Channel Crossing Guide: Sam’s Sailing Tips and Passage Planning

A channel crossing can make for a superb weekend break – but a bit of careful planning always helps. Sam Jefferson looks at the potential pitfalls.

Many years ago when I first got into sailing journalism, I was fortunate enough to be given the chance to interview Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. As someone who had read In a World of My Own as a child, this seemed like a very big deal at the time and I spent a lot of time planning out my questions. One of my biggies was ‘Where is the most challenging place you’ve ever sailed?’ I imagined a reply that evoked the Mighty greybeards of the Southern Ocean or perhaps some tidal headache off Tierra del Fuego… ‘the Thames Estuary’ he replied with typical brusqueness. I was somewhat taken aback, but he had a point; it blends often hostile weather, hideous tides, shallows, complex buoyage and lighting, plus an awful lot of marine traffic. It can be difficult. 

Which brings me on to the English Channel which offers a not dissimilar cocktail of ingredients. I reckon I have made this crossing about 20 times, generally in summer, sometimes in winter. Quite frankly, it always throws up some surprise however well prepared you are. So here are a few tips garnered from many years of making the trip:

1: Don’t get tired

The excitement of a trip of this nature means that there is a strong tendency to stay up through the early part of this passage enjoying the scenery. Given that this is often a 12-15 hour trip (depending on your route, of course) this means that you can often find yourself absolutely knackered at exactly the moment towards the end of the trip when you need your wits about you. This happened most memorably for me on a trip from Cherbourg to Chichester. I was solo and had no autopilot so had little choice but to plug on but as I approached Chichester it was gone midnight and I suddenly had to deal with the complications of crossing the bar and negotiating the narrow channels up to Emsworth. By the time I tied up alongside I was definitely hallucinating with fatigue. Not ideal.

2: Don’t get caught down tide

I have always worked on a very loose rule of thumb when it comes to channel crossings. If a crossing takes 12 hours roughly then you’ll get six hours of east going tide and six hours going west so it all evens out. That is all very well, but it is worth being at least slightly less cavalier than this. Basically the most important thing is to make sure that you are up tide of your chosen destination. On one occasion a very uncomplicated channel trip from Poole to Cherbourg was made infinitely longer because I finished up some 5nm down tide of where I wanted to be and then spent many miserable hours battling the tide into my destination. Using a rough rule of thumb was ok, but I should have made sure I ended up roughly up tide at the end of it.

3: Stay warm

Even on the hottest day in summer, you can end up getting chilly in the English Channel. You can swelter all day but as night comes in, there’s always a chill on the water and, if you mix that with the fatigue of a long passage, it can make life very uncomfortable for you at a time when you need to be focused on your passage. This happened to me on a passage from Chichester to Fecamp in late May; the day had been roasting and we thought little of wrapping up warm as night fell. At this point the wind piped up and we were flying. It was exhilarating but the boat was throwing water all over herself and by dawn I was sufficiently soaked that it was actually quite difficult to warm myself through as we bore down on the French coast.

4: Take your passport!

Sounds utterly elementary but I have forgotten in the past. Worse still, I had run out of time and wasn’t able to take the boat back to the UK that weekend so I was compelled to explain to the authorities in Dieppe precisely how stupid I was. At the ferry port I was then obliged to speak to an official at the Home Office who made it clear that I was not their favourite person. 

5: Give yourself time

There is simply nothing worse than feeling rushed. If you set yourself an unrealistic deadline you might end up going out in more wind than you feel comfortable with – or no wind at all. It’s also worth remembering that it generally takes 12 hours plus to get across the channel so, if you’re going to make a weekend of it, it’s probably best that it’s a long weekend if you’re going to fully enjoy your moules frites and croissants (not in that order).

Cross Channel Itineraries

Here are a few old favourites to get you started with your cross channel passage plan:

Crossing from Ramsgate to Ostend (65nm)

Technically, you could argue that this falls slightly outside the Channel. But it makes a super cruise, and one that is repeated throughout the season by rallies, yacht clubs and individual cruisers. Though we chose Ramsgate as our starting point, this is just as achievable from east coast ports such as Harwich or Burnham.

The chief concern here is shipping, which is compressed into a number of traffic separation schemes – one flowing northeast from the Dover Strait up towards Rotterdam, and the other leading north and in to Felixstowe or the Thames Estuary. Remember to cross these at a right-angle heading (ie through the water, not over the ground).

Starting from Ramsgate, it makes sense to cross the shipping lanes around the East Goodwin buoy, before they divide. That way you also stay clear of the Dover to Calais ferry traffic. At the Dyck buoy north of Calais we turned east, inside the outer shoals that protect against any weather from the north.

Crossing from Brighton to Honfleur (86nm)

Sailing nearly down the Greenwich Meridian, this passage skirts the edge of the Dover Straits traffic separation scheme, so expect to see plenty of shipping. Tidal streams in this part of the Channel are slower than they are elsewhere and they tend to weaken further as you reach the Baie de la Seine.

This is a passage that could be made overnight, leaving Brighton on the flood, and arriving halfway up the tide in Honfleur. You will make landfall off the steep-to Cap d’Antifer, 15nm north of Le Havre, then see the striking Cap de la Hève to the south. This is a coast of high chalk cliffs which can look a touch forbidding on approach. Honfleur itself is a lovely place to sail to; a picture postcard sort of a spot with an iconic quayside lined with beautiful old buildings.

Crossing from Lymington to St-Vaast-la-Hougue (72nm)

This mid length voyage takes you from one beautiful waterside town to another. We all know what a gem Lymington is and it’s also well situated at the western end of the Solent meaning you can work the tides well in order to slip out through the Needles. Yarmouth is, of course, another option in this respect and equally charming, so take your pick. From here it’s plain sailing until you get to St-Vaast-la-Hougue, a sleepy fishing village tucked into the eastern side of the Cherbourg peninsula. It’s at this point that things can get complicated as this is a locked marina and the approach dries to a height of 1.8m so you really don’t want to get it wrong or you could be in for a long wait for the tide. Once in the port, you’ll find yourself in a thriving town with the oyster industry at its heart. There is a wealth of charming bars and cafes lining the waterfront making it a great place to sail to. If the tides do not suit then you can use Cherbourg as an alternative all-tide arrival point and then perhaps head round to St-Vaast in a leisurely manner later on. 

Crossing from Poole to Alderney (68nm)

Cross-Channel cruises don’t get much shorter than this in the western Channel – it makes an ideal day-sail. Don’t be fooled by the gentle start through Poole Harbour, though: there are plenty of navigational challenges involved in this route.

Tides in the Channel Islands are among the biggest in the world, and Alderney, the northernmost island in the group, boasts two tidal races of global notoriety: the Swinge to the north and the Alderney Race to the south. Couple that with races and strong tides off Peveril and Anvil Points, and you have a recipe for an exciting passage. Once arrived then Braye Harbour offers a warm and charming welcome.

Crossing from Salcombe to Tréguier (93nm)

At nearly 100 miles, this is a long day crossing in a fast boat. The key consideration is arriving in daylight. A procession of lights, from Les Hanois on Guernsey’s rocky west coast to Les Roches Douvres, mark the vicious shoal 20nm northeast of Tréguier, and finally Les Héaux de Bréhat.

The distinctive Libenter buoy marks the run in to Tréguier. Use Tom Cunliffe’s Shell Channel Pilot to tick off the marks that run in through jagged rocks and swell breaking on hidden reefs. After there’s a four-mile motor upstream to Tréguier itself where there is an all-tide marina a stone’s throw from town. If all that sounds like a lot of work, the reward is that you arrive in a charming Breton port that is full of character. If you don’t fancy the marina, then the river is particularly beautiful and offers plentiful possibilities for anchoring below the town. 

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