Where exactly is The Trap?

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BelleSerene

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Many's the time I have used the North Channel by Hurst Castle, to get from our Hamble mooring to and from Poole or the West - as an alternative to the usually rougher Needles Channel.

And many's the time I have sought to heed the advice to Avoid. The. Trap.

Which has always worked fine for me - probably because I've generally gone through around the turn of the tide and certainly never with any strong wind over the tide.

But - how can I put this without appearing innocent? - we all know it's around Hurst Castle, but what feature is it specifically, when does it trap you, and how?!

Here is the latest Navionics crowd-sourced depth data on the area.

View attachment 59523
 
BelleSerene said:
Many's the time I have used the North Channel by Hurst Castle, to get from our Hamble mooring to and from Poole or the West - as an alternative to the usually rougher Needles Channel.

And many's the time I have sought to heed the advice to Avoid. The. Trap.

Which has always worked fine for me - probably because I've generally gone through around the turn of the tide and certainly never with any strong wind over the tide.

But - how can I put this without appearing innocent? - we all know it's around Hurst Castle, but what feature is it specifically, when does it trap you, and how?!

Here is the latest Navionics crowd-sourced depth data on the area.

View attachment 59523
Click to expand...

Its just as you pass the castle & lose steerage due to the wind shadow of the building when in too close.
On an ebb, the outgoing tide will run around the corner & push you onto it.
 
IIRC the usefull book "Solent Hazards" says it is opposite the 6th window/gunport opening on the Lymington side after the halfway
point of the fort. It protrudes about 30 metres, but this can vary.

Just like Navionics and others-dont use this for navigation...................
 
My 1994 edition of Solent Hazards warns first that the Trap varies in both height and extent. It then says it "sticks 60m out into the channel opposite the first black casement of the eastern wing battery".
There, I am glad that has cleared up any uncertainty.
Peter
 
Thanks guys!

So the mystery deepens.

It's caused by wind shadow leaving you at the mercy of the ebb onto the shore
- OR -
it's caused by an underwater spit.​

It's "opposite the 6th window/gunport opening on the Lymington side after [when travelling which way?!] the halfway"
- OR -
it's "opposite the first [travelling which way?!] black casement of the eastern wing battery".

​
Here's another plan of it - with the latest bathymetry, overlaid satellite imagery and a grid for reference. In cell F3 I've provided a reference distance of 60m seawards from chart datum.
​

Where do the experts think the Trap lies, and how does it trap us please?

​
View attachment 59529
 
Shingle moves.
There may well be no trap at all at the moment.
But it might come back after a decent storm. Or even a few tides.
I prefer to trust the rocks on the Island side, they won't have moved.
 
BelleSerene said:
Thanks guys!

So the mystery deepens.

It's caused by wind shadow leaving you at the mercy of the ebb onto the shore
- OR -
it's caused by an underwater spit.​

It's "opposite the 6th window/gunport opening on the Lymington side after [when travelling which way?!] the halfway"
- OR -
it's "opposite the first [travelling which way?!] black casement of the eastern wing battery".

​
Here's another plan of it - with the latest bathymetry, overlaid satellite imagery and a grid for reference. In cell F3 I've provided a reference distance of 60m seawards from chart datum.
​

Where do the experts think the Trap lies, and how does it trap us please?

​
View attachment 59529
Click to expand...

If you get caught in the trap cruising you have made a serious error! You've no business being that close to the beach if you have access to an engine to beat the tide through Hurst in light winds!

I've been close, once, racing. The situation that gets you is trying to get back into the Solent against the ebb tide in a lightish notherly. There is an eddy that forms a sort of whirlpool in a clockwise direction, around about D4 or E4 I would guess, and the if you loose the wind under the castle you can find yourself being spat sideways in a northish direction quite alarmingly quickly at the beach. I was going for the engine start button when we got a puff of wind strong enough to drag us clear.
 
I think the 'trap' aspect is that you never know quite where it is, or whether it's there at all. I saw a yacht hit it quite hard last year. No damage done, but he looked shocked. He was at least 50 metres off the beach, in a SE direction from the light. These are all guesses.
 
I'm still half expecting everyone to burst into laughter when I'm not looking, about stringing me along with their ghost stories as each adds a few more details at odds with the last.

Flaming, as so often, puts his finger on the issue. So apparently the main danger is when east-bound in a light northerly wind so that you're in the wind shadow of the castle to the north.

So what should we do about it? - just stay one or two hundred metres or so out? What if the advice I've seen to hug the shore so close you can almost spit at it?
 
BelleSerene said:
I'm still half expecting everyone to burst into laughter when I'm not looking, about stringing me along with their ghost stories as each adds a few more details at odds with the last.

Flaming, as so often, puts his finger on the issue. So apparently the main danger is when east-bound in a light northerly wind so that you're in the wind shadow of the castle to the north.

So what should we do about it? - just stay one or two hundred metres or so out? What if the advice I've seen to hug the shore so close you can almost spit at it?
Click to expand...

Odd advice at that point unless you're racing. Assuming that you're cruising and have decided to enter the Solent against the tide through the North channel, then if it's a northerly and not howling, you will of course expect to run out of wind. So you'll be motoring anyway, and the tide only runs hard for a few hundred metres before you're round the point and can dodge north into the shallows and out of the tide. Just stay a decent distance out and you'll be fine.
 
BelleSerene said:
I'm still half expecting everyone to burst into laughter when I'm not looking, about stringing me along with their ghost stories as each adds a few more details at odds with the last.

Flaming, as so often, puts his finger on the issue. So apparently the main danger is when east-bound in a light northerly wind so that you're in the wind shadow of the castle to the north.

So what should we do about it? - just stay one or two hundred metres or so out? What if the advice I've seen to hug the shore so close you can almost spit at it?
Click to expand...

No, you more often get a wind shadow when wind is usual SW.
You get past the eastern edge of the castle, lose power & get pushed on by the tidal eddies next to the shore.
 
The trap does seem to move depending upon tide direction and strength I have found. Coming out of the Solent I have seen the depth sounder go from nearly 15m down to around 2m in a very short distance. when the sea is calm you can sometimes see the trap as a slight sandy colour to the water. I have heard of boats getting stuck and requiring a tow off.
 
alant said:
No, you more often get a wind shadow when wind is usual SW.
You get past the eastern edge of the castle, lose power & get pushed on by the tidal eddies next to the shore.
Click to expand...

Exactly my experience. Have been spun through 360 degrees after getting in the wind shadow. Fortunately if the tide is east going you soon get through it.
 
The Admiralty Hydrographer seems to think that it is due south of the castle and that it carries more than 5m of water! :confused:

Hurst1.jpg
 
DJE said:
The Admiralty Hydrographer seems to think that it is due south of the castle and that it carries more than 5m of water! :confused:
Click to expand...

Thank you - and the Imray chart agrees (first picture).

However, Peter Bruce in his book Solent Hazards says that

In addition a sand bar, known as The Trap, sticks out 60 metres into the Solent just east of the round tower of Hurst Castle.[1]​


Looking at my aerial map/ chart from Navionics (second picture), he is describing a different area from the one these charts mark as The Trap. The 'round tower' is in square D3 and that sand bar - which Peter Bruce says is The Trap - is in F3/ F4. He quite clearly shows it his book (third picture), and shows a yacht aground on it (fourth picture).


Yachts & Yachting magazine shows the same area here: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/photo/102508

This RNLI article http://rnli.org/NewsCentre/Pages/Yacht-Pulled-from-Hurst-Casle-Spit.aspx also seems to place it there, to judge by the windows and roof features in the attached aerial view of the castle (fifth picture).


So we have authorities showing The Trap in one location, and at least one published chart showing it in quite a different one! What to make of that?!

View attachment 59538

View attachment 59539

View attachment 59540View attachment 59541

View attachment 59542
 
Last edited:
BelleSerene said:
Thank you - and the Imray chart agrees (first picture).

However, Peter Bruce in his book Solent Hazards says that

In addition a sand bar, known as The Trap, sticks out 60 metres into the Solent just east of the round tower of Hurst Castle.[1]​


Looking at my aerial map/ chart from Navionics (second picture), he is describing a different area from the one these charts mark as The Trap. The 'round tower' is in square D3 and that sand bar - which Peter Bruce says is The Trap - is in F3/ F4. He quite clearly shows it his book (third picture), and shows a yacht aground on it (fourth picture).


Yachts & Yachting magazine shows the same area here: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/photo/102508

This RNLI article http://rnli.org/NewsCentre/Pages/Yacht-Pulled-from-Hurst-Casle-Spit.aspx also seems to place it there, to judge by the windows and roof features in the attached aerial view of the castle (fifth picture).


So we have authorities showing The Trap in one location, and at least one published chart showing it in quite a different one! What to make of that?!

View attachment 59538

View attachment 59539

View attachment 59540View attachment 59541

View attachment 59542
Click to expand...

I'm with Bruce on this.
Maybe the chart guys want to experience sailing in that area.
 
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