A man with a passage plan
The Channel Islands provide fantastic scenery with a challenging 8m tidal range and 6 knot tidal streams. Within easy reach of our home waters, they provide a wonderful addition to our cruising grounds. It’s also a really interesting area for passage planning.
As with any passage plan, my first priority is to make copies of relevant hour-by-hour tidal stream chartlets, marked up for every hour of every day.
I like to look at the start and the end of a trip first, then fill in the details in between. I’ll also always include alternatives - never stick to a plan that has become a bad idea!
The earliest I can realistically leave is about midday on Monday 6 July, returning to Shamrock Quay Marina, Southampton by 1400 the following Sunday. I’m assuming a F4-5 from the southwest - the prevailing conditions.
On the Monday HW Portsmouth is at 1309 (I use BST throughout) and the stream in the Solent starts flowing west about an hour and a half earlier, and stays heading west
