a good lookout is essential especially just off the TSS.

we set off at first light and were there well in time for dinner. A great, quiet, place to stay and bikes are easy to hire. I'd definitely recommend it.

The journey back was from Alderney. Again, we skirted west of the TSS, the wind and tide made that more preferable, but the weather increased to 25 knots and poor visibility on approach to Dartmouth, so all eyes were on lookout for both visual references and ships.

Alderney's another great place to stay, Braye harbour is a lovely place. transit from Guernsey to Alderney was a bit difficult but put that down to my poor planning and reluctance to get up early...crossed that lesson learned off the list...

Heartily recommend it.

Andrew
 
Kurrawong_Kid said:
Look carefully at the tidal atlas. Find when it flows East from Les Hanois light and then North to St Peter Port. Time your arrival to be off Les Hanois appropriately. i.e. Leaving Salcombe about 12 hours earlier with a favourable wind. Suggest for a first visit this is a better approach than via the NE of Guernsey and South down the Little Russell.
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+1

That approach is a lot less stressful than approaching from the north east of Guernsey; the tidal flows north of St Peter Port are stronger.

Having said that, exiting St Peter Port to the north can be an advantage if the tide is going that way. It can sweep you a lot further north than you'd expect, close to the Channel Light Vessel. That's even after having carefully studied the tidal vectors and thinking you'd done enough of the left-hand-down-a-bit.
 
Boreades said:
+1

That approach is a lot less stressful than approaching from the north east of Guernsey; the tidal flows north of St Peter Port are stronger.

Having said that, exiting St Peter Port to the north can be an advantage if the tide is going that way. It can sweep you a lot further north than you'd expect, close to the Channel Light Vessel. That's even after having carefully studied the tidal vectors and thinking you'd done enough of the left-hand-down-a-bit.
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+1
 
easton said:
I did the Dartmouth to Guernsey trip last summer, first "big" trip. It took us about 14hrs, (33 ft Moody) from Noss to Beaucette.

I planned to go West of the TSS and the Channel lightship was a good visual reference. Over the journey the tide broadly cancelled itself out. I passage-planned at 4 knots and tested/adjusted as we made better time (standing off waiting for a tide over the sill is better than missing the window and waiting for the next tide). The key driver was the tidal window for the sill at Beaucette, which we made easily. Ships were easy to see, but as previous posters have mentioned, it can get quite busy and a good lookout is essential especially just off the TSS.

we set off at first light and were there well in time for dinner. A great, quiet, place to stay and bikes are easy to hire. I'd definitely recommend it.

The journey back was from Alderney. Again, we skirted west of the TSS, the wind and tide made that more preferable, but the weather increased to 25 knots and poor visibility on approach to Dartmouth, so all eyes were on lookout for both visual references and ships.

Alderney's another great place to stay, Braye harbour is a lovely place. transit from Guernsey to Alderney was a bit difficult but put that down to my poor planning and reluctance to get up early...crossed that lesson learned off the list...

Heartily recommend it.

Andrew
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The outer pontoons are now connected ashore (apart from the most N one) so no need to even blow up the dinghy.

Just out of interest, why are most recommending the S route into SPP? I've done it but still much prefer the Little Russel, more direct from Salcombe and a good push if you hit it after HW +3.
 
longjohnsilver said:
The outer pontoons are now connected ashore (apart from the most N one) so no need to even blow up the dinghy.

Just out of interest, why are most recommending the S route into SPP? I've done it but still much prefer the Little Russel, more direct from Salcombe and a good push if you hit it after HW +3.
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For me 'cos we do it night time the loom and the light of Les Hanois is a brilliant guide ........ No pun intended
 
The plat fougere lighthouse N of little Russell will give more than enough loom , approaching the N end is quite straight forward and if you have fair tide all the better
 
Suggest that when approaching Platte Fougere (N end of Little Russel), you take good care not to be set off to the east by the strong tide. If you are, you will find a large area of barely submerged rocks with no nav marks !!! best avoided.

If sailing south down the Swinge, be aware of Pierre Vraic rock, semi submerged off the S end of Alderney!!
 
For a first time, maybe go to Braye, then go for Guernsey with a well defined start time to your passage plan, instead of arriving knackered and 2hrs before or after your plan?
I found the RCC pilot book helpful, particularly the first time when I had no plotter.
 
lw395 said:
For a first time, maybe go to Braye, then go for Guernsey with a well defined start time to your passage plan, instead of arriving knackered and 2hrs before or after your plan?
I found the RCC pilot book helpful, particularly the first time when I had no plotter.
Click to expand...

From the Solent maybe, but from Salcombe, Braye is much the same distance as St Peter Port surely?
 
And with the Casquettes TSS directly en route.

So when we kept our boat in Salcombe, we therefore tended to skip Alderney, much as we like the island.

Some good advice elsewhere in this thread.
 
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clyst said:
the "loom"of Les Hanois light can be seen some 15miles later making a dawn arrival easy .
Click to expand...

If Les Hanois is now an LED light (and I don't know if it's been 'updated' or not) then the loom will be significantly less. My experience is that LED lights provide a very bright pinpoint light, but very little 'loom' unfortunately. Be
prepared for a bigger gap between losing Start light and seing Les Hanois.

Have a good trip!
 
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