A Personal Guide to The Ports of the Channel
Nicholas Hill
Cross Channel
Going cross channel from the South Coast means a journey of around 70 miles or more, depending on your starting point and destination. At an average speed of 4 to 5 knots made good, the voyage would take 14 to 17 hours. This can be done in daylight in the summer with a very early start. Alternatively, you have to consider whether it's better setting off in the dark and arriving in daylight, to start slightly later and arrive in darkness, or to sail through the night arriving some time after dawn.
There are pros and cons to each option. One issue is crew fatigue: setting off in the dark means leaving in the very early hours, and it certainly helps if the skipper can be given a couple of hours with his head down. Arriving in daylight has obvious advantages, but there is something to be said for a night arrival: the French coast is very well provided with lighthouses etc. There are few offshore hazards to worry about if you are aiming for Fecamp or Cherbourg. However, leading lights can often be obscured by the lights of the town unless you know where to look for them. Night sailing can be quite enjoyable, and often you see other vessels by their lights sooner than you might see them by day.
The other issue is tides. Neglect the tides at your peril! There is not a lot you can do about the ebb and flood mid Channel, but the direction of the tide is very important at your destination. All the major destinations on the other side except St Vaast are accessible at all states of tide.
To state the obvious, your passage plan is going to depend on where you're starting from and where you're going to. If your starting point is Solent/Isle of Wight, then you have the options of going via the Needles or Bembridge Ledge.
Heading out from the Western Solent, Lymington and Yarmouth are good starting points. If the weather is kind, there is a good anchorage behind Hurst Spit, between the lighthouse and the entrance to Keyhaven. This is well sheltered from the west but a lee shore in easterlies. You can get quite close in to the shingle, and there is little tide there. You then head out past the Needles and steer south.
For Bembridge Ledge (see the buoy on your right - E Cardinal), the best jumping off point is from Portsmouth - Cowes or the Hamble add a couple more hours to your passage. Langstone and Chichester will serve just as well, although the tide may be more of an issue for these two. From the Ledge buoy, the course to St Vaast is around 185o, to Cherbourg around 200o, and to Alderney about 220o.
The most important part of your passage plan is what the tides will be doing at your destination. For St Vaast you MUST arrive near Barleur with the flood tide. For Cherbourg it is less important, other than you must be uptide of the harbour as you approach. Similarly for Alderney: the tides run so strongly past the island that you will be in for a long wait if you get it wrong. At springs you may end up with zero ground speed if you have the current against you! If you are clever with your timings you can arrive between Alderney and Cap de la Hague at high water and take the ebb down to St Peter Port. It makes it a 3 tide rather than a 2 tide crossing, but it is worth it if you are heading to Brittany.
There are excellent lighthouses either side of the Contenin peninsula, very difficult to miss if the visibility is reasonable. Beware: you do not want to cross if the forecast gives poor visibility. the shipping lanes are a nightmare.
hazards
The obvious hazard is the shipping lanes, which you should cross on a heading which is at right angles to the traffic (and ignore any tidal set). But you will also meet a lot of craft outside the lanes themselves, perhaps crossing them or joining them. Fishing boats at night can be very confusing: they have a plethora of assorted lights and seem to change course seemingly at random!
The standard advice is to take bearings on approaching craft: if it does not change, you will collide.This is often easier said than done from a small boat. If you are going to change course for someone, make it a large and obvious change so that the other person knows you are aware of the situation. At night, for example, you could change so that your other light bears.
I often prefer a night crossing when the visibility is good: lights on the horizon are much easier to spot than a dull blob. The position of the two whites also gives you a much better idea of the aspect of the other ship.
But remember that they travel a good deal faster than you do. It is often not the boat a mile or two you have to worry about so much as the one just coming over the horizon. Unless you are racing, this is not the time to be using a spinnaker, since you may have to make some rather drastic changes of course. If in doubt, and you are sailing, you can always heave to whilst the ship passes in front of you.
Don't make the crossing if you are tired. It can be very demanding both in terms of navigation and in terms of dodging all the shipping. You often need to have your wits about you. And never cross if fog is forecast.
The shipping lanes can be busy at times!
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