This article is aimed at the many experienced south coast sailors, who have always wanted to go to the Channel Islands, but for one reason or another have never actually made it. It is also for those who have made the trip, perhaps many times, but who have always taken the easier options of hopping between the marinas at Cherbourg and St Peter Port.
Fortune favours the brave, and the efforts in getting there will be more than justified by the fantastic scenery and the whole-new-world that can be found there. For one thing there is something immensely satisfying about sailing around an island – and there are lots of those to choose from.
This article plans an adventurous holiday lasting between seven and nine days, with the emphasis on making full use of favourable tides, while avoiding the very unfavourable situations that can be alarming to those caught off-guard.
Tides wait for no man
Tides are always important – but tides in the Channel Islands are on steroids, and are just about double those in the Solent - expect 9m range and rates of up to 7kts at springs.
The tidal streams are so strong that in many ways they make passage planning easier because they really do define when and where it is possible to go.
The prevailing wind direction
